“Fine.” She poured coffee for both of them. She hesitated at the bowl of sugar. She usually used four cubes, but she was supposed to cut back on sweets too. God, her doctor had forbidden all the joys in her life—except sex…and that probably only because she’d never discussed the topic with him. She watched Ethan spread a thick layer of strawberry jam on his toast with a pang of envy. “Anyway, I…” She mentally fortified herself. “Thank you for the great evening. I had a really good time.”
The knife paused briefly. “Why did you leave?”
“Because…” She shrugged, slightly undermined at his reasonable tone and neutral choice of words. “It seemed like the right time for me to go.”
“I never said you had to go.”
“You seemed occupied.”
“So, what? Not even a goodbye?”
She nodded. “Look, that was totally my fault. I should’ve said something, and I apologize.”
He watched her eat, his gaze steady and thoughtful.
She pushed the eggs to the side of her plate, then speared a grape. Her stomach churned, and the bitter coffee wasn’t helping.
“You mentioned that you aren’t working right now,” he said finally.
She nodded, glad for the shift in topic to something impersonal. “I’m thinking about going to California to see about getting a job.” If she hadn’t promised to stic
k around until Natalie’s return, she would’ve taken the first available flight out of Dulles.
“That where your family is?”
“No.” When he merely continued to look at her, she added, “I’m…not planning on visiting them.”
Something flickered in his eyes, then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “The economy out there isn’t that great. And it’s no financial center.”
“I can do stuff other than i-banking.” Did he think investment banking was the only thing she was qualified for?
There was a bit of jam on a corner of his mouth. He licked it, and she drew in a breath. That talented tongue had traced its way up and down her body several times the previous night, stopping to explore at various strategic points along the way. She was sure he’d used it to inscribe words on her clit…in fact, the pleasure had gone on so long he might have been transcribing the entire unabridged Arabian Ni—
“So what do you think?” He was looking at her expectantly.
She blinked. “About…?”
He sipped his coffee, squinted at her a little. “Have you been listening?”
Oh god, how humiliating. She never daydreamed in the middle of a conversation, and certainly not because she was fantasizing about the other person’s tongue. “I’m just a bit surprised,” she said, trying to wing her way through it. “Could you just take me through it again, just to make sure I understand exactly what you’re trying to say?”
His mouth curved into a knowing smile.
Damn it.
“How about if I just summarize? I need somebody with a good head for finance and an eye for detail.”
“Okay.”
“I want to hire you.”
Hire her? “What? You haven’t even seen my résumé.”
“Don’t need to. Natalie said you’re brilliant at what you do. That’s enough for me.”
She put her fork down. “Ethan…I don’t know.” It was one thing to sleep with a guy, quite another to work for him. Work was a commitment.
“Before you decide, you should know there are other conditions of the job. Some nice and unusual benefits.”