Page 135 of Beautiful Liar

“None of them were in my head. Ever,” he says in that damn, even, sinister voice.

I’m more than a little alarmed. “Quinn—”

“I want to remain civil. For you. Don’t ask me why. So tell me something that doesn’t make me think of all the terrible and fantastic things I want to do your body, Elyse. Tell me now.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Will you be coming back to work for me at Blackwood?”

My breath hitches. “Do you want me to?”

“No.”

“You don’t think I was good at my job?”

“You were great at it. But I have bigger plans for you than the need for you to serve me food.”

“You have plans for me?”

His gaze drops from my eyes to my mouth. “I want you, Elyse. My time is limited, but I want to keep seeing you.”

“I…don’t know if that will be possible.”

His jaw hardens for a second. Then he frowns and shakes his head. “What will it take? State your terms.”

For the second time in a very short half hour, my jaw threatens to drop. People like Quinn Blackwood don’t ask people like me those questions. I think of all the things I did in my life prior to five weeks ago, what I’ve done since. No way in hell are we compatible on any polling system.

“You don’t want me,” I say. The words hurt.

“Those are useless words.”

I open my mouth, to say what, I don’t know. The waiter approaches with menus. The food is French fusion. The menu is in French. I have no idea what I’m looking at. My gaze rises, collides with Quinn’s.

“She’ll have the herb and truffle risotto to start, and the braised lamb with potatoes. I’ll have the same.”

I hand my menu to the waiter with a smile. When he departs, I glance at Quinn. “Thanks.”

He nods. “You were saying?”

“I’m not from New York. Maybe you’ve already guessed that. I ended up here because…my choices were limited. Those choices mean I can’t start anything with you.”

“You already have.”

The naked truth shames me a little. “Maybe. But it can’t last.”

“Give me a time frame to work with.”

“What?”

“We’re both constrained by time. I want to know how long you can give me.”

I frown. “Are you going somewhere?”

His gaze sweeps down. “Something like that.”

“Oh. Umm…maybe a couple of weeks?” The regret that pounds me with those words staggers me.

He leans forward in his chair, bringing the towering force of nature with him. “So what we initially agreed on? No more?” His spectacular eyes devour my face.

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