Raine (Gods of the Fifth Floor #2) - M.V. Ellis Page 0,58

was only when he grinned salaciously and glanced down at his “package” that I noticed the double entendre. I pretended not to get the joke. “Seriously though. What do you need?”

“Well if we’re going to...” I looked off into the middle distance.

“Fuck?”

“I mean, if we’re still going to do that, then it has to be totally separate from work.”

“Easy. No more screwing on my desk. Or on the couch. Or up against the bookcase. Or on the easy chair. Or over the coffee table. Or on the floor. Or against the door.”

My cheeks were on fire, but Raine just laughed. “Don’t sweat it. No sex in the office. We can always grab a hotel for an hour or two over lunch.”

“I meant not in business hours.”

“Really?” He looked incredulous.

“Really.”

“Okay, so we’ll make the extracurricular truly extracurricular. What else?”

“Nobody should know. I really just want to be like every other employee.”

“Believe me, you’re nothing like Michael from Accounts, but I can do that. My lips are sealed. Except for with the other partners. Like I said before, they already know everything. I gave them a blow-by-blow account. We don’t keep secrets.” I couldn’t tell if he was playing games with me again, but I really hoped so.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

“Okay good. Now I have a condition of my own.”

“Really? What is it?” I couldn’t imagine what he could possibly want from me, but it was Raine, so I steeled myself for the worst.

“Dinner with me tonight. I’ll send a car for you at eight.”

“Oh, I... uh...”

“I won’t take no for an answer.”

Why did I get the impression that he never did?

Chapter 22

Raine

* * *

I sat outside her apartment for a few minutes wondering what the fuck I was doing. Like was I seriously taking a woman on a date? Not only that, but I’d told her I’d send a car, then decided to pick her up myself like some goofy high schooler taking his girl to the prom.

How the fuck had any of it even happened? I thought back to when she’d stormed into my office—pissed that I’d submitted the contract—and how I’d somehow wanted to say whatever she needed to hear to make her decide to stay.

I mean, none of her requirements were unreasonable, but even if they had been, I would probably have found a way to make them happen. In fact, even if she really had demanded more money, I would have given her that too, and that knowledge was unnerving. I was used to calling the shots, not the other way around. I really wasn’t comfortable with the whole situation.

Then, after agreeing to deliver the moon on a stick, or whatever else she’d requested, I’d somehow found myself compelled to ask her out. Something I couldn’t recall ever having done before. Not even for my prom, as a matter of fact. Even back then, I’d had girls falling over themselves to ask me.

These days I’d either meet women on the spot, then decide to go home with them, or they’d ask me out. I’d winced at the sound of my voice when I’d said I’d pick her up at eight. The fucking cliché from hell from every romcom ever.

I’d felt like I’d had no choice though. She’d said no sex in the office, or in office hours, so that left evenings and weekends only, but she hardly seemed like the kind of chick who was going to be okay with me hitting her up for a booty call. So, that lead me to the option of dinner and/or drinks, then sex.

I wasn’t sure if she’d intentionally played me, or if we’d accidentally ended up in this place, but either way, the outcome had been the same, and the whole situation was throwing me for a loop. Yet, somehow, I wasn’t uncomfortable enough to pull the plug.

But sitting outside in the car in the cold light of day—or night, to be accurate—I wasn’t sure if, after all that effort, I could even go through with it.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud rap at the window. Shit. I wound it down.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“I figured I’d come down and see if this was still happening. No biggie if not, but I need to let my roomie know, so that she’ll cook extra dinner for me, if I’m not eating out.”

“What makes you think it’s not on?”

“You’ve been sitting down there for ten minutes.”

“How did you...?”

“Know you were here? Are you kidding me right now? First, I heard you before I saw you. That