I realized he had been watching me, noticing that I hadn’t even touched my salad yet.
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said, and then picked up my fork to eat a bite. “Anyway, enough about me. What’s been going on with you over these years?”
“Just working with your brother,” he said.
“What about outside of work? Anyone…um…special in your life?”
He stared down at his steak as he cut it into strips. “No one worth bragging about…yet.” He then looked up at me with hunger in his eyes that had nothing to do with the food in front of him. My entire body wanted to quiver from head to toe. Something stirred low in my belly and my breath hitched in my throat.
“A handsome guy like you, with no one special? That’s hard to imagine,” I said, staring down into my salad.
Anderson was quiet for so long, I eventually looked up.
“You think I’m handsome, huh?” he said, and then laughed.
“Conceited too, I see,” I said, jokingly.
“What are you doing for the rest of the night, Joanna?” he suddenly asked, leaning in.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Nothing. I mean, with the exception of going over those numbers with you after dinner.”
Anderson looked back down to his plate. “Yeah…the numbers.” He took a bite of his steak and chewed slowly. He glanced around the restaurant. “I don’t think this is the right environment for that. How about we go back to my place after this? We can check them out there, if it’s all right.”
I swallowed anothe
r bite of my salad and stared across from Anderson, feeling far too aware of how much I wanted him. With the way I felt, I knew going back to his place was a dangerous prospect because I didn’t want to be so bold on the first date.
But it felt so tempting…
But I’ve known him since I was a kid. And there’s no need to jump ahead of myself. Maybe he really does just want me to check over the numbers, I thought.
I took a deep breath. “Yes, that’s fine,” I said, noting the smirk he was trying unsuccessfully to conceal. It was just like the smirk I was trying to keep off my own face.
CHAPTER 6
Joanna
Okay, I can do this. We’re just going to look over the numbers, I thought as I followed Anderson’s car through the late evening traffic.
My heart was beating too fast for my liking, but I couldn’t calm down when my mind revisited the moments during the rest of the dinner over and over again. There was definitely something more to his flirtations, something that brought heat to my insides. I hadn’t imagined all those heated glances he threw at me or the moments of intense silence as we looked at each other over the table.
I had no idea what was going to take place tonight, but I knew there was no resisting him if he decided to make advances on me. I squirmed on my seat, satisfied with my choice of lingerie. I was wearing a black lace bra and a thong that could only drive him crazy if he were to undress me. I squirmed again, craving for that to happen and much more.
Anderson lived in the rich part of the city, which consisted of luxurious buildings I could only afford to dream about. He proceeded to an underground parking garage, and I followed, my breathing slightly increasing.
I had forgotten what it was like to feel like this. After all that time with Zander, I forgot this anticipation—this thrill that came from not knowing what was going to happen next. Anderson’s mere proximity messed with my mind, and I wanted to see where this night would lead.
“I didn’t tell you, but you look amazing in that dress,” he told me with a smirk on his face on our way to the elevator.
My already erratic heartbeat went haywire. “Thank you, Anderson.”
“Actually, you look amazing in anything. Period.”
We entered the elevator and stopped next to each other, our closeness making my skin burn.
“Aww, you flatter me now, Anderson.”
He pressed the button for the seventeenth floor. “Absolutely not. You’ve grown into a beautiful woman, Joanna.”