CHAPTER TWO
Morgan
Breathe, Morgan, breathe.
I can’t believe I did it. I actually convinced Benjamin Romanov to go out for drinks with me… and he seems into it, more than I thought possible.
As we walk outside, I spy Pansy staring at us, her jaw practically on the floor. I wink and tip my chin up.
That’s right—the dead bore of an American with the crappiest odds won the office pool. Gorgeous shoes I couldn’t afford, here I come.
Shoes are a weakness of mine, but that’s not the only reason I chucked my name into the pool of ladies vying to get Benjamin Romanov on a date.
Or in bed.
Either one counted. Old me would be completely down with both. Now, however, I’m a lady… and ladies take their time with men, especially men like Benjamin.
His mobile rings, his blue eyes finding mine. “Do you mind if I take this? David’s calling.”
“No.” I smile and take another deep breath because I need more time to figure out exactly what we can talk about. I’m seriously out of my league. Basically, he reduces me to a gawky teenager with her first crush.
But nobody can blame me. He’s practically a GQ cover come to life with a generous helping of sexy Instagram shots. In the past, I found suits on a man… boring. I wanted a rough-and-tumble guy who made no apologies about what he wanted or what kind of place he would take me to in order to get it.
And I can admit that’s what I thought I deserved because it was a hell of a lot better than what I grew up with, but since moving to London, my tastes have changed. I’ve upped my game and decided I deserve more than some hot guy with muscles who has a shady background.
Benjamin Romanov, while both hot and muscly, has a stable job, expensive clothes, and a nice car. He’s also dependable and never late for anything. In other words, what I see is what I’ll get… and that’s the sexiest thing ever.
“Sorry about that, David. Thanks. You too.” Benjamin ends his call and slides his phone into his coat pocket. “Had to let another employee go.”
“Oh—who was it? What did they do?” Shit. I shouldn’t ask that. “I mean. That’s just awful.”
He chuckles. “Dr. Clark shared information he shouldn’t have. It’ll be news by this evening.”
“Always is,” I reply. “Work is boring. Usually.” Oh, dear God. He’s one of the higher-ups, and the last thing they want to hear is how boring our jobs can be. “I mean, I love it.”
“But?” he prompts with a grin. “Swear this is just between us.”
I can’t resist the charming smile he gives me. “But not as exciting when the emails go around about your latest investigations, and we get to talk about it the next day.”
“That wasn’t so bad.”
“You’ve read the emails.”
He tugs me away from a shop door opening out. “It’s part of my job.”
“You don’t mind what they’re saying?”
“Only when they get the details wrong.”
“You can’t expect gossip to get details completely right.”
“Why don’t you ever take part?” he asks.
Because no one ever asks me to. I’m still very much the odd girl out. I know it’s my fault. I tend to keep to myself, keep my head down, and do my job because I refuse to let anyone get close. I try to be friendly and even forced myself to put my name in the office pool, but that was only because I didn’t want Pansy to win and get her claws into Benjamin.
“I’m more of an observer.”
“You didn’t want to get in trouble.” He says this as a fact.
I duck my head a little. “I’m the last hired, so first fired.”
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting you to leave,” he murmurs, and my head jerks up. He sounds sincere.
“Wait until you get to know me,” I quip, and then want to shoot myself. Don’t self-sabotage. Don’t self-sabotage.
“Isn’t that why you asked me out for drinks?” he asks, looking thoroughly confused.
I shake my head. “No, it was for me to get to know you.” I bet he likes exciting women… maybe even the old me, but I can’t risk that, not after I worked so hard to get where I am today. Stick to being a proper lady, Morgan, just like you’ve been doing for the past year.
We stop at the entrance to the Crown and Pegasus.
“I’m of the opinion that a man needs to give as good as he takes.” His sexy mouth quirks at the corner. “I like to err on the side of giving more than I receive.”
“That’s a great opinion.” My body sways toward his. Down, girl. Go back to proper lady behavior. “But I’m sure with your work that I’ll be super uninteresting.”
Oh, my Lord. I’m an idiot.
He gives me an odd look. “Is this how American women are required to talk to American men?”
“What?”
“Pumping them up while deflating yourself,” he says.
“Old habit with really horrible dates. Most guys only want to hear themselves talk.” That much is true. I don’t know why I expected Benjamin to be like that, especially if I wanted to spend time with him. “Not that you’re most guys, and stereotyping an entire gender is a really awful thing to do.”
“You might be on to something… because I am not most guys, Ms. Tanner, and I want to know everything about you.”
I gulp. “Everything?”
His eyes drift down my body before focusing on my face. “Everything.”