small kitchen. There was a dining table that could seat four people, so I took a seat. Paintings of flowers were on the walls, along with family portraits on the mantel. One that stuck out to me the most was a picture of her and her mother. At least, I assumed it was her mother—because they looked like sisters.
Siena placed the glass in front of me before she took a seat, the bottle in hand. She swirled the contents before she brought it to her lips. Lipstick was already smeared across the glass because she’d been drinking out of it with her other date.
“When did you meet him?”
“You really want to talk about the guy I just got rid of?” With her elbow resting on the table, she held the glass near her lips. She licked her lips slightly, collecting the last hint of taste before she took another drink. Her actions were so smooth it didn’t seem like she was making them on purpose. It was natural.
She was naturally sexy. “Just curious. You seem to have a new guy every time I see you.”
“I could say the same about you,” she countered. “Except, in your case, you always seemed to have several new women every time I spotted you.”
I was a magnet for beautiful women. They could feel the pull from my wallet and crotch. “When did you meet him?”
“He came by the gallery the other day. We made small talk before he asked me to dinner.”
“And how did you end up here?”
“I invited him.” She didn’t possess a hint of shame whatsoever. This woman wasn’t afraid to be herself at all. She couldn’t care less about my opinion. She lived a life similar to mine, and she enjoyed every second of it.
If I didn’t want her all to myself, I would actually respect it. “I’m just a phone call away.”
She set her glass down before a ghost of a smile stretched across her lips. “I never pinned you for the jealous type.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Really?” She swirled her glass again. “You usually sabotage dates? Show up on a woman’s doorstep without an invitation? Demand for her to get rid of her date? If you aren’t jealous, then what are you?”
I didn’t have an answer. None whatsoever.
She set her glass down then shifted her gaze out her back door. The sun was setting, and the heat was slowly dissipating. A gentle glow from the sunset still filled the room and blanketed her skin in the most beautiful color. “I’m not looking for anything serious right now. I told you I’m just interested in good sex and my career. And even if I were looking to settle down, you aren’t my type.”
It took me time to process a response because her words caught me off guard. Like she threw a pitcher of cold water in my face, I was stunned. No woman had ever said anything like that to me. Even when I was just a man with a dream, women wanted me for more than the night. It made all the muscles in my torso tense in both offense and curiosity. This woman was completely unaffected by my charm, and it drove me crazy. “Then what’s your type?”
“Not a murderer, for one.”
“Then you’re going to end up with a pussy.”
She ignored the insult. “An average man with average means.”
All women wanted was a rich man who could buy them the world. They wanted nice cars, a beautiful mansion, and a necklace covered in a wealth of diamonds. They wanted to feel like a queen and be married to a king. “Bullshit.”
Her eyes moved to mine, full of hostility.
“All women want security. All women want a powerful man who can protect them.”
“Only women who can’t provide for and protect themselves.” Her fingers wrapped around the stem of her glass, and she fidgeted with it as she kept her eyes on me. “I’ve been doing it for a long time, and I’m pretty good at it. That’s not what I’m looking for in a man. And money is the root of all evil. When you have too much of it, everyone wants it. It’s impossible to tell who really likes you for you…and who wants to screw you over. People will do anything to get their hands on it…even murder innocent people.”
I had a few asshole comments in retaliation, but I didn’t say them because I understood the context of her words. Her mother had been murdered because of her father’s empire.