He nodded his understanding. “I can only imagine the pressure, especially for a young, attractive woman like you to be mentored by an older, bitter person. You must have felt bottled up.”
“I still do,” she admitted, touching her hand to her cheek. “I’ve only just left the company and moved out here. I don’t know anyone, and I haven’t really settled in. I’ve been offered a position at the Kinross office in Boston, but to be honest, even with Gloria gone, I don’t know that I’ll really be able to spread my wings there. People see me differently there than I actually am. I need a fresh start to explore myself more. Do you know what I mean?” She could practically see his fantasy playing across his face. His eyes had changed now. He had a hunger he wasn’t bothering to veil.
She’d checked all the boxes for him. Worldly and competent enough to be qualified for the job so people wouldn’t accuse him of hiring her for the wrong reasons. But also, she was now a self-proclaimed novice in the real world. Ripe for molding and manipulating.
He licked his lips again and ran his hand over his slicked-back hair. “I know exactly what you mean. The world is a big place and it sounds as though Kinross only showed you one side of it. Work is important, but a woman like you should be experiencing all of life, not only what Gloria told you was important. I feel like we could be a good fit for you. We do a good job, embracing our young new employees and making sure they settle in. I take a personal interest, actually. I know you probably think I’m the old man who doesn’t know a thing about having a good time.”
“You’re not much older than I am, I’m sure.” Carmen laughed a breathy little chuckle. “And just about everyone knows how to have a better time than I do. I’ve been in the city for days and haven’t done anything besides order room service and use the hotel gym. It’s pathetic.” Again, she touched her cheek. “I’m so sorry, I’ve derailed this interview. I’m over-sharing by a mile and not making a very good impression. I won’t take any more of your time.” She stood quickly and shook her head as though to admonish herself.
“Whoa, hold on a minute. I decide when the interview is over.” He pointed back at the chair, and she obediently sat back down. These were all little tests. How quickly would she react to his demands? What would she question? Where would she assert herself, if at all?
“I’ve made a fool of myself,” she said apologetically. “I can assure you I’ve been to a lot of other interviews, and I don’t usually conduct myself this way. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I have that effect on people occasionally.” He grinned widely and leaned across his desk toward her. “You’re doing fine. Just relax. I’m the one who led us down this path. Like I said, I hate those old traditional interview questions. For a position like this in a company our size, you wouldn’t make it this far unless you were qualified. Your résumé and referrals are impeccable. So, I just have to like you. That’s the only hurdle left.”
“Oh,” she said nodding sadly. “I was never good at jumping those hurdles in gym.”
“You’ve sailed right over this one.” He winked and leaned back in his chair. “Listen, I think I know how we got here.”
“You do?”
“You’ve been cooped up in a hotel for days in a city you don’t know. You’re coming out of a very demanding position with people you’ve probably worked with for years.”
“That’s true.”
“You need to get out. Relax. You should be interviewing this city just as much as we’re vetting you to work here. Find someone who can take you out and show you around.”
“Not a skill on my résumé,” she sighed. “The finding someone is the hard part.”
“I can’t see how that’s possible for someone like you.”
She shrugged. “Room service isn’t that bad.”
He checked his watch and then leaned over to his computer. “Let me look at my schedule.” He clicked a few buttons and muttered something to himself about moving a meeting. “Why don’t I take you around tonight? I think you’d be great for this role, but relocating can be overwhelming. You have to see if living here feels right for you before you decide to take any offers. I’d be doing you a disservice if I hired you and you hated living here. Human Resources hates onboarding new people just to lose them a few months later. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.”
What a truly clever man. His words snaked out of his mouth so slowly and with such calculation she nearly believed him. He went so far as to bring HR into the situation and somehow make that a positive point for his argument.
“I don’t want to put you out.” She waved him off but kept her eyes hopeful and excited. “You must have your own plans already.”
“I do,” he said, pushing his shoulders back. “I don’t stay in most nights. But I think this is important. I can move some things around and make it work.”
“Really? I’d appreciate it so much. It’s a lot to ask.” She was thanking him, quite profusely, for turning this job interview into a date. She was thanking him for asking probing personal questions that didn’t belong in this room. It made her stomach turn, but the thought of how well this was working made her buzz with excitement.
“I have your number,” he said, standing and gesturing for her to do the same. He’d already attached some invisible puppet strings to her, and in his mind they were working. “I’ll shoot you a text later.”
“That sounds great.” She patted her skirt down and straightened up. “This was really helpful. I really appreciate you putting up with me being unprofessional there for a moment.” Thanking him for sexual harassment and now apologizing where he should be. He was eating this up.
“No worries at all. I’m going to hold off on reaching out to the recruiters and letting them know we’ll be making an offer to you for the job. Let’s see how tonight goes, how you like it here in town, and then you can sleep on it. I don’t want to pile more work on the legal and other departments for nothing. You understand?”
“Absolutely. It’s a plan.” She extended her hand for a shake and he took it slowly in his. Holding it there for a long moment, he smiled again.
“See you tonight.”
She beamed as though she’d just walked out on Christmas morning to find a car in the driveway with one of those comically big bows on it. When he finally released her hand, she turned and walked seductively out of his office. Passing his secretary again, she ignored the woman. It was important that Carmen look a bit snobbish and haughty to others, as much as she hated those two traits.
She was floating on air as she strode toward the car. This time Brian wasn’t taking a nap. He was watching the building intently and perked up quickly when he noticed her.
“You good?” he asked, looking her over for some kind of physical damage she might have suffered.
“Better than good.”
“You got the job?”
“Nope, he’s going to hold that over my head for a little while. He’ll make me wait for it. But he’s picking me up tonight to show me and my tiny sad girl brain around this big giant city.”
“Tonight?”
“I told you it would work. He ate up every single thing I told him.” She put her hand up to her head dramatically. “Oh, poor me, and my stifled personal life. I have no experience with this big world and all the men it. I’m a big ball of sexual tension and naiveté.”
Brian didn’t look impressed with her analysis of the situation. Instead he looked wounded by it.
She tried to sound chipper. “It worked, that’s what’s important.”
“I can’t pretend to be happy about some of this shit. Sorry if that bugs you. The nerve of this guy being brazen enough to ask you on a date during your job interview pisses me off. What an arrogant asshole. Aren’t there rules against that kind of shit at work?”
“That’s the thing, it’s quite clever. He didn’t ask me out. He could sit across from the CEO of the company right now and explain every detail away. I’m new in town. I was em
otional, and he felt bad. It was not him coming on to me, it was obligatory. I’m a good fit for the job, but immature when it comes to the world. He wants to make sure I’m not going to bail after relocating here. He covers his tracks methodically.”
“It’s slimy.”
“Totally. But that’s what he does. Things can be unsavory but not against company policies. Things can be immoral but not illegal. The person who walks that line with such precision is dangerous as hell.”
“I guess we won’t be having dinner tonight?” Brian didn’t sound pouty or childish about it, and she appreciated that. “Rain check?”
“Definitely.” She leaned her head back against the seat and looked out the window. “Did you book the hotel while I was in there? I hope our rooms are okay, the reviews looked good.”
“Room.”
“What?”
“I got us one room.”
Her head snapped toward him and she watched the profile of his face. It didn’t change, even under her scrutiny. “We’re sharing a room?”
“I got two beds.”
“Oh. Well what if I didn’t want to share a room?” She hummed and waited for his answer.
“Then when I told you we were sharing, you’d tell me you didn’t want to, and we’d find a different hotel. They were booked up. There’s some sci fi festival in town and it’s really popular, I guess. They only had the one room. So?”
“So what?”
“So, are you telling me you don’t want to share a room and we need to try to find a different hotel?”
“No.” She shook her head and played out the idea of them sleeping near each other in her mind. So far nothing had happened between them. They were just two people who knew each other. Two people who seemed to be able to talk endlessly on a myriad of topics and never get sick of each other. He was just someone she liked spending time with. Someone she wanted to kiss. Crawl in bed next to. Be held by all night.
Shit.
Carmen tried to make sure her face wasn’t telling the story of the fantasy that had just played out in her mind. “We’re grown-ups. As long as you don’t think that sharing a room means—”
“I don’t.”
“Then it’s probably easier and cheaper. It’s fine by me.”
“Me too.”
“Good.” Her curt response made her cheeks go pink.
Brian hummed out some noise she couldn’t decipher. “You won’t be able to bring your date back to your hotel tonight.”
“I didn’t intend to.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not planning on doing anything with him that I’m going to regret.”
“Do you think you can really get through all this without him getting anything out of it?”
She, her body rather, was the ‘anything’ Brian was asking about. Carmen had considered this. There was a line in her head she’d decided she wouldn’t cross just to get what she wanted. “I know what I’m willing to do and what I’m not willing to do. That’s all that matters. I’m not whoring myself out for this.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
“You look all weird now.” She gestured to his face. “What’s that about?”
“I figured it was obvious by now.”
“What?”
“I don’t want him touching you. Not holding your hand. Not a kiss goodnight.”
“Why is that a big deal in the grand scheme of things? You shouldn’t worry about that.”
“I didn’t say I was worried about that, I said I don’t want him touching you. I don’t want anyone touching you. Like I said, I thought that was becoming obvious by now.”
“Well, that’s—”
“The truth.” He put his hand on her thigh and she tingled with the heat of his touch. Her skirt was riding up just a bit and his finger danced at the hem.
“I don’t want anyone else touching you.”
“So just you.”
“Unless you don’t want that.”
“Just you,” she replied in an unfamiliar and gravelly voice.
“Just me.”
Chapter Ten
Brian
Still in his work clothes, Brian loved how many heads turned his way in the hotel lobby. He had a duffle bag in his hand rather than what people probably expected. He looked like he was here to change some light bulbs or fix the stairs.
The bar, off the end of the lobby, was dimly lit and elegant. Large, plush chairs around low tables seemed like the perfect place to sit around and talk to Carmen about everything and nothing.
As they finished checking in, Brian took Carmen’s suitcase in his free hand.
“I can get that,” she said, making an attempt to take it back.
“I know you can, but I’ve got it.” Her smile and the funny way she rolled her eyes made his chest warm. “You get the elevator button.”
“I used to fight to be the one to press it when we would go to the old folks’ home to visit my grandpa.”
“Fight with your siblings?”
“Yeah.”
“Brothers or sisters?”
They stepped into the empty elevator and he watched in the mirrored wall as her face had a pained expression. “You don’t have to answer.”
“No,” she said, shrugging. “It’s fine. Two sisters. Younger.”
“You don’t talk to them or anything?”
“Not for a while. When I left home, the best thing I could do for them was to stay away. I brought a lot of problems to their doorstep.”
“It’s been years, they must have tried to contact you by now.”
“They wouldn’t have been able to. I ditched my phone and didn’t tell anyone where I was going. I let them know I was safe and it was my choice to leave.”
“Damn, my family would hunt me down.” The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out, heading toward their room.
“Maybe not if you were in the position I was in.” Carmen swiped the key card and the door beeped as she pushed it open.
“My sister Junie is pretty dogged when she sets her mind to it. I could never shake her no matter what I had going on.” The hotel room was cramped but modern and clean. Only a foot or so, and a tiny end table, separated the two beds. If they both reached out their hands, they could touch.
“It’s nice,” Brian said, putting their bags down on the chair in the corner of the room. “A little tight, but we’ll make do.”
“A little tight?” Carmen said sarcastically. “We’re going to be on top of each other.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“You know what I mean,” she said, pointing a playful finger at him. “You’re the one staking claim to me. No one else can touch.” She rubbed her hands playfully down her sides to her hips. His eyes followed and he wanted her desperately.
“And I’ve barely gotten to so far.” He stretched his back and groaned; the long time in the car had worn on him. His shirt rose up just enough for his muscular stomach to peek out a bit, and he noticed her eyes traced his movements.
“Sore back? I give a great massage.” She sat on the bed closest to her and patted a spot for him to come sit.
“You don’t want to do that.”
“Why? You drove here and then sat in the car all that time for me. It’s the least I can do.” She waved him over, but he didn’t move.
“If I get on that bed right now and you start rubbing my back, this whole thing changes.”
“What whole thing?” She laughed and pretended not to know what he meant. It was hot and maddening all at once.
“This platonic thing we’re doing here. I’m fine with that. I respect you. I’m not one of these guys you’ve been describing.”
“I know you’re not,” she cut in quickly. “I’ve known that since the first night I met you.”
“Then you know I’m not going to pressure you into anything. If you want that bed and I take this bed and we decide to just pretend we’re at summer camp, that’s fine by me. Call this a slumber party. But i
f I get in that bed with you and you rub my back, I’m going to smell your perfume. I’m going to feel your nails on my skin.” He finally took a step toward her, but carefully stopped out of her reach. “It’ll be your breath on my neck. And you know what, I’ll still respect whatever you want, but I’m going to want you.”
Carmen was visibly flushed, her breathing quick and shallow. Brian could tell she wanted him. He suspected it had been a long time since she’d been with a man. He knew he was just the man to break that dry spell, but he needed to know she was as certain of that as he was. She didn’t say another word but kept her eyes on him as she patted the bed again.
“Carmen,” he said, his tone serious and firm. “I mean it. You are sexy as hell and I’ve got willpower. Plenty of it. But you have to know what you want. And I don’t think you’re really sure about much right now.”
She dipped her head low and a myriad of conflicting emotions flashed across her face. He hated to have to be the voice of reason when they both so clearly wanted to be tearing each other’s clothes off right now, but he didn’t want to fuck this up. He didn’t want Carmen to get lines crossed between needing him and wanting him.
Drawing in her bottom lip, she nodded. “It’s probably a bad idea.”
“Probably.”
“And I’m taking on so much right now. I really do need you here.”
“And I’m here. These are two separate things we’re talking about.”
“Maybe they should stay separate until I’m done here in town?” Her voice rose at the end, the question lingering between them. A question he’d already told her she had to answer for herself.
“Whatever you want.” He didn’t put any emphasis on the words to give them deeper meaning. He didn’t layer them with annoyance or sarcasm. He truly meant he’d respect whatever she wanted. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” She looked mortified now and seemed unable to look his way. “I guess it’s the least I can do for dragging you out here.”
Perfect Homecoming (Barrington Billionaires Book 10) Page 7
