in on the French fry and milkshake experience,” I said with a laugh.
He looked up at me. “I’ll admit, I enjoyed the fruit smoothie I had with you in England much more,” he said, his eyes searching mine.
I stood there, speechless, knowing what he was implying and remembering. He brought the palm of my hand to his soft, full lips. “I do wish to try that again and soon. Goodnight, Avery.” He looked back at the car, where I definitely needed to help Addy with the harness of her car seat. “Thanks for a fun dinner, Addy,” he said, and then he slipped his sunglasses on, smiled deviously at me, and I watched him walk like the million-dollar-man he was to his waiting car.
After I buckled in Addy correctly and sat in my seat, we took off and headed for home. That night—thanks to Jim, bringing up the smoothie from England—my eyes fell closed to that memory. The smoothie that started it all with us tasting delicious sweets from each other. Then I taunted him by spilling the smoothie on myself, and his eyes grew dangerously hungry in his kitchen.
One thing had led to another, and it turned out to be the most arousing and delicious sex I’d ever had. I had shivers of desire to feel his lips over my abdomen, my neck, my breasts—everything while he took and embraced my challenge of licking the smoothie off my body.
God, I sincerely hoped this all worked. I loved how Addy had taken to him. I adored the way he interacted with her, and I still couldn’t get over the fact that we were reunited like this. I loved being with him in England, and now back in my reality, being with him like this at home. This was the real test for the man I walked out on that morning at his England estate. Mostly, this was the test of commitment because there was a lot Jim hadn’t seen on my side of the fence. I was a single mom, yes…but there was more shit in my life and I wasn’t quite sure that was something Jim would be willing to take on. We’d find out soon enough, I’m sure.
Chapter Twenty
Jim
My six o’clock meeting was going late as I expected it would. We were working with a challenging client, trying to go over final details for acquiring their boutique clothing line. Friday nights could be the worst, but as usual, I was prepared for it.
In my selfish interests, I would’ve liked to have skipped the meeting and ask Avery to spend tomorrow together, doing whatever she wanted. I didn’t care what. I just longed to be in her presence and learn more about the side of her I’d met at dinner with her and Addy. Her daughter was an absolute gem and Avery’s mini-me for sure. I had nothing of great importance going on this Saturday and was hoping that with Avery not having Addy for the weekend, she’d be free too. If this meeting ever could end, I’d text her and see if she was open to doing something together.
“Listen,” I finally said, regaining control of the room, “while I would like to sit and continue the slides and presentation, I’ve noticed the expressions on your faces,” I said to the two businesswomen. “I believe we’ve lost you both somewhere.”
“We just don’t feel comfortable having a company buy us out like this,” one of the ladies responded.
Alex and I exchanged knowing glances. After going through it, I knew this presentation would hit a raw and very wrong nerve with these women. The presentation had not been properly researched, and it was not catered to their specific needs. Whoever came up with this needed to be fucking fired.
Alex read the expression on my face and instantly knew he had to find a better way to make this happen and immediately. If the person who was responsible for this didn’t help Alex fix this embarrassment quickly, Alex would be personally letting them go. We were a better company than this, and I wouldn’t tolerate people half-assing it with their jobs.
I watched Alex go directly to his phone—and until the solutions came in, I was speaking up. I couldn’t sit in this room a second longer with these two women believing we were the bad guys, trying to steal their company from them. We saw value and we wanted to invest and help them grow their business to what I already knew