“I can’t believe it,” Dean said, his eyes bright. “Thank you.”
Janie smiled shyly at her plate. “It’s an old recipe. I can’t believe you even liked it. I heard that the shifters had really high standards for food.”
“Well, we do have much more sensitive senses than you humans do,” Dean admitted. “But I really enjoyed this.”
Dean stood from the table and Janie couldn’t help but stare at him, her mind wandering back to the moment she’d first seen him huddled on the sidewalk at the motel. Dean had been very disoriented, but he seemed to have found her room completely on purpose.
That would have been strange enough on its own, but somehow, it had been taken a step farther and she had discovered him completely naked. The memory filled her with a confusing combination of longing and concern. He hadn’t been there intentionally. There had been rumors circulating that day that he had left the office abruptly and had been spotted shifting into his wolf form.
Janie had been considering posing the question of whether or not he was all right, but it seemed such a strange thing to ask somebody out of the blue. Still, it was clear he had a lot weighing on his mind.
“I’m glad you could enjoy the meal,” Janie said. “I wish there was more I could do to thank you, but what more can you do for the man who has everything?”
Dean laughed quietly. “I wouldn’t say that I have everything.”
“No?” Janie said, clearing the table and taking the dishes to the sink. Dean got up quickly.
“Please sit,” he said, walking briskly beside her. “I can take care of these.”
“On any other day I would say no, because it might ruin your suit,” Janie said, a teasing smile playing her lips.
Dean returned her smile and she allowed him to stand beside her at the sink.
“I’ll wash and you dry?” she proposed. They had been busy all day long, but somehow, she wanted to keep moving, keep working if it meant spending more time with this unbelievably handsome man.
“Sounds good,” Dean said, picking up a towel.
Janie set to work on the dishes, trying not to let Dean’s nearness or his earthy scent send her down a train of thought she would have trouble recovering from. It was becoming painfully obvious that the more time she spent with him, the more she would want to be with him. But there were so many things to consider. Not only was there a major age gap, but it was unprofessional as hell. If something happened between them and then they no longer had any interest in each other, that would mean that she’d lost her job.
They worked together in silence for a while before Dean glanced at her and smiled.
“You’re not pregnant are you?” he asked.
Janie blushed furiously and frowned at him.
“Why, because I’m fat?”
Dean’s face turned red and he looked flabbergasted. “What? No! I was just thinking about how little I really know about you. It seems strange, you know? We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”
“I’m really not pregnant,” Janie said, glaring at Dean.
He grinned at her, and despite herself, she felt her anger deflating. It was difficult to stay angry at such a handsome man, even if it was a rude question.
“I don’t think you’re fat, anyway. I say you can have your body however you want it. Everything is beautiful.”
“Really? That’s not the impression I get from seeing pictures of your ex wife.”
Dean darkened and glared down at the plate in his hands.
“She was different. I loved her, and I would have loved her fat. I would have loved her pregnant. I would have even loved her if she had two heads.”
“Really?” Janie asked, squinting at Dean.
“I don’t know,” he said with a laugh and a shrug. “I was pretty blinded. Not thinking with the right head, probably. I know I should have known better. I just wanted so badly to be able to trust someone.”
“It must be hard,” Janie said softly. “Having all that money must make it almost impossible to know who is truly your friend.”
“To say the least. Even without my baggage.”
“Baggage?”
Dean smirked. “I wasn’t always fit to be some hero for the kiddies. I have always been a hard worker, but there’s more to the story than that.”
“I’d love to hear about it,” Janie said.
Dean shook his head. “I don’t talk about myself. Especially not to women.”
Janie raised her eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dean froze and furrowed his brow. “I don’t want the whole world knowing my life’s story. It’s bad enough that I told Kiera anything. Now she thinks she has some kind of power over me. She’s even going after the company now.”
“You’re kidding!” Janie gasped. If Kiera took the company from Dean, then he would have nothing left to show for his years of hard work. Sure, he would have memories from his long-standing football career, but not much else. “She can’t take your company.”
“She seems pretty certain that she can,” Dean said, glowering as he dried the last cup and set it gingerly in the dish strainer. “And I have a feeling that she knows what she’s talking about. It all seems like everything is heading for disaster.”
“Don’t give up already,” Janie exclaimed. “The fight has just barely begun yet. And if she thinks she’s got some big guns ready then you’re just going to have to get bigger ones. Don’t worry so much. You’ll figure things out. You always have before. Things like that don’t change.”
Dean’s face seemed to lose a bit of the darkness to it and he sighed deeply. “If you say so.”
“Come on,” Janie said, draining the sink. “Let’s have a drink before you go. I don’t want to leave on that note. You’ve done so much to help me today. Let’s just try to stay positive.”
Dean nodded and followed Janie to the living room, and they sat together on her comfortable little loveseat. She’d never had to buy much furniture before. Her apartment in California had been tiny, and she rarely dated or had friends over because she had always been so busy with work and school, so the loveseat had suited her just fine.
Now, though, with Dean on the other side, it suddenly seemed far too small. Her heart tremored nervously as his elbow brushed against hers and they turned awkwardly to face each other.
“Sorry it’s so tiny,” Janie said with a nervous laugh. “I should probably upgrade.”
“No, it’s comfortable,” Dean said decidedly. “I like it.”
She gazed quietly at the man labeled the sexiest entrepreneur in the world and swallowed hard. Did he mean everything he said to sound like a warm invitation? Or did he actually like her?
“So, since you live on your own, what do you do to occupy your time, anyway?” Dean asked, his voice a soft, gentle rumble that stirred the heat in her loins. “I’m a loner too, but all I ever do is think about my company. What’s it like to be normal?”
“Normal?” Janie laughed. “Hardly. I’m constantly trying to find ways to achieve the goals I’ve set for myself. It’s obsessive, really. If my goal is to get through school, I find a way to get through school. If my goal is to get you the best PR campaign you’ve ever had, then not even the most shifter-phobic person in the world will be able to look at what I create without thinking twice.”
“That’s a lofty goal,” Dean said with a soft laugh. “I just thought we were going to hang out with a couple of brats for the season and hope for the best.”
“Well, that too,” Janie said. “It’s all part of the plan.”
Janie tapped her temple and laughed. She was shocked by how easy it was to speak to Dean. She had originally thought that because of his billionaire status, he would consider himself far above doing trivial things himself, such as moving her in or just sitting on a beat up old loveseat in thrift store clothes and listening to her make corny jokes about her obsessive need to plan and organize her life. Dean was surprisingly good company.
“Well, I know a thing or two about plans,” Dean said, “and having to surrender my company to the woman I married was never in my plans.”
He sighed heavily and Janie turned to him, doing her best to smile reassuringly.
“It’s going to be okay, no matter what happens. I believe in you. There is no doubt in my mind that if anybody can fight this bullshit and come out on top, you can.”
Dean smiled tiredly at Janie. “I appreciate your confidence.”
“I’m serious!” Janie exclaimed, looking into Dean’s sexy, stormy eyes and finding herself lost in them as she spoke. “I wanted to work under you for a reason. You’re the most confident, capable man I’ve ever seen, and unlike most people with a lot of money, you actually have a vision. You want to make this world a better place…”
Janie trailed off. What she was saying sounded stupid. What was the point in letting her private thoughts come out of her mouth? Saying them out loud would only make Dean want to mock her.
But to her surprise, instead of making fun of her, Dean’s hand was suddenly on her shoulder and he was looking deeply into her eyes. Janie’s heart hammered in her chest as his handsome face came inches away from her own. All thoughts left her mind and suddenly, the only thing in the world that mattered was Dean.
“Thank you for feeling that way,” Dean said. “But I’m actually a piece of shit.”
“Why?” Janie asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“Because of how much I want to do this.”
Dean’s body was suddenly pressed close against her and the small fire in her loins exploded into an inferno of heat. His lips grazed hers, gently at first, and then more urgently. Janie gasped as her body was engulfed in flames at the sensation of Dean’s hard cock pressing against her thigh as they kissed, his tongue and hands pleasuring her in ways she could never have imagined.
She wanted nothing more than to give everything to him; her body, her mind, her time. But the man was her boss, for crying out loud. She couldn’t just throw her career away because Dean Resner wanted a booty call with his young new intern. No matter how badly she wanted it, she wouldn’t be used and thrown away like that.
Janie pulled away panting, putting her hand over her racing heart. The man knew how to kiss, that was for sure. But he also knew how to use his words and charm the pants off of anybody he wanted to charm.
Still, his eyes were confused and sincere when she cut off the passionate embrace so quickly, and even though her body wanted nothing more than to surrender to the sensual thrills of Dean’s mouth, hands, and…other things…she couldn’t let herself throw her career away for a tryst with a horny billionaire. She had work to do. Plans.
“Is this why you go through interns so quickly?” Janie demanded breathlessly, standing from the loveseat. Her legs were quaking beneath her, and she considered it a miracle that they didn’t buckle under her weight. “You fuck them and then hang them out to dry?”
“What? No. Janie, I…”
“Look, maybe we should call it a night. I’m flattered, but I think it’s best if we just keep our relationship professional right now.”
Dean stood and frowned. “I shouldn’t have done that. It was completely inappropriate. I’m sorry.”
Dean turned his back on Janie and she had to stop herself from running to the door to keep him from leaving. She watched, her body on fire from head to toe, as Dean disappeared out the front door without a single look behind him.