Page 137 of The Bet
Chapter 40
It was unfair, taking it out on him, and he was being nice. He was actually listening to her and trying to help. He wasn’t Shoemoney, or that dirty businessman.
“Come on,” he said, when she had told him she wasn’t hungry. “It’s easier if I show you the type of extra work you can do, if you want.”
She followed him to his office area where he showed her the spreadsheets on his computer. “Is this something you could take on?”
“What about your VA who does this?”
“She’s messed me about a few times. You could do a better job of it, and you’re nearby, and its similar to what you’ve done for me before. It’s just another one of my sideline businesses.”
“How many do you have?”
“Lots. Lots of little things, some work, some don’t.”
“Risky.”
“Entrepreneurial.”
Nothing like Tobias’s hedge fund.
“I’ve realized that having someone local, as opposed to in another country, is more helpful to me. Do you want the extra work?”
She could do it, on top of the work she already did for him, on top of her other online work, and with babysiting Jacob at the weekends, depending on the hours Savannah wanted from her. She would have to make it all fit in. She exhaled slowly, remembering the stats test she had to revise for. But even though she needed to go home and get to work on it, she wasn’t in the mood to leave.
After being there for her father for the past few days, this was the first time someone had been there for her. It was a feeling she liked, and one she hadn’t experienced in a while. “Starting when?”
“End of this week.”
Her exam would be over by then. “Sure.”
He grinned. “Your enthusiasm is killing me.”
“Thanks,” she said, perking up, breaking out into a smile, and grateful that he was here.
“That’s better,” he said, nodding his head in approval. “I like it better when you smile.” He folded his arms, and all she wanted was for him to open them and hold her.
“I better shoot,” she said, looking at her watch. Stats revision was the last thing she wanted to do, but he seemed busy, and she needed to get back into the swing of things.
“Don’t go,” he said, quickly.
“Is there something you’d like me to do?” Like those charts he’d wanted her to create.
“I can think of a few things.” It was the way he said it, the way his eyes smoldered with intensity, holding a promise, a thought, an intention. She swallowed as his words reminded her of that other time.
“Not those sorts of things,” he drawled, slowly, dropping his hands slowly to his side, and he hooked his thumbs into the front pocket of his jeans.
“What sort of things?” she asked, taking a step closer and looking up at him. They weren’t on the same page. He was being too coy, and she was not. Standing so close to him, her body felt as if it was on fire. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier, about you being like the other guys. I know you’re not. I know that now. I was just in a pissy mood.”
“Pissy mood?” he asked, moving closer still so that they almost touched. She held her hands up to his chest as his arms snaked around her waist.
“Pretty pissy.”
“Spend the day with me, and we’ll do fun stuff.” His head jerked back a little. “I don’t mean like last time.”
She worried that he was being too careful, and at a time when she wanted him to be anything but too careful. “I like doing fun stuff,” she said, “Like we did last time.” She caught the flicker of surprise on his face before they moved at the same time, instinctively, their lips and tongues meshed together.
Somehow they stumbled away from his desk, hands touching, lips breaking apart as they moved into the living room and made it over to the couch. She fell back onto the soft, downy cushions and he landed not on top, but to her side, his hand cupping around her neck.
