“Ah. You want to talk about when we fucked.” He grinned. “Does that mean you want to fuck again?”
I knew this was going to be bad. I just hadn’t anticipated how badly it would go. “No. I mean, I just think we should talk about what it means. What happens next.”
“What happens next is I go to my next meeting.” Maxim stood as if to dismiss me — or at least end this thread of conversation. “You were supposed to go to that meeting, too, but it seems like you have too much on your mind.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped before taking a deep breath. Hold it together, Ruth. “I just want to make sure that we are fine. That work won’t be weird.” Well, weirder than it already was on the morning after I had hot sex with my boss in the back of his car and he had given me a condo and a personal driver in exchange.
Whoa — wait a minute. Had he paid me for sex? Oh my God, did my first sexual encounter make me a prostitute?
“I can keep work and play separate,” he said. “Can you?”
With that, he drew his hand from his pocket to show me my lost thong from last night.
Was I the only woman in the world who regretted having sex with a billionaire? Because it was starting to feel like it.
I snatched my thong from its precarious position dangling between his fingers and, in lieu of pockets — seriously, why didn’t designers think women wanted pockets? — stuffed it between the pages of my notebook.
“I was looking for that,” I said lamely, if only to end the painful silence that filled the office.
“Maybe if you were a little more organized, you could keep track of everything,” Maxim said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Go on. Aren't you going to write that down? That's good advice. Something you can learn from this internship.”
He knew darn well that my thong was inside my notebook. He’d seen me put it there. All Maxim wanted to do was embarrass me.
It was working.
“I think that’s a pearl of wisdom I can remember,” I said, smiling tightly and tapping my temple. “Thank you. Always learning so much from this internship.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Find somewhere else to put your lingerie, Ruth. You’ll need that notebook for the next meeting.”
I was at least grateful that today’s schedule was jam packed. So many meetings and so many people to meet meant that I spent very little time in my own head. Otherwise, I would’ve simply spun the same thought around and around until I vomited: What was I doing here?
“I’m going to need you to stay late tonight,” Maxim said just as I was gathering up my things. “A lot of work to do on that acquisition.”
“I can’t,” I said, halfway regretting the opportunity to be alone at night with Maxim. The other half of me was grateful I had an excuse. “It’s Becca’s first performance tonight. With the orchestra. I told you about it.”
He gave me a dubious look. “Are you sure that’s more important than the work we’re doing here?”
“Of course this work is important,” I sighed. “You know how much I care about it. But it’s going to still be here tomorrow. Becca’s debut only happens tonight. And it’s important to me that I support my friend.”
I was racking my brain for more arguments as Maxim’s brow furrowed, but he suddenly smiled.
Somehow, I didn’t feel reassured.
“That’s perfect,” he said. “I’m looking for something to entertain my brother with. I take it you don't have a date to the performance?”
Way to make a girl feel really special. “You don't need a date to enjoy good music,” I said, lifting my chin.
“I’ll send you another dress,” Maxim said. “We’ll pick you up at — what time is the performance?”
“No,” I said emphatically. “Max, no. No new dress. Absolutely not. And you don’t need to pick me up.” I wouldn’t be able to face his driver again, let alone the backseat of the car. “We could just, you know, meet there. At the performing arts center.”
“Ruth Miracle.” The tone of his voice, all at once taunting and smoking and full of promise, made me shudder. “If I didn’t know better, I would think that you didn’t want to be seen with me in public. That maybe you didn’t want this internship, even.”
I swallowed drily. “Of course I want this internship.” Was my position here contingent on saying yes to Maxim on everything else?
“Or maybe you don't want me.” Maxim rose from his desk, and I stood too, helplessly backing away from him.
“I …” Careful, Ruth. God, this was tricky. Because as confused as I was, as much as I might regret all of this, I did want him. I wanted to feel him inside of me again, to have his lips on mine, taking everything, breathing for me. I wanted all of this and none of it — without even really knowing what it was — and I felt like I was going to be torn apart.