This is not how solid deals are made. Not at all. Not in the slightest. In my experience, the best profits are made when you can follow through on a lowball offer and find something truly spectacular in the bargain. That’s what I was trying to do with the Ashworth estate.

And then Ruby entered the picture.

It was one thing to fantasize about stripping off those demure, preppy clothes and showing her the kind of hard, hot sex that makes even the most frigid upper-class women melt, but hearing her say I need you in that voice—the soft, low voice that sends tendrils of want into my ears and down my spine—it’s too damn much. It’s just too much.

I’m getting what I deserved. I’m the one who threw that one in her face when I left. Karma is a bitch.

Because now what am I supposed to do? She needs me. I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours wishing she was mine, and now she’s practically asking for me to rescue her. 

Not that she really does need rescuing. I can’t decide if the vulnerability is a front or not, but I know that beneath all of it she has a steel backbone. She turned me down once.

Which means that if she’s here right now, she must think she needs me to get through this, even if...even if she could muscle her way through on her own.

I straighten up, pretending that her words had little effect. I’m not in the business of being a therapist. I’m in the business of collecting priceless items and selling them to people who want them even more than I do.

“You’ve said the magic words.”

Her big blue eyes are on mine, so focused that I wonder if she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she looks away. “The magic words for...” Her voice goes softer at the end, and she bites her lip. 

“I’ll help you.”

She raises her chin an inch. “I didn’t ask for help.”

“You said you needed me.”

“I do need you, but—” Another blush rises to her cheeks. “I don’t need you to feel sorry for me. I just need—” She shakes her head. “This is a disaster.”

“It’s really not. Are you asking if I’ll reconsider the offer that I made?”

That seems to put her back on solid ground, and her eyes brighten with determination. “Yes. I wanted to know if that offer was still on the table.”

I take a long moment, like I’m deciding right now. Then I give her a firm nod. “It is.”

“Okay. I’m going to reject that offer.”

I can’t help it—I burst out laughing. A smile raises the corner of Ruby’s mouth. “You woke me up and agreed to meet me here so you could reject my offer a second time?”

“I wanted to reject it and offer a counter proposal.”

I fold my hands on the table. 

Just then, the waiter appears at my elbow. “Can I offer you something to drink?”

“Coffee. Black. And we’ll both have the pancakes.”

He nods at me and turns on his heel, gone as quickly as he came.

“Where were we?” I look back into those blue eyes and try to ignore the blood rushing to my cock. 

“You ordered for me?”

“I didn’t want to derail what’s quickly becoming a delicious conversation. Also, the pancakes here are wonderful.”

She leans back a little, crossing her arms over her chest, but she’s still smiling. “Don’t you want to hear my counter offer?”

“No.” Her mouth drops open a little. “First, before we get any further into this, I want to know what brought you back to the table.”

“I thought I might get a man to order pancakes for me.”

I laugh again. Ruby isn’t all innocence and vulnerability, then. She’s also got a wit that makes me want to hang around her all day, just in case I get to hear another one of those gems, dry delivery and all, slip from between her lips. “Your dream came true. But you did seem pretty determined not to deal with me earlier.”

She glances down at her cup of coffee. “To be honest, I thought more would sell during the day.”

“And when it didn’t?”

She sighs. “When it didn’t, I realized it was all my fault. After you left, I might have...given some poor direction to the man whose company was running the sale.”

“What kind of direction?”

“Not to negotiate.”

I don’t laugh this time, because her expression is already hot with shame. “That probably didn’t help.”

“Not at all.”

“And no part of you was relieved? There must be another option for some of those things.”

Ruby bites her lip. “That’s the problem.” She swallows. “I don’t know how much you’ve heard…” She forces her gaze back to mine. “My family is in pretty dire financial straits. They need every penny to dig themselves out of a hole with my brother’s medical bills. And my parents need a place to live. They’re going to have to sell their home—that home—just to get out of trouble with the mortgage.”

“What about you?”

Her face goes scarlet. “I have a job. Once my father’s business collapsed, I stopped getting payments from the trust he’d set up for my brother and me, so I’ve had to...I’ve had to downsize a little. But I can make ends meet.” 

Okay, so she does have a backbone. 

The pancakes arrive. They’re plated as delicately as any dinner entree, and each one is so perfect it seems like a shame to cut into it with a fork. Ruby takes a deep inhale. “Holy god, these smell amazing.”

“They taste even better. Don’t forget the—” I’m about to remind her that the syrup is also top-notch, but she’s already cutting into the side of one of the pancakes with her fork and lifting it to her lips. Once it’s on her tongue, she tips her head back, eyes closed.

She swallows.

It’s all I can do not to leap across the table and kiss her, explore her mouth with my tongue, taste that sweetness for myself. 

Then she opens her eyes. “The best pancakes don’t need syrup. And those are the best I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad.” I’m also so hard that it’s killing me. Killing me. “I have a proposal.”

Her eyes twinkle as she goes back in for another bite. “What is it? That you—that you take over the estate, and we negotiate on a better offer?”

“That as soon as we’re done eating, we go up to your family’s house and you let me see what’s on offer. Then we deal.”

She looks right into my eyes, hers filled with hope and what I think might be nerves. She’s probably going to say no. 

I brace for the disappointment.