She’d die if this was some handout because she hadn’t had money that night, or worse, if it was some after-sex payoff. Bang the CEO, get a job.
He smiled. “Rest assured. I’m not doing this because of Friday night.”
She nodded, hearing the sincerity and taking comfort in that. Thank God. “Okay.”
He pulled out another sheet of paper and slid it on top of the other. “I’m doing this because of Friday night.”
She peered down at the new document with dread. “What is it?”
“This says that you will report directly to the head of the PR department, not to me, and that I have no say-so in your employment status and no authority to terminate you in the future.”
“I don’t understand. Why does that matter?” she asked, scanning the page but not really understanding why it was necessary.
He reached out and put a finger beneath her chin, lifting her face toward his. “Because when you’re in my bed again, I don’t want you worrying about business getting mixed with pleasure.”
Her ribs pulled tight, her spine going ramrod straight. “Excuse me?”
He lowered his hand but not his uncompromising gaze. “I told you on Friday. One night was not enough.”
“And I told you that’s all I had to give,” she said, the words barely making it past her constricted throat. “Is this a condition of the deal?”
His lips curved with hot promise. “Of course not. I plan on pursuing you whether you take the job or not.”
“Kade,” she protested, goose bumps breaking over her skin at the thought of him touching her again. But bad idea didn’t even begin to describe what getting involved with him would be, especially now. “I can’t, we can’t . . .”
He stood and walked around the desk, sliding into the spot in front of h
er. The look he gave her when he perched on the edge of the desk and peered down stripped her to the studs. “Tell me you haven’t thought about Friday night.”
Her gaze dropped to her hands. God, of course she had, about a thousand times since she’d left him. I can teach you things. His naughty words had reverberated through her every night when she’d lay in bed alone. “It doesn’t matter if I have or haven’t.”
“Of course it does. In fact, right now, that’s all that matters to me,” he said, his voice like warmed honey sliding over her. “Put me on your list, Tessa.”
Her attention snapped upward. List? “What? How do you know about—?”
“Your friend, Sam, let it slip when I tried to find you to see if you were okay,” he said, as if it was totally normal that he’d sought out her best friend to track her down.
Humiliation washed through Tessa, and she made a mental note to kill her best friend. Headstone: Samantha Dunbar, death by TMI.
“So what item did I check off for you?”
She put a hand to her forehead. Jesus. This is not happening. “We are so not talking about this.”
“Oh, we so are.” He nudged her with his knee, his whole demeanor switching to playful mode. “I’m dying to know. Was it seduce a stranger?”
She snorted. “Hello, you seduced me. I was minding my own business, thank you very much.”
He grinned. “Okay, I’ll grant you that. So, let’s see, was it, have a one-night stand? Do something kinky?”
She groaned. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Fine, my list has things on it I want to improve. One of them was what my ex said to me about being bad in bed.”
Kade’s expression instantly darkened. “Your ex obviously had no idea what to do with you.”
“Probably not.”