“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” I said. “There’s no time for fun on this trip. We’re fully booked.”
“But if I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put U and I together,” he said, his chest puffing out like he was really proud of himself for that one. “Can’t you make time for me for that?”
Jefferson and Dane joined the table, leaving the things they’d brought back to the dining room with them on a side table nearby. My guess was that they had business to discuss with him, but that they were planning on leaving it until after dinner.
It was difficult to believe that we’d come all this way just to see this guy. Dane and I had chosen to drive instead of fly so we could see more of the country, while Jefferson had opted for road transport because he’d just had a long flight over to France and would be going back to the States soon.
The drive had been beautiful and I was more than grateful that I’d gotten the chance to see the countryside from ground level, but it was still quite a distance to have traveled just for one dinner. Especially one dinner with a guy like this.
Dane had told me that he’d be coming earlier, once we’d finally gotten done ticking off my bucket-list items in the water. We’d sat on the back deck and talked, our legs dangling over the side as we spent the little free time we had together.
He’d told me that Fayette Senior was also supposed to have attended the dinner, but he’d called at the last minute to say his son would be attending without him. Apparently, something had come up but he trusted René to get the basic information from Jefferson.
So here we were, stuck with a guy who only seemed to have showed up to attempt to get into my pants. I was flattered, but I wasn’t a fan of the lascivious vibe he was giving off or the way he looked at me.
It wasn’t only because I wasn’t interested in anyone but Dane at the moment, but also because René talked like I was unreasonable for not wanting to hook up with him. Like he was offering me some kind of great gift, and I was throwing it back in his face. I also really didn’t like the way he was treating Katie.
All things considered, he just wasn’t a very pleasant dinner companion. Jefferson sat down at the head of the table, smiling at me before turning toward René.
“We’ve got all the paperwork your father requested,” he said, keeping it friendly but business-like. “If you’d like, we can go over it after dinner and you can ask us any questions you might have while we’re here. Your father and I will set up a video conference to discuss it further once I get back.”
“Ah, but it is okay,” he said with a much more charming smile when he addressed Jefferson. “I will take the paperwork for my papa, but I came to meet this beauty and to share a meal with you all.”
Jefferson looked taken aback but didn’t say anything. A strange expression flashed over Dane’s features, but when I looked again, his face was completely neutral.
I frowned. A second ago, I’d really thought he wanted to clock René, but now, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
René had removed his hand from my leg when they’d been approaching the table, but he put it back now that they were seated. Dragging his fingers up and down my thigh, he moved his hand with me when I tried shifting my legs to the side.
There was a secretive grin on his face when his fingertips skated beneath the hem of my dress and he came into contact with my skin. Taking his wrist in a firm grip, I lifted it off my leg and shot him a look.
He ignored it, making polite small talk with Jefferson while pretending like there was nothing else going on. Suspicion darkened Dane’s eyes as he stared at the two of us from across the table, but there was nothing I could say to him now that our boss wouldn’t overhear.
Apparently undeterred by me dropping his hand back in his own lap, it wasn’t long before I felt his fingers on me again. I exhaled slowly, trying to keep myself from doing something stupid. Jefferson hadn’t heard everything René had said to me before they’d come to the table and