"And you're volunteering for that job? Thanks, but I'm good the way I am." I rocked my chair, clasping my hands over my belly. "I'm not that young anymore."
"You're thirty. Ollie told me. That is young."
"So you've been quizzing my guests about me, eh?" I smirked. "In that case, how old are you?"
"Thirty-seven." He leaned forward. "I know you want me, I can see it when you look at me. I want you too, and there's no reason why we shouldn't act on our mutual desire."
"I've known you for a few hours."
He shrugged one shoulder. "You know what I look like naked. What more information do you need?"
"Maybe we won't even like having sex with each other."
Val chuckled. "I've never had a complaint."
Yeah, I had no trouble believing that. His body seemed to have been designed by Aphrodite herself to be the perfect sex machine.
Still, I shook my head. "I don't sleep with guests."
"But you do sleep with your employees."
"What? Why would you think that?"
"It's obvious from Quentin's jealousy and the way he glares at me."
I was pretty sure my entire face scrunched up for half a second. "Okay, yeah, I did sleep with him last year. It was a mistake."
"Do you mind if I ask why you did it? Was it one time or an ongoing affair?"
"Nosy, aren't you?" I grabbed the polished rock that served as a paperweight on my desk and rolled it in my hand. What the hell. I might as well tell him. "It was once. I'd had one too many margaritas on Mexican Monday."
"Was he drunk too?"
"I wasn't drunk. A little tipsy, that's all." I wrapped my fist around the paperweight. "But no, he didn't drink that night."
A muscle ticked in Val's jaw. He hissed a breath out his nostrils. "He took advantage of you."
"No, I make my own decisions."
"You'd been drinking. He hadn't. The bastard should never have seduced you." Val's lips compressed into a line. "I hate men who take advantage of women."
"Chill out. It wasn't like that." When his lips flattened again, I added, "I take responsibility for all my decisions, good and bad. If it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother you either. And for all you know, I'm a slut who throws herself at every man she meets."
His mouth relaxed, and his jaw stopped ticking. "All right, it's none of my business. I'm sorry for getting upset about it. Growing up with sisters has made me overly protective of women in general."
"That's not a bad thing. It's sweet."
He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair. "Let's talk about something fun, like when you're going to strip for me."
A poorly stifled laugh snorted out of me. "Whoa there, cowboy. I don't sleep with guests, remember?"
"I'll be the exception."
He rose from the chair with panther-like grace, unfurling his nude body with a languor that I felt sure was purposeful. He wanted me to get a spectacular view of every inch of his skin, from those tattoos all the way down to his impressive dick, and farther down to his powerful thighs. The man had a mouthwatering body, for sure. And no shortage of confidence either.
Everything about him was sexy as hell.
Maybe I should break my rule this one time. With him. In my bed. For hours and hours and hours.