Fuck. All that focus, and just the sight of her made this ironclad routine of mine get all worked up.
I checked the email, and to no surprise, I saw that it was the offer on the yacht. I paused for a moment, my thumb hovering over the attachment.
Normally, I never checked work emails while out on runs, both because it was hardly the environment to do anything productive and because I didn’t like distracting myself from the workout. But Jillian made me feel impatient, somehow.
I opened the document and scrolled through it. Since this was Jeff’s company, I really didn’t care about the price, if I was being honest. I could afford as many yachts as I cared for, even if I wanted to keep the Mirabella. As for the rest, I’d read through enough sales proposals to know what words to hone in on and which paragraphs to ignore.
Jillian had sent me a solid offer. I knew it was totally reasonable and fair, based on the condition and quality of the yacht. Yet I found myself looking for something, anything that might be unusual or unsatisfactory.
There was nothing like that, of course. Jillian was genuinely good at her job. Despite the tension between us, she was professional enough that I’d have wanted to hire her if I could have.
But was that about to stop me?
I thought for a moment, then closed out the email and called Jillian’s number.
“Good morning, Bruin,” her voice chimed after a few rings, and I was surprised by how much the sound of her voice made me feel genuine cheer. “If you’re calling for the proposal, I just sent it over.”
“Hey, Jillian,” I said, keeping my tone level and professional. “I saw. Just looked it over, in fact.”
“That was fast,” she remarked.
“I knew what I was looking for,” I said. “The Mirabella isn’t the first yacht I’ve sold and won’t be the last. There are a few clauses in the offer I wanted to discuss, though.”
“Oh?” she asked, sounding a little surprised. “Well, I suppose that’s fine, I’ve got some time right now.”
“I’d rather discuss it in person,” I said, a smile growing on my face. “I’ve always preferred dealing with my contacts face-to-face when it comes to these kinds of things. Can you meet on the boat this evening?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Bruin, I-I… ”
“I think we got off on the wrong foot last time,” I continued. “I’m not taken by surprise very much, but you pulled it off. I’d like to show you how Bruin Kincaid really handles himself.”
Maybe it was the blood still rushing through my body, or maybe it was the thought of bending Jeff’s little sister over my dining table and fucking her between those round ass cheeks until she was crying my name out, but I couldn’t keep the husky edge out of my voice.
I knew Jillian was picking up on that, too. I knew it would be easy for her to just insist on having a video conference. If she was business-savvy, she could just make up a story about another important client she’d already agreed to meet. There were plenty of ways to try to turn me down, if she wanted to.
The pause on the line was so heavy I could feel it.
“I can do five,” she finally said, and my smile grew into a grin.
“I’ll see you then, Jill,” I said, and I ended the call.
My heart was racing faster than it had been when I was jogging. I still couldn’t believe the effect this woman was having on me, but god, she gave me a rush.
And I’d meant what I’d said.
I was going to show her how Bruin Kincaid really handled himself.
And I was going to leave her desperate for more.
10
Jillian
I had barely gotten a wink of sleep last night. My hotel room was a luxury suite. Thick walls. Mood lighting. The softest, cushiest king-size bed a girl could wish for. I had poured myself a couple glasses of cabernet and taken a bubble bath while listening to quiet instrumental music, as was my favored bedtime routine. I had abstained from doing too much work or even thinking about looking at the stacks of paperwork in my briefcase. I did everything I was supposed to do to ensure a good night’s sleep. But it just was not happening.
Not when my mind and my heart were in an epic battle over how I should feel about my meeting with Bruin Kincaid. The logical, reasonable part of me was desperately begging me to just chill out and put him out of my mind, pretend this was going to be just a regular, boring business meeting. Paperwork. Negotiations. A firm handshake and a curt goodbye at the end of it all. But that emotional, wilder side of me kept poking at it, asking me all kinds of awkward questions I did not want to answer or even consider.
What if I lost my cool and started blushing? What if I got all tongue-tied? What if he was cruel? Teasing me? What if he made fun of me for looking at him and his package the way I did when I walked in on him? Did he do it on purpose, planning for me to walk in on him that way to catch me off-guard? Was it all just a big, mean joke to him? Did he still see me as that same shy, awkward, nerdy little girl who got all twitchy and nervous whenever he glanced at me for even half a second?