Filthy Rich Alpha - Virna DePaul Page 0,39
back.
She glanced over and noticed Iris was smiling at her.
“What?”
“You’ve got it bad for this guy.”
“What? I just finished telling you how arrogant he is being—”
“Yeah, but it was that light in your eyes when you said it. And you were smiling to yourself. I’ll bet you anything you were remembering having sex with him…and liking the memory. Admit it, Cara. It’s just me here. You have feelings for him. This isn’t just about sex.”
Oh, God, could her friend be right? But Iris lived on the edge of passion. Logic and planning weren’t even on her radar. How could she be unbiased here? “I’m not sure what it’s about, honestly. He affects me like no other man ever has, that’s for sure. But my life has also gotten a lot more complicated since I fell asleep on his couch. The sex was amazing. He’s incredibly sexy. He can even be sweet and funny. But things can’t continue.”
“Why not?”
She struggled to come up with an answer. “Because he’s my boss.”
“He was your boss when you slept with him.”
“Maybe an error in judgment.”
“Was it?”
She sighed. “He makes me feel like a schoolgirl. All boy crazy and crush focused. But it’s just a crush. These feelings are only because he made my body reach nirvana. But honestly? It isn’t that Branden is my boss, it’s that I can’t risk getting into a situation where I end up leaning on someone. And with Branden, I could. It would be easy to let him take control in all ways. Too easy. And I’d get screwed in doing so.”
Iris shook her head. “You’re crazy, you know. That’s what falling in love is all about—being vulnerable. Leaning on someone else. You don’t lose yourself in the process—you grow.”
“That’s just not me, Iris, and you know it.” Trying to change the subject, Cara said, “How’s the cute neighbor?”
“He’s…cute,” Iris said. She didn’t sound enthusiastic, though. It made Cara think about the man she’d seen at Branden’s this morning. Alex something or other.
“I saw a man this morning and the first thing I thought was Iris.”
“Thanks. Do I need laser hair removal or what?”
Cara laughed. “No, I mean he looked perfect for you. Like someone you could have fun with. He was all tatted up and buff and from what I could see, really attractive. He just had this kind of manly aura around him.”
“Well, it’s probably a good thing I wasn’t there. I’m trying to avoid those types. They’re the ones that get me in trouble.”
“True,” Cara said. She finished the last bite of her pretzel and took a long swig of her water before saying, “But then again, sometimes a little bit of trouble can be fun.” And of course, she was thinking of Branden again.
“You’re not listening to a word I’m saying.”
Branden pulled his gaze away from where he was staring out his corner office window and looked up at Deena.
“I was thinking of something else. What did you say?”
She leaned back in the guest chair in his office, simultaneously crossing her legs and arms and cocking a brow. “Where in the world is your head today?”
With Cara. How he’d missed her at lunch. How he wanted her again, her naked body posed under him, quivering and waiting for him to plunge into her. Her face, turning to him, eyes luminescent, lips soft and curled, skin glowing…
“I’m listening now.”
“Jeannette turned in her applications to Harvard, Stanford, and UCLA yesterday. Bethany got the lead in an Off-Broadway play that shows in three months and you’re to buy the whole front row of seating. Rachel may or may not be a lesbian. Our mother is an idiot and I paid her divorce attorney’s bill this month, which means you need to pay it next month.”
He cocked his head. “Lesbian?”
“That’s what you focused on?”
Looking back out the window, he said, smiling, “I wondered when Rachel brought that girl Lili home for Christmas. They seemed rather close. All snuggled up on the couch and stroking each other’s hair. I hope she knows she can tell me and I’ll be supportive.”
“You always are,” Deena said quietly. “When I married Gerald, you weren’t sure if he deserved me, but you were on my side the whole way. Walked me down the aisle, even.”
He turned and smiled at her. “No man deserves one of my sisters, but Gerald is a great husband to you. I was proud to walk you down the aisle. But I’m assuming you have more to tell me than