Counting the Days (Counting the Billions 1)

Daniel seemed to trust them, I reminded myself as we walked into the office and past the line of desks. Plenty of people greeted Daniel as he walked past, and he said good morning to all of them, asking about their spouses and their kids. It was clear he only worked with people that he liked. So he had to trust them, didn’t he?

But I kept circling back around to Matt and Leanne’s warnings. They thought I should be careful, that maybe I should reconsider going to work for Daniel. They thought that he was bad news, and that my involvement with him could affect my future business prospects. I was worried that they might be right about that, if information about me made it into the tabloids.

Suppose that information about us didn’t make it into the tabloids, though? What if we were careful?

Well, I still knew I wasn’t his type. I still knew that he wasn’t going to commit to more than a one-night stand with me. My gut told me that he wasn’t a terrible guy, and something about the look in his eyes after our kiss the previous day had made me think, maybe for just a moment, that he might not be thinking about just sex with me. That was just wishful thinking, though. That was just what I wanted to believe.

But my gut had been wrong before. He might be every bit the asshole that the tabloids made him out to be. This might all be a game to him. Kissing me might have been nothing more than a joke. Now, if only I could quit thinking about it.

Daniel cleared his throat as he shut the office door behind us. “I hope yesterday didn’t make you uncomfortable,” he said quietly. “I was acting on impulse when I kissed you.”

I looked over at him in surprise and saw just how earnest he was to make sure that I didn’t feel uncomfortable. But I was sure that I had been the one to kiss him, not the other way around.

Daniel grimaced when he saw my surprise. “I know I shouldn’t have done it, there’s just something about you that made me act without thinking. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

I shook my head. “Don’t be sorry,” I said. “I’m the one who started it. I’m the one who was being unprofessional.”

Daniel stared at me and then gave a quick shake to his own head. “Abby,” he began, but I cut him off with a laugh.

“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “It was a good kiss, anyway.”

I didn’t know what possessed me to say it. Here I was, sure that I probably shouldn’t be letting myself get tangled up with Daniel. I knew that it was only going to end with me hurt. But the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, like I was just begging for him to hurt me.

Sure enough, Daniel got a cocky smile on his face. “I can do better,” he said confidently.

I ducked my head, but something about the way he said it flared my competitive spirit. “I can do better too,” I said, even though I knew that the last thing I needed to do right then was to flirt even more with him.

Daniel took a step closer to me, and the heat in his eyes was unmistakable. “Maybe you’ll just have to prove it,” he said.

I grinned at him and took a step back. “Maybe I will,” I agreed, “but maybe you’re going to have to work for it if you want another kiss.”

“What did you have in mind?” Daniel asked.

I shrugged one shoulder coolly, nonchalantly, as though my heart weren’t trying to beat out of my chest at that moment. “You’re the boss,” I reminded him.

Daniel laughed easily and openly, and I found myself watching his face a little too closely. Damn, he was gorgeous when you got past that professional exterior, or past the arrogant image of him that the paparazzi liked to paint. “If I’m the boss, why should I be the one who needs to work for it?” he pointed out teasingly.

I had to admit, he had a point there. But what I was really thinking about, just then, was how fun this is. And how interested in me he seemed. Was I ready to chance it all on what could very well be just his attempts to get me into bed with him? I suddenly decided that I was. For all that it might hurt me to realize that this was nothing more than a one-night stand, at the same time, I wanted it. Where was the harm in that?

I stepped back toward him, reaching out to run my palms up his chest, feeling the fine material of his shirt beneath my palms and the firm, warm muscle beneath the shirt. “I guess you’re right,” I told him breathily, my voice betraying just how badly I wanted this. “Maybe I’m the one who should be working to prove to you how much better I can kiss when I’m not surprised.”

“Tit for tat, that’s the way I do business,” Daniel said, his voice gone husky with desire of his own. “You show me what you can do, and I’ll show you what I can do in return.”

I grinned crookedly at him and leaned up on my toes so that I could kiss him.

If I had thought that there was passion in the kisses we had shared the previous day, it was nothing compared to this. No, this sent goose bumps running down my arms, my whole body on high alert as he moved his lips sensually across mine. One of his hands found its way down to my hip, and he wasn’t pulling me closer to him but merely resting it there. But that bit of contact sent heat pooling through my body.

His tongue slipped into my mouth, stimulating bundles of nerves I had never realized were even there before. I couldn’t help moaning, and he groaned in response to the vibration in our joined mouths.

We made out for a long few minutes, exploring each other’s mouths, getting to know what made the other person tick. There was something more intimate about this kiss than about any of the sex I’d ever had in my life, something about Daniel that made pleasure erupt in me from something as simple as a kiss. He didn’t have to take things any further for me to realize that I was hopelessly starting to have feelings for him.

But was it really hopeless? As Daniel pulled away, I could see the heat reflected in his gaze, but there was something tender about the way he rested his forehead against mine.

“Would it be a mistake for me to take you out to dinner on Friday night?” he asked.

Dinner? I tried to remember if I had ever seen anything about Daniel taking women out to dinner. But if he had ever done it before, with anyone other than the daughters of his business associates, then the paparazzi hadn’t found out about it.

Or maybe I had just missed that little tidbit.