“How?” I frowned into the phone.
“There’s a nonchalance, an annoyed tone, an awkward dismissal. You don’t have any of that toward me.”
“I’ve dismissed you,” I said. “Stop being so arrogant.”
“I’m not arrogant, just right. Just remember you can come to work tomorrow and have your wicked way with me.”
“Don’t count on it,” I said. “I’m coming to work to work,” I lied. I was going to be happy when this week was over. Everything was getting way too complicated.
Chapter Nine
There was a large bouquet of mixed colorful flowers sitting on my desk when I walked into the office the next day. Bright pinks, oranges, yellows, greens and purples beamed up at me as I stared down at the different petals. I could feel my heart beating fast as Scott walked out of his office.
“Morning, Elizabeth,” he said with a bright smile.
“Morning,” I replied and cocked my head. “Are the flowers from you?”
“Yes,” he said and walked toward me. “I wanted us to start fresh. I wanted to apologize for anything I’ve said or done that might have been offensive.”
“Oh, really?” I knew I sounded surprised.
“Yes.” He grinned. “I lied when I said I was going out of town last weekend. I’m sorry. I had my reasons, but that wasn’t right.”
“It’s fine.” I shrugged. “I don’t care.”
“It’s not fine, but if you don’t care…” His voice trailed off and I could see he looked unsure of himself. It made me feel bad for a few seconds, but I ignored the feeling. I didn’t want Scott to redeem himself and humanize himself as more than a sexual object. It scared me. The fact of the matter was that I liked being alone. It was comfortable and safe. I liked that I could hate him while desiring him at the same time. It made it so that things couldn’t get too deep. There could be no heartbreak if I didn’t let him in deep enough to break it.
“I need you to come over and do some work tonight,” he said and pulled out some keys from his pocket. “Come over around seven. I’m going to dinner, so I might be a little late, but make yourself at home. We’re going to have a late night working. There’s a board game conference next month and we’re launching three new games, so I want to get some test groups set up.”
“Okay.” I nodded as I took the keys from him. “I’ll be there.”
“Good, let’s get to work. I want to go over some numbers with you for a meeting tomorrow. I’m going to need you to give a presentation.”
“Presentation? I haven’t even been here a week.”
“You can fake it.” He grinned. “You’re an actress, after all.”
“I’m an actress of the ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’ and ‘To be or not to be’ variety. Not the ‘And when you land on Park Avenue, you have the opportunity to buy it or let it go to auction’ variety.”
“So you like Monopoly?” he asked with a grin. “We don’t actually make that board game here. Hasbro is one of our biggest competitors, but I’ll admit it’s a good classic. You can come over and play it some time if you want to.”
“I don’t want to.” I frowned.
“Or you can come to one of my family board game nights.” He continued. “My family loves getting together and playing games.”
“You guys must all be really close,” I said, slightly envious. “You talk about your sister a lot.”
“We’re all quite close, particularly Aiden, Liv and I. My older brother Chett and my older sister Gabby keep more to themselves, but Liv, Aiden and I are really close.” He nodded and smiled. “It’s nice.”
“You’re really lucky,” I said. “My family is quite dysfunctional.”
“Oh, so is mine.” He laughed. “Remember I told you about my sister and her boyfriend?”
“The guy you said was putting up with her crap?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Well, he was kinda fake-dating my older sister Gabby when he started hooking up with Liv, only Liv didn’t know.”
“What?” I asked, my jaw falling open. “Are you serious?”
“Yup, he was kinda fake-engaged to Gabby.”
“But he was dating Liv?” I said incredulously.
“Yup.” He nodded. “They hooked up at some wedding.”
“Wow.” I stared at him in shock. “You’re joking, right?”
“Nope.” He laughed. “So, yeah my family is a bit crazy too.”
“There has to be more to that story.” I gazed at him curiously.
“There is.” He nodded. “Maybe I can tell you over dinner sometime.”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lower lip.
“No pressure.” He shrugged. “I could also tell you in bed, if you’d prefer that.”
“In bed?” I stared into his eyes.
“After we make love, but before we fall asleep.” He grinned. “That’s when most intimate talk happens, right?” His fingers brushed a loose tendril of hair behind my ear. “If you prefer that, we can make that happen.”
“We’re not going to be making love again.” I stifled a groan.
“Okay,” he said, and I frowned. Okay? That was it? “The next move is up to you, Elizabeth,” he said softly and stepped back. “You already know what I want,” he said and smiled at me. “Make yourself a coffee and come into my office in fifteen minutes. We have work to be doing.”