“Oh. There was no cell reception or internet down there, just satellite phones for communication. I did try to call, but—”
“Yeah, I know,” she cut me off again. Her tone wasn’t harsh, but there was something lurking beneath it that had me on high alert.
She looked up at me and looked intently into my eyes. When she began to speak her voice was soft, bordering on sad.
“Look, Asher, I know you want to talk about what happened on Friday night. But please, just give me a chance to say what I need to say and respect my wishes on this,” her eyes pleaded with me as she paused. I nodded and let her continue.
“What happened Friday night happened because we were drunk, because we were tired and not ourselves after a week of extremely hard work. It was just a way to release all the tension and stress that had been building up. I'm not going to lie and say that it wasn’t incredible because it was. But that said, I have to tell you that . . . Well, I think it was a mistake. A mistake that we probably shouldn't repeat.
“The thing is, you're already at the top, Asher. But please try to put yourself in my shoes. I'm not at the top and I want to be there, but I have a long way to go. I want to get there entirely on my own merit. It’s something I need to achieve solely because of my own talent, not because I'm sleeping with someone who can pull strings and get me there,” she paused and looked at me with pleading in her eyes. “Please tell me you understand.”
“I understand,” I said slowly, though I was still trying to process everything she had just told me.
“Are you sure? Because the look on your face tells me even you’re not so sure that you do.”
She stood abruptly, not waiting for my reply. “I'm done with lunch,” she half-whispered. “See you back at the office.”
And with that, she hurried out of the restaurant and was gone.
Chapter Eighteen
Lilah
It felt like all of my nerve-endings were on fire as I rushed out of the pizzeria. Flushes of heat trickled across my skin, and all I wanted to do was to sprint away from there was fast as I could.
But I didn't.
I maintained my composure, keeping up my facade cool, calm, and collected. I strode purposefully down the street as if I was a woman in complete control, instead of the emotional wreck who was only barely clinging to the thinnest vestiges of sanity.
All right maybe barely clinging to sanity was pushing it a bit but, it wasn't that far off the mark. I was feeling rather emotionally drained after everything that had happened. And, seeing Asher for the first time since what had happened between us on Friday night, after he hadn't called the whole weekend, had left me feeling like a bit of a wreck by the time Monday morning, and had rolled around.
I'd felt as if he'd achieved his goal—that he'd conquered his prize and everything that had seemed so real between us had actually been a lie. It was bad enough I’d thought it was a mistake, but to think I was just being played was an entirely different thing.
Needless to say, I'd been in quite the mood on Monday morning and had almost been ready to hand in my notice and walk out of there and never see him again. But then, I'd found out about the Costa Rican situation and that he'd had to rush there on short notice to save the wildlife sanctuary. His personal assistant had said there'd been no way for him to have gotten hold of anyone in the States.
Except that he had.
He’d called me. Those strange, foreign numbers that had been calling my phone all weekend had been him and I'd simply thought that they were scammers or wrong numbers.
That led to all sorts of new, twisted feelings of confusion. Everything I'd assumed over the weekend about him and his motivations had been false—and that left me feeling like a fool. He had actually tried to get ahold of me, many times. And I'd been the jerk refusing to pick up the phone.
Still, there was the whole career aspect to consider, and my career remained my priority. It wasn't as if anything I'd just said to him in the pizza parlor wasn’t the truth. I did want to get to the top on my own. I did want to forge a successful career entirely on my own merit. I wasn't sure if I would be able to achieve that if he and I became romantically involved.
But looking into his eyes—just that brief connection—had crumbled so much of my resolve and brought all of those intense feelings I’d experienced on Friday night right back into the forefront. That made this whole situation even more difficult to deal with.
Still, I'd made my choice, as tough as it had been to make— and I fully intended to stick with it. I would do my best to keep a respectful distance from him, and I'd decided that there was no way we could spend any more time together outside of work hours. I wasn't about to put myself—or him—in the path of temptation ever again. I would keep things cool and professional at work, as well. It was the only way I would be able to regain the crystal-clear focus I’d once had on my work. It was the only way to haul myself out of this emotional entanglement.
My mind was made up—despite the emotions, the connection, or the doubts—and that was that.
Chapter Nineteen
Asher
I sat at the table alone, reeling from the shock of what Lilah had just said to me. All this time I'd had her on my mind and, after opening up to her about my family secrets and after Friday night together, was hoping . . .
But hoping for what? Hell, I didn’t even know what I’d been hoping for. A relationship? Was I even capable of that? I'd never been able to commit before. The world had always been my oyster, and I'd never had a problem with picking—or picking up—women before. It seemed to come with the territory when you're a masculine, attractive man who also happens to be a billionaire and a prodigy in the field of business, well, you can't help attracting women. I don't state that to boast or anything. I'm merely stating a fact. Even if I weren’t attractive, the money would be.
But the fact is that when you're spoiled for choice or an object of fantasy and desire, your perception of things can get warped and twisted. I'd dated my fair share of physically beautiful women—models, dancers, pop divas, actresses. It hadn't taken much effort on my part because they'd always wanted me. That, in a way, is possibly what bored me of them pretty quickly. I'd never found a woman who challenged me. Who didn't go after me from the moment she knew I had even the slightest interest in her. Who treated me like just any other guy, rather than a billionaire.