The Dealmaker (Sex & Bonds 1)

I pick up the menu. “Gladly. How do you feel about oysters?”

“Love them.”

I order a dozen raw oysters to start, along with some crab legs, ceviche, and lobster tacos. I can tell Nora approves by the increasing volume of the orgasmic sounds she makes as I list off the items one by one to the bartender.

“Aiden,” Nora says when the bartender turns away after refilling our waters. “His call—that’s what upset me earlier.”

My pulse skips. This is the first time Nora’s willingly offered information about Aiden. I glance at her beer glass, which is still half full.

“I’m not telling you this because I’m drunk,” she says, reading my thoughts. “I’m only one and a half beers in. Give me some credit.”

I hold up my hands. “Okay. Just making sure you aren’t going to say something you’ll regret.”

“But I won’t regret saying it to you, will I?” Her eyes search mine, the scrutiny making me shift on my stool. “Because at your core, you’re not a dick.”

It’s like she’s saying I know this because I’ve seen you, the real you, and I like that guy. I trust him.

It’s a huge leap of faith on her part. If I were in her position, I’m not sure I’d have the bravery to take that leap. But she does. She’s taking that leap right now, and the fact that she’s witnessed both my Jekyll and my Hyde and still sticks around—the fact that she’s taken my ugly and shown me it’s not that ugly after all—cracks open my chest.

It makes me feel like I can breathe again for the first time in decades.

She looks at me for a long beat before letting out an even longer breath. Using her thumb to catch the condensation that slides down her beer glass, she says, “Aiden and I had a thing last year. We started hooking up, it got serious—well, it got serious for me, anyway—and, long story short, he called it off out of the blue three months ago.”

“Ouch.”

“No kidding. It hurt like hell.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Still hurts sometimes.” She’s not looking at me anymore, and I wish she were so I could get a better grip on how she feels about what she’s sharing. “I’m embarrassed, for one thing. Sleeping with a coworker is a bad idea. But sleeping with your boss? That’s career suicide, and I did it anyway.”

“He is British,” I say, going for a little levity. “That accent will melt anyone’s knickers.”

It works. She laughs, a soft sound that fades too quickly. “We tried to keep it a secret, but I’m pretty sure everyone at work knew.”

“Word travels fast on the floor.”

“Luckily Wall Street Bathroom never caught wind of it. But I felt the risk was worth it at the time. It seemed like Aiden could be the real deal, you know? We traveled everywhere together, and he treated me to some of the most amazing experiences of my life. I think . . . yeah, I was in love with him at one point.”

I slowly sip my beer, trying not to wince even though I know the blow is coming. “But?”

“But he never wanted to make it official. Said he was looking out for me, looking out for my career. Which is why he couldn’t call me his girlfriend, or be seen with me in public.”

My stomach sinks as last night’s words come back to haunt me. My colleague and I were just heading to our rooms. And the fact that Nora and I were hooking up in some unlit corner, hiding from the world, hidden even from each other in the darkness—

Jesus.

“I should’ve known better,” Nora continues, echoing my thoughts. “It’s not like I was some twenty-three-year-old analyst at the time. I knew sneaking around wasn’t what I wanted, but I still answered his call, every time.”

My hand tightens around my glass. “Why?”

“I wanted to be somebody’s someone. Especially when that somebody was Aiden.” She lifts a shoulder. “He’s handsome, and successful, and yes, he has the accent going for him too. My mom talked all the time about guys who were ‘the total package’ and I guess that aspiration rubbed off on me—the idea of ending up with someone who did have it all. The looks, the job. The big, charming personality. But guys like that . . . I’ve never had much luck with them. We never clicked, you know? They told me I was too much of this, not enough of that. Until Aiden. All of a sudden he walks onto the trading floor and starts paying attention to me, and bam.” She snaps her fingers. “I was in. I thought he could finally be the one. I even thought about having kids with him.”

Nora Frasier wants to fall in love. She’s just looking for it in all the wrong places.