Been There Done That (Leffersbee #1) - Hope Ellis Page 0,43

simple yet expensive clothing that whispered of his wealth, the predatory light in his eyes. “That may be true. Your bullying tactics may be effective, but that it doesn’t make them right, and it doesn’t mean I’m going to accept them lying down.”

He sat forward suddenly, hands clenched on the table. “I’m not a bully. My team is having dinner tonight, with Adesola, at another restaurant. Where they are fine-tuning all the details for tomorrow’s train-the-trainer sessions. If you misunderstood—”

“If? If I misunderstood? So, that’s your line, huh? You didn’t technically lie.”

“I didn’t technically lie, correct.”

“Technicalities.”

“Sometimes, technicalities make all the difference.”

I leaned forward. My voice was hushed and angry when I ground out, “Are you saying you didn’t try to mislead me? To get me here?”

“Hell yes, I misled you.”

My mouth snapped shut and I leaned back, surprised by his admission.

But he wasn’t finished. “You are correct. I set out to deliberately mislead you about dinner tonight. Technically, I told a lie of omission so you’d come. I fully admit that.”

For some reason, his confession cut my anger in half, and that made no sense. I crossed my arms. “And you’re not a bully?”

He gritted his teeth in a way that resembled a smile as much as it did a baring of teeth. “If you want to leave, leave.” Nick lifted his chin toward the private room’s entrance, his eyes flashing with challenge. “I’ll understand, and you have my promise that I’ll continue with the project. I promise that if you leave, it won’t jeopardize my company’s collaboration with the university. The collaboration will move forward regardless. But I want to be clear.” He leaned forward. “I’m not bullying you. I’m not forcing your participation in the project. That’s not me. That’s between you and the university, and whatever hold they must have on you given you’re actually in New York and sitting at this table.”

Glaring at him, I said nothing.

“Now, I know my past behavior has been shitty and you may feel you have cause to believe just about anything of me. But tonight, I believed it would be better if we met separately from the team, to clear the air. If we could, just for tonight, make a distinction between my actual, recent sins and the sins of others, I’d appreciate it. I’m just—I’m just trying to—” He ran a rough hand over his whiskers. “I don’t know what I’m trying to do.”

I lowered my gaze to the tablecloth and considered his words. He hadn’t coerced me to participate in this project; he was right about that. The strong-arm tactics were all Peter, and the school, and the predicament I was hung up in with my lack of grant funding.

Though I didn’t feel any guilt for busting Nick’s ass over the past, it wasn’t fair to lay the blame for all of my current frustrations at his feet.

I risked a glance at him and found him watching me with a grim solemnity. More than a fair amount of salt had invaded the darkened, peppered stubble along his neck. Deep grooves bracketed his lips and his eyes were faintly bloodshot.

“You look terrible,” I blurted rather than ask if he’d been sleeping.

He reared back, brows drawing low. We stared at each for the space of several beats before his lips curved in a small smile.

“Still telling it like it is?”

“I don’t know any other way.”

“I’m glad. Does that mean you’ll stay?”

I hesitated before announcing, “I’m hungry.”

And then, Jesus help me, were actually smiling at each other. I averted my eyes from that roguish grin and worked to gather more righteous indignation before I found my panties around my ankles.

“There’s a lot of history between us.” His gaze dropped to his napkin as he traced its edge. “My goal here, tonight, is to tell you that I’m sorry, but my apologies don’t seem to be going over too well. So maybe I won’t lead with that.”

I grunted.

“But if you’ll allow me to slide a few more in, I do want to say I’m sorry for cornering you in your office earlier this week. And not letting on that we knew each other.”

I tilted my head, studying him. “Why did you do that? It only added to the pressure, you pretending we were strangers.”

He winced. “The moment came and I dropped the ball. I didn’t deliberately set out to be deceptive, I didn’t know how to handle the moment—” He lifted both palms with a short, humorless laugh. “I don’t know how