Fatal Attraction (Dark Desires 4)

I was the one who would have the upper hand because I knew what he was trying to do. And I was going to beat him to the punch.

Katie the lawyer might be a horny lass, but she was smart enough to know when she was being played. And too smart to not to turn it to her advantage.

Yes, I’d go to his house in the Hamptons for the weekend.

Yes, I expected there would be lots of wonderful sex.

And yes, by the time we got back to the city on Sunday night, my Uncle Allen’s fears would be allayed, and he could rest assured that selling the company to Price Bean & Whitlock was the right thing to do.

After Conner and I made our plans, I tried to focus on the dinner and the small talk rather than the tingling that was going on inside me. I told myself that business would come first before any hanky-panky began. I would be there representing the best interests of my uncle, not my own libido.

When I broached the topic of the agreement before dessert came, Cassandra waved her perfect hands through the air as if she were performing a feat of magic.

“Oh please, let’s not discuss business tonight,” she said. She put a hand on Uncle Allen’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “I find business to be such boring dinner conversation. Don’t you agree… Allen?”

“Well, I suppose…”

“I agree,” Reed said, lifting his glass. “Katie and Conner can handle all the boring detail stuff another time. Tonight, we eat, drink, and make merry.”

“Works for me,” Conner said with a smile, lifting his glass. Everything seemed so staged, but I seemed to be the only one who noticed. I lifted my glass and played along.

Conner said, “Here’s to a long and profitable partnership between Benson Digital and Price Bean & Whitlock. May our ties be strong, our future be long, and ne’er do we wrong.” He gave me a wink. “That’s an old Irish saying from my grandmother.”

“To the future!” Reed said, clinking his glass with mine.

“To the future,” I said, echoing the others.

As we all drank, I watched Cassandra give Conner a smile with the wine glass at her lips.

It seemed that the cats thought the canary cage had been opened.

They didn’t count on this canary having very sharp teeth.

* * *

After dinner, Uncle Allen and I got into his car for the drive back to my apartment. He was a rich man who could have afforded any kind of car. He drove a ten-year old Toyota Camry and lived modestly in a one-bedroom loft downtown. He was truly an inspiration to me, although I would have been driving something a little more modern and living in a penthouse if it were up to me.

“I saw you chatting with Conner McGee,” he said, watching me from the corner of his eye, sounding very much like my mom. “What was that all about?”

“It was about their offer to buy your business,” I said, probably sounding a little more defensive than I should have. “We’re going to meet this weekend to go over every detail, line by line.”

“This weekend?” He frowned without taking his eyes off the road. “That’s odd.”

“Is it?” I asked. “Why?”

“Because guys like Conner McGee do not work weekends,” he said. “Hell, they barely work during the week. Are you sure he wasn’t hitting on you?”

I snorted a laugh. “Really, Uncle Allen? Did you see the woman he was with? Oh wait, of course you did. You couldn’t keep your eyes off her.”

“Hey, don’t fault an old man for appreciating a beautiful woman,” he said with a grin.

“You’re not an old man,” I said. “Not yet.”

“Nor am I an old fool,” he shot back. “I saw the way McGee was looking at you. He might have been talking business, but he was thinking other things.”

“You’re insane,” I said, shaking my head. “Guys like Conner McGee don’t give women like me the time of day.”

“It’s not the time they’re after,” he said. “Trust me.”