Page 104 of Maneater
“I will go on my date, and I’ll be wearing an earpiece to record the conversation if needed. Rory will be able to communicate with me to let me know if I need to buy more time or if she’s done. It should take anywhere from one hour to ninety minutes.”
“It’s not just drop and go?” I shake my head.
“No, it’s tracking incoming and outgoing messages for all devices within that vicinity. With it, she should be able to hack them off-site so we can double-check for any burners, etc.”
“That’s possible?” he asks, his face a mask of shock and concern that makes me laugh just a bit. I nod.
“You’d be absolutely horrified at all Rory can do with this equipment,” I say with a shrug. “I tend to purposely forget her skills because if I don’t, I might go into a spiral.” He looks like he’s starting to do just that, something that does make me giggle, but I pat his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about, unless you fuck me over. Then she might try a little bit of retribution.”
He lets out a breath. “Noted. So she needs two hours, and you’re going to buy her that time?”
“That’s my plan. Flirt, taunt, show some cleavage, whatever it takes to keep him at that table until I get the all-clear from Rory.” His face changes, almost infinitesimally, and my gut drops, knowing that it’s time to address this. “I guess we should have the talk,” I say.
His brows furrow before he stands up straighter, his hands sliding into his pockets. “The talk?”
My stomach churns, but I turn to him in the vanity seat and lock my gaze on him.
“My job is flirting. It’s talking to all kinds of people, often men, and making them think they have my full attention, respect, and interest in order to convince them to spill their secrets. I’m good at my job. Ilovemy job. I will not be stopping my job any time soon.” I close my eyes and take in a deep breath before opening them again, softening my expression. “I like you, Rowan, but I love my job. If youmake me pick, I will choose my job over you.” Despite my bravado, I’m nervous. I know this is a lot to ask of someone, especially in a new relationship, but I want to have the best of both worlds. Desperately.
Silence fills the space for long, long moments, and that nervousness churns hard, turning to panic before, finally, he moves. He leans forward, reaching for me on the chair and pulling me to my feet, then into his chest, before finally speaking.
“I know what I signed up for,” he says against my lips.
“What?” I ask, my heart stuttering.
“I know what I signed up for when I agreed to start this with you, Josie. You told me your job.”
“You fucked it out of me,” I grumble, and he smiles, probably sensing my body responding to the memory.Not the time, body.
“Hmm, that was a good time, wasn’t it?” I glare at him, but honestly, I don’t think it’s very convincing. He keeps going. “But what I’m saying is I did not walk into this relationship blind. I know who you are, what your job is, and what that looks like. If you’re worried I’ll have some kind of issue with it, you can stop worrying. I know in my gut this will work because I understand your job. I think you also get that mine can be long hours and random calls I can’t ignore when we’re eating dinner or when I’m trying to make you come for the tenth time.” I smile at that, but he keeps talking. “I want this to work, and I think you do, too. So I think we’re both willing to accept all of that if that means we get each other.”
He steps closer to me, a hand resting on my lower back.
“I’m going to have to go on dates with other men,” I whisper, remembering the handful of times I tried to date in college while running my side business, before I decided it wasn’t worth the strife. The men I dated could never get past my job, so I stopped trying.
“Am I happy that you’re going to flirt with another man, do what you can to get his dick hard, and get him nice and pliant so that you can wring him for all of his secrets? Not particularly. But isthat your problem? No. So long as, at the end of the day, it’s me you fall asleep next to, I’m good. I’m confident enough in myself and in us.”
He pauses, staring at me, before continuing. “The truth is, you can flirt and flaunt, and you can make every man in the room wonder what it would be like to have you as their own, but I’m the only one who gets to know that. I’m the only one who knows what you’re like when that mask is pulled off, who knows what you sound like when I fill you.”
A shallow breath leaves my lips, and a small smile paints his. “I’m the only one who knows the places to kiss to make you moan. That alone is enough for me. You think I’m not okay with that? Having all of you when everyone else only gets hints and scraps, when they get teased but never given more? Hell no. It’s a gift you’re choosing to give me, Josie, and I’m honored to have it.”
I stare at him for long, long moments, trying to ascertain his truth, but see nothing but. My face breaks into a wide smile, and I put a hand to each side of his jaw and pull him in for a deep, grateful kiss.
“God, you’re perfect, aren’t you?” I whisper, and he smiles.
“Perfect for you, I hope.”
I press my lips to his once more in answer before his face goes a bit clouded. He adds, “I would prefer if you didn’t kiss anyone, but I also understand that’s not something I can expect, nor is it my place to ask.”
I lean back a bit to take him in before my head tips to the side. Then I smile and shake my head.
“You don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Rowan, honey. I’ve never kissed a target before.”
“What?”
