Chapter Eighteen

 

Scottie let Konrad kiss her. She wanted it just as much as he did, despite what they’d said. It felt too good to deny him.

His hands explored her back and her ass with the expertise she’d experienced before. Before they could go further down the lust hole, he pushed her away, startling her.

Breathless, he said, “Well, I obviously can’t control myself.”

“Obviously.” Scottie held her breath, her mind reeling.

“I should fire myself.” There was an uncertainly in his voice that she’d never heard before. He seemed completely perplexed, unhinged.

“I agree.” Could they just be normal again? Like they were when she first walked into Korr Properties?

He trailed his fingertips up her arm until he reached her throat, his thumb settling in the dip at her throat. “I don’t know what to do from here.”

Scottie’s heart raced. Oh God. She didn’t know either.

He lifted his head, his gaze meeting hers, his hand dropping. “We are attracted to each other. That’s more than obvious.”

She didn’t say a word. Everything was getting complicated. He was too tender in that moment, and she wanted him to be an asshole. Fire her, maybe. Something to make her not like him, not want him anymore.

“You’re not my type.” Scottie pressed her lips together, though her heart soared at the way his eyes gleamed at her. “I’m not into players.”

“And you shouldn’t be.”

What the hell was this conversation? He should have left her alone. They needed to leave each other alone. End of story.

“Can I buy you dinner?”

Seriously? Had he just asked her on a date?

“Okay,” she said, going against her inner voice. So much for leaving each other alone.

Thirty minutes later, at almost ten at night, they snagged a table at Uchi, a trendy sushi place in lower Montrose. Yet another place she’d never been to. Did he always take his women to posh restaurants? Not that she was his woman. Or his anything.

Scottie was glad she’d worn her best fitted dress to work that day. At least she was dressed for the restaurant.

“Have you been here?” Konrad brushed a rogue wave from her forehead, her whole body tingling at his touch.

She glanced to the side because his action felt too intimate for a public place. She didn’t expect him to touch her at all in front of people. “No, I haven’t.”

“But you like sushi, yeah?”

Nodding, Scottie looked at the approaching hostess who gazed at Konrad. No question the hostess liked what she saw. Every woman in the restaurant did. Konrad was one of those men who made heads turn, made married women question their fidelity.

“This way, Mr. Korr.” His name sounded odd on the hostess’s lips. Insinuating as if she knew him, or knew of him.

They followed her to the corner of the restaurant near the end of the bar. It was the most secluded part of the restaurant. Scottie sat with her back to everyone. Her focus was Konrad.

“It’s quiet back here.” She set down her purse next to her on the wooden bench of the intimate booth for two.

“Like it’s just the two of us in the whole world.” He winked at her.

Her stomach fluttered. Why did he have to torture her? Would she survive this dinner? This whole damn thing?

“We would probably tire of each other if that was true.” She took one of the two menus the hostess had left on the table.

He laughed. “You would probably tire of me first.”

She gazed at his beautiful face. Impossible. “Probably.”

Another laugh fell from his lips, the lips she couldn’t stop looking at. The ones that kissed her in a way that no one else had. He looked up from the menu to meet her eyes. “You wouldn’t be the first.”

Scottie hated that statement. No, she wasn’t his first anything. She understood what he was. “Do you pick women who would tire of you?”

He leaned back. “What kind of question is that?”

Scottie shrugged. “I’m curious.”

“Didn’t curiosity kill that cat?” A smirk lifted the side of his mouth. Clearly, he didn’t want to have a serious conversation, not about his choice in women at least.

Maybe that was for the best. She didn’t really want to know about him and other women. She’d had her fill of it already.

She shook her head, not knowing where to go from there. Distracting herself from the issue of their attraction to each other, she scanned the menu, deciding on a sake cocktail. Alcohol might not be a good idea, but she needed some kind of liquid courage to continue in the casual way he insisted upon. She could not be casual, and she worried what that would mean for her gainful temporary employment. But even more, what would it mean for her heart?

“Scottie,” he said, his deep voice thrumming through her ears. Her gaze zeroed in on his partially opened mouth. Though the act was quick, Scottie imagined he swiped his tongue along his bottom lip in slow motion. He continued to speak. “I like you.”

“Oh…”

“I’ve never done this with an employee.”

“I’m not your employee.” She said it to remind herself, but what difference would that make?

“Fine. With someone who works with me.”

She averted her eyes to the menu again. Why did he have to look at her like that? Like he was being honest, and not running a line.

“Scottie?”

She met his gaze.

“I want you to know that. You are the only one.” Blue eyes glittered from the candlelight flickering in the center of the table.

The waitress interrupted them at the perfect time. Scottie was at a loss for words. Konrad had been too gentle. Her feelings mattered to him. She could see it plain as day.

But then what? How would they stop the attraction between them? Because it was there more than before. She felt it in her bones, like a vibration inside her.

“Have you decided on a cocktail? Maybe a glass of sake or wine?” The waitress kept a steady gaze on Konrad.

Does she know him?

Konrad looked at Scottie, moving his hand across the table to touch hers. “Would you like to get a bottle of sake?”

Warmth of his touch spread through her fingers. “Uh … sure. Okay.”

He smiled, his gaze moving back to the waitress, who frowned then. “We’ll take the premium Ginjo sake. Chilled.”

“Of course.” The waitress turned away, her topknot swaying with her sharp departure.

Konrad watched the waitress leave, his gaze on her back. Not gawking or obscene.

“She likes you.” Scottie pulled his eyes to her.

Chuckling, he said, “I’m sure she likes everyone in her table section.”

“She must really like this table.”

Konrad looked her square in the eyes. “You’re jealous.”

Heat crawled up her body. “Not at all. I’ve been on that ride.”

His eyebrows raised. “And it was the best ride you’ve ever been on. I was there, remember? I heard the panting.”

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment and remembrance. Konrad was crass enough to go there. She should’ve remembered it when she wanted to push his buttons. But he was right. It was the best ride she’d ever been on, and she wanted to get on again.

Scottie averted her gaze. “You’ll never know for sure.”

“Perhaps.” He said it as if they weren’t over, as if their tryst was to be continued despite what they’d agreed on.

“Perhaps?” She couldn’t let it go.

Their eyes met again. All the lust that was between them drew them in. She was paralyzed with his magnetic eyes. His pull. Her desire to have him again. Regret would come either way if she went along with her feelings.

Plump lips curled up at her, beckoning her. “Perhaps.”

They were not over. Nothing was more evident. They were, in fact, still very much on.

“Should we even be here?” Scottie was breathless. “I don’t know what we’re doing here, Konrad.”

“Having a meal. We have to eat, don’t we?” His lips rested together with such ease that she felt even more uneasy.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Maybe she should just shut up and enjoy it. She did have fun with him when they were like this, playing and teasing each other. But her heart might make it something it wasn’t. Obviously, it already had.

Konrad reached over the small table, setting his hand over hers in one of the endless ways he insisted on touching her. “Can’t you just enjoy dinner with me?”

“How?” She lifted her thumb, moving it over the smooth skin of his forefinger. She had to touch him back.

The silence took her. Nothing penetrated the wall they’d built around them in that small corner booth.

He chuckled low. “I don’t know. Just eat and drink and enjoy it.” He slid his hand up her wrist and over her forearm. His palm dwarfed her. She felt absolutely tiny against him.

“It’s hard to think about enjoying a meal when you’re touching me like this.” Their point of contact became her focus. His pulse quickened against her skin.

He removed his hand, abandoning her. She missed it immediately.

“I won’t touch you, then, if you don’t enjoy it.” His eyes darkened.

“We decided this was a bad idea.”

The waitress arrived with a bottle of chilled sake and two small porcelain cups. Her interruption couldn’t have been more poorly timed.

Scottie didn’t take her eyes off Konrad. He didn’t take his eyes off her either.

“Are you ready to order? Or do you need more time?”

“More time,” Scottie snipped, surprised at her response.

The waitress furrowed her brow, her face betraying her required calmness. “Of course. Take your time.” She left the table yet again in a jerk. Scottie was sure the waitress hated them, or more accurately her.

Konrad tilted his head. “Do you know what you want?”

What a question. Was he talking about dinner in general or, specifically, the situation they’d found themselves in?

“Do you?” she challenged him, despite her better judgement. The electricity between them was on high power.

He laughed. “Answering a question with a question.”

She smiled slow, feeling a high with the way he looked at her mouth. “Yes.”

He grew serious then, leaning in. “I always know what I want, Scottine.” His voice was low, seductive. And she was falling for it. Again.

Desire took her captive. Fuck what they’d said. She wanted Konrad, and she didn’t care what the consequences were. Their attraction had been off the charts, something she’d never experienced before. Or allowed herself to experience. But there it was, in her face, taking her hostage.

The waitress came over again, startling Scottie, though Konrad seemed unaffected. “Have you decided?”

With ease and a coolness that Scottie could not have pulled off, Konrad said, “We’ll be ordering to go.”