Page 28 of Dylan (Bad Boys After Dark)
Her cheeks flushed with desire.
He opened the car door and motioned for her to climb in. Settling in beside her, he tucked the balloons behind him and lowered the tray between their seats to keep from taking her into his arms as the driver pulled away from the curb. As badly as he wanted her, he wantedmorethan sex and they had limited time, so he forced himself to spread the sushi dinner out between them and tried to behave.
“Sushi,” she whispered, then lifted a smile that brightened her eyes. “Thank you.”
“If a guy’s going to date a hot sports agent, he’s got to adjust to her schedule, right?”
“That makes me sound awful. I don’t mean to blow you off, it’s just a really busy time for me.” She reached for his hand and he leaned closer, taking her in a deeper, greedier kiss. Her fingers curled around his as they both leaned in again, knocking the tray between them.
They parted on a laugh.
“You’re busy, not awful. It’s apparent that the only way I’ll get to know you better is to sneak in time when you least expect it.”
They fell into easy conversation as they ate. Dylan snagged a piece of salmon sashimi with his chopsticks and held it up for her. She gave him a wry smile, but she opened her mouth, allowing him to feed it to her.
“See, Summers? You’re not so hard to figure out. Looks like you’re a sushi girl.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “You’re not like any guy I’ve ever met.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment, but don’t count your chickens just yet. I want nothing more than to tear off that pretty blouse and feast on your gorgeous breasts.” He paused, enjoying the lust simmering in her gaze. “Now, tell me about your day. How did your meetings go?”
After stumbling past her desire, her whole face lit up as she described the deals she’d negotiated and the points of contention she’d had to overcome. She was impassioned and in control without the wary edge he’d noticed when she weighed things on a personal level. He could see that work was her comfort zone.
“You really love what you do, don’t you?”
“More than anything. Every day, every deal, every conversation is different and important. Every negotiation is critical, so there’s no room for doing things halfway, which suits my personality perfectly. But my days are a little crazy. Oh, and I called your friend Phoebe. Thank you for the referral. She’s showing me office space Saturday.”
“That’s wonderful. If anyone can find you an office, it’s Phoebe.”
She sighed. “I’m beginning to wonder if I’m too picky.”
“Picky is good.”
“Picky is limiting.” Her eyes widened a little. “Miranda is on vacation for the next week with her sister, so she can’t be there to give me input.”
“Hasn’t she been texting you?”
“Yes.”
“So, it’s a working vacation?”
She laughed, like he’d asked the most ridiculous question in the world. “She’s a good assistant. She still handles what she can when she’s away.”
“You’re serious?”
“Of course. She worked for me for two years as an intern while she was in college before coming on full time. She’s always lived here in New York, and I lived in L.A., so our hours were askew. She’s awesome, and she’s as driven as I am. Weclick.”
“You’re not worried she’ll burn out? Everyone needs a real vacation.”
“She wants to learn the business from the ground up, and she is. I mean, I can’t allow her to actually handle conferences like other agents do. They let their assistants handle a lot of the details of managing their scouts and some of the minor phone conferences, but I’m a little too controlling for that. I’m afraid she’ll miss something.”
“How will you know if you don’t give her a chance?”
Her eyes took on a serious slant. “The issue is that if she fails, it’s on me. My reputation. I can’t take that risk.”
“So she’s not learning the business from the ground up. She’s watching you handle it and you’re hoping she catches on?”
She rolled her eyes. “I see what you’re saying, but trust me. I need complete control or I’ll be cleaning up messes later. But I don’t want to talk about Miranda in the little time we have. I wish you’d come with me to see the space this Saturday. Do you think you have time? I know you have a million things to do, but I really do worry that I’m being too picky, and it would be good to have someone else’s take on the offices.”
