Page 21 of Business Casual

Chapter 5

“Wow,” I commented as we pulled up in front of my place. “This was a really smooth ride.”

“Still think I overpaid?” Tre questioned as he put the car in park.

“I don’t know what you paid, but yeah, probably.”

We both laughed.

“This is really nice though,” I complimented the car again. “Regardless of what it cost you, you clearly have good taste.”

“That’s the thing…” He turned his torso so that his body was angled toward me. “In my experiences, having good taste will generally cost you something.”

His eyes pinned me to my seat and my stomach fluttered.

“In your experiences, has the cost ever been too great?” I asked.

“The real question is if it’s worth it. Because if it’s worth it, it’s never too great.”

“And how do you know when it’s worth it?”

“I trust my instincts.” His tongue ran from one corner of his mouth to the other. “What about you? How do you know when it’s worth it?”

“When I can’t stop thinking about it.” Taking a deep breath, my voice came out breathier than normal as I admitted, “And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

“Imani…” The chokehold he had on my name as he breathed it out caused my lower body to clench. “What haven’t you been able to stop thinking about?”

“Honestly?”

He zeroed in on my lips. “Yeah,” he uttered.

“I’ve been thinking about how you’re not technically my boss until tomorrow.”

“That’s a good point. You don’t start working for Franklin Financial until our meeting.”

“At ten o’clock.” I allowed myself the luxury of taking him in as the silence settled between us. “And since the contract got in the way of our date, maybe we should take advantage of the time we’ve been allotted. Maybe tonight we’re just two people who met at a bar and decided to have some casual fun.”

“And then we’ll go back to being professional,” he mused.

I licked my lips. “Casual tonight. Professional tomorrow.”

The tension between us was building. With each word, each look, and each minute that passed by, we were being drawn to one another.

His chest rose and fell a couple of times before he spoke. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want to go inside and be as unprofessional as possible,” I murmured.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I’m sure that’s all we have time for.”

“Imani.” He chewed his bottom lip as he contemplated.

“If you don’t want to cross the line because of work, I understand,” I told him. “But I’m getting out of your car and going inside. No matter what you decide, starting tomorrow at ten o’clock, everything resets, and we will be completely professional.” I opened the car door. “No harm, no foul.”

As I started to exit the vehicle, his fingers encircled my forearm. His touch sent a tingly sensation throughout my entire body. Swallowing hard, I turned to face him. His brown eyes bore into mine and for the first time, I could see how bad he wanted me.

“Let me walk you to the door,” he insisted.

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