“What did your brother say? Was he sorry?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t know. We haven’t spoken since.” He flipped my hand over and linked his fingers through mine.
I couldn’t imagine going a single day without my sister, let alone years. “Wow. And did he start his own jewelry business like you did?”
“Last I heard he worked in the back office at one of the banks in the City.”
His brother should have been protecting him, not selling off the family business. “I bet that’s a huge motivation for you. Creating Daniels & Co and being so successful.”
“A little,” he replied. It was just two words, but they unlocked a lot about the man in front of me. I couldn’t imagine what such a betrayal by a member of my family would do to me.
Dexter’s brother wasn’t the only one who had betrayed him. Sparkle shared the blame. I was working for the enemy. “I bet you want to beat Sparkle in this competition, huh?” I asked.
“A little,” he repeated. “I want to kiss you more.”
I bit back a smile. He was lying. But I could live with that. “What are the odds, do you think?” I asked, thinking out loud.
“Of me kissing you? That’s up to you. What do you think the odds are?”
“Hmm, well, given your form, I’d say . . . three to ten?”
“Three to ten?” he asked, his brow crinkling in confusion. “That’s specific.”
“I have no idea what I’m talking about,” I confessed. “I’m not a girl who makes bets.”
I liked this guy. Against my better judgment, I was here at dinner with him. “It would be complicated, wouldn’t it? Me on the Sparkle team and everything?” I had my reservations about Dexter. He was devastatingly handsome and I wasn’t in London to be devastated. And I wasn’t exactly the ideal woman for him. I hadn’t had anything to do with taking over his family business, but I was working for the people who had.
He sighed and sat back a little in his seat, cold air filling the distance between us. Despite myself, I wanted him to kiss me. And that was the problem. Because I couldn’t remember ever being on a date and wanting so badly to be kissed. First dates were all about thinking about whether the date would end in a kiss. Until tonight, the answer had always been absolutely not or maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Once or twice it had even gotten to you never know, it might be amazing. But the idea of kissing Dexter didn’t make me think. It made me feel a thousand feelings—the fluttering swirl in the base of my belly, the shiver at the bottom of my spine, and the pulsing heat under my skin. I couldn’t wait for him to kiss me.
He glanced up at me as if trying to weigh the pros and cons.
“It’s not like you were the one who bought my family business. We just won’t discuss the competition,” he said, nodding as if it were the easiest answer. I’d suggested the same thing, hadn’t I? It was the only way I could justify sitting here tonight. Work was work. This was . . . not work. And even if I was in London to lay the foundations for the rest of my life, Autumn would be quick to tell me I couldn’t work one hundred percent of the time. I needed time to recharge. That’s what Dexter would be for me—a trip to the spa, but in male form.
“I’m not the enemy?” I asked.
“You don’t look much like the enemy,” he replied, leaning forward, closer than before, the air between us thickening.
The clatter of the restaurant faded into the background, and all I could focus on was the rise and fall of Dexter’s chest, the way his lips parted and his gaze burned into me.
He slid his hand around the back of my neck and dropped a kiss on the side of my mouth.
I shut my eyes, as if blocking out at least a part of Dexter—the sight of him—would make this moment more manageable. Otherwise, I ran the risk of being completely overwhelmed.
“I’m not your enemy,” I whispered as he pressed his lips on the other side of my mouth.
He growled and I opened my eyes to find him shifting away from me.
“The things I want to do to you,” he said, his voice raw and coarse. I reached out to him, stroking the five o’clock shadow covering his jaw. I ached to know how the rough stubble would feel between my legs.
“Tell me,” I said. I wanted details, to know what he was thinking. I knew that whatever it was, in that exact moment, I would have said yes. To anything.
Nine
Dexter
“I can’t wait to meet this woman,” Beck said, craning his neck to survey the bustling room as if he had a clue what Hollie looked like. He was overly invested.