Page 23 of Wrapped in Perfection

"Chase made me get it when he found out I wasn't using one."

I try not to shake my head so she doesn't feel belittled, but I'm glad her brother watched out for her. "Hold on a minute." I go into my office, pull out the contract I had with Lada, and hand it to her.

"What's this?"

"How Lada, the other designer, billed us."

She reads it and opens her mouth. "Wow. She charges a lot!"

"You're worth not a penny less."

She shakes her head. "You don't know that. You've still not seen my work."

"Sure, I do." I push her computer back to her. Change your rates to hers."

She hesitates.

I tease, "Do I need to fill your contract in for you?"

"No."

I tap the laptop. "Get typing, kotik. I'm going to pull the blueprints out while you finish."

"Ummm...are you sure—"

"Yep. Now, all I want to hear is your fingers hitting those keys. The sooner we get done, the closer we get to dinner."

And I get to see what you brought to wear on your sexy little body.

I take the blueprints out of the office then unroll them across the table. "You done?"

She nods.

"Email it to me." I pull my card out of my wallet. "Here."

She sends it, I pull it up on my phone, scan it over, sign, then send it back to her.

We spend the next few hours going through the blueprints. She makes a long list of items for tomorrow, and I shut the laptop. "Okay, what did you bring to wear for dinner?"

Her face turns red. "Vivian told me to bring a dress, but I also brought a skirt and top, depending on where we're going?"

"Put your dress on, kotik. I'm hungry, are you hungry?"

She scans my face and stares at my lips again. "Yeah."

"Good. I'm going to take a shower. Let me show you where you can get ready."

"How much time do I have?"

"As much as you want."

She tilts her head, as if she doesn't believe me, which makes me think her ex was always making her rush to get ready.

I lean into her ear. "Take all the time you want. I've got all night. And I'll probably still be hungry after dinner."

5

Anna

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