She wondered what he thought as he took in her threadbare couch, a hand-me-down from her fathers and the beat up table and chairs she’d gotten from the second-hand shop.
She hadn’t felt ashamed when Duncan was here. Although he might be rich now, Duncan knew what it was like to be dirt poor. Saxon, on the other hand, looked like he’d been wrapped in silk sheets as a baby.
Why the hell hadn’t she done some housework this morning? With a silent groan, she glanced around at the unfolded laundry and papers strewn everywhere.
“I’m fine. Duncan was here earlier and I thought it was him at the door.”
Saxon gazed at her for a long moment before nodding. “And what did our famous football player want?”
To warn me away from you. The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she bit them back. “Ah, I’m not really sure. We don’t really get along nowadays.”
“But you did once?” Saxon asked.
“Is there something I can do for you, Saxon?” she asked desperately, not wanting to go into her past with Duncan. That was something she hadn’t even told Lila about.
“Call me Joel, please,” he told her charmingly. She’d never heard anyone call him Joel. “I’m actually here to beg something of you.”
She gaped at him for a moment. “What’s that?” When he turned on the charm…whew, she could barely refrain from fanning herself.
“Come have lunch with me. My chef is preparing a number of trial dishes for the restaurant I’m opening and I need to try them out. I’d love to get a female perspective.”
“Well, I’m not an expert when it comes to food.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You do eat, don’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
“And you’re female. I mean, if it were left to me, I’d just have steak on the menu. I would appreciate your help.”
She stared at him, remembering Duncan’s words from the night before. “Is this payment for my debt?”
“Not at all,” he said. “This is me asking a favor from someone I hope might be my friend.”
He stepped closer and leaned down. God, was he going to kiss her?
Did she want him to? Duncan’s image flitted through her mind. No matter how potent Joel Saxon was, he wasn’t the man who haunted her dreams.
“Please, won’t you help me out?”
It would take a stronger woman than her to resist him. Duncan’s warning to stay away from this man ran through her head. But he wasn’t her Dom any longer. She could have lunch with whomever she wished. Plus, it sounded a hell of a lot more appetizing than the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she was about to prepare.
“Thank you, I’d like that. Should I bring anything?”
“Nothing at all. If you’re ready now, I will escort you over.”
“Well.” She looked down at herself. “I’m not exactly dressed…”
Saxon grinned. “Laken, you’re coming to my home, not Windsor Castle. What you have on is fine.”
“Okay, just let me run a brush through my hair.” She moved hastily into the bathroom after waiting for his nod of agreement. There was no mistaking him for anything but a Dom.
She washed her face and tied her strawberry-blonde hair back into a ponytail. Grabbing some mascara, she swiped it over her eyelashes. Well, that would have to do. She looked at herself in the mirror, barely recognizing the gaunt woman staring back at her. When had she gotten so thin? When had she stopped caring about the way she looked? Her normally vibrant hair lay flat and lifeless around her shoulders and it desperately needed a cut.
Her blue eyes stood out against the paleness of her skin and the dark bags beneath them. She pinched her cheeks, hoping to give them some desperately-needed color.
Stepping back out, she found Saxon staring at her flowers.
“Nice flowers—are they from Duncan?”