But setting two annoying losers straight was a piece of cake compared to the conversation he was about to have with Kari.  They were seated in the restaurant’s V.I.P. section.  Their drinks had been ordered and had already arrived at their table.  And Alex was still delaying.

“How was your day?” he asked her.

“Busy.  Too busy.  But good.  What about yours?”

“Busy.  Too busy,” he said and they both smiled.  “But good.”  Then he exhaled.  “I know I had planned to be in town all week to oversee the construction,” he said hesitantly.  “But it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out that way.”

Kari was crestfallen.  “Alex, no,” she said.  “Not another trip?  You just got back!”

“I know, babe.” Alex was nodding his head.  The distress was in his big, blue eyes.  “I really hated to make the decision, but I had to make it.”

“Where this time?” she asked.  “Back to New York?”  Alex’s primary residence and corporate headquarters were both in New York.

“Not New York, no,” he said.  “I’m going to have to go to Munich for a few days.”

Kari was surprised.  “Munich?  In Germany?  You mean you’re leaving the country?”

“I have to, babe.  I’m in tough negotiations for a line of luxury hotels across Europe.  One of which is right there in Munich.  Which will give me a chance, not only to get those faltering negotiations back on track, but to get a grand tour of the hotel while I’m at it.”

Although Kari was distressed, too, she couldn’t let what he’d just said to her slide, either.  “You’re trying to buy a hotel without checking it out first?”

“That’s only because, once I take over, it will not exist as it exists today.  What’s on paper, and its location, matters more than what it looks like at this time.”

Kari nodded.  But she couldn’t get past the fact that he was leaving again.  She had been so excited about spending time with him!  But still.  “Ask the housekeeping supervisor,” she said.

Alex looked at her.  “Excuse me?”

“When you tour that hotel.  Get the housekeeping supervisor to give you the tour.  She’ll show you the good stuff, and the bad.  Those uppity mucks will only show you the good.”

Alex stared at her.  Despite her disappointment, she was still looking out for him. “I’ll do just that,” he said.  “Thank you.”

But he could still see that pain, and the letdown in her eyes.  He reached over the table and took her hand.  “I’m sorry, babe,” he said.

Kari knew she had to rally.  This man would be with her if he could!  “Like you said,” she said, clasping his hand too, “it can’t be helped.  You have an empire to run, I understand that.”

Alex was studying her.  “But?” he asked.  There was more on her mind, he could feel it.

Kari decided to be blunt and honest.  “I understand,” she said, “but my reservoir of understanding is not going to be limitless, Alex.  If it gets to be too much, and it gets to be as if I’m on your back burner all the time, I’m out of here.  I will not settle for that, no matter how great a catch you are.  I’m not going to settle.  At some point,” she said, her eyes blazing with sincerity, “if this relationship we’re trying to build is ever going to work, you have got to put me and Jordan first.  You’ve got to.  For real.”

Alex stared at Kari.  No woman he’d ever known would have had the balls to come at him the way she just had.  They would love the absence.  They could do their own shit in his absence.  But that was why Kari was different than all the rest.  He loved how she never compromised her authentic self to be with him.  He loved how his money and power didn’t mean shit to her.  With Kari, she wanted him, not what he had.  He loved that about her!

“You’re right,” he said.  “And I’m working on it.  It’s just that there’s a lot to work on.”

Kari smiled.  And nodded.  “I know.  But we have to put our cards on the table so we both can see what hands we’re being dealt.  And if we want to play those hands.”

Alex leaned back.   He could lose her if he didn’t play his cards right, was what she was really saying.  She’d made it plain now.  But he wasn’t losing her.  He’d lose his empire, and every dime to his name, before he lost Kari.  “Understood,” he said.

Kari was glad that was out of the way.  For a moment it felt as if Alex was going to cuss her out and tell her to leave then.  But he didn’t.  She’d told him how she truly felt, and he accepted it.  “When do you have to be at the airport?” she asked him.

“The plane is on the tarmac ready to go,” he said.  “As soon as I get there, we’ll have to shove off.”

Kari was flustered.  He could see it in her eyes.  But she continued to rally.  She leaned forward.  When she did, Alex’s eyes trailed down to the exposed cleavage of her big breasts.  “Why didn’t you just cancel this date if you knew you had to go?”

“Because I didn’t get the word until I was already here.  And because,” he added with a smile, “if I broke the news to you in private, you might have tried to beat me up.”

Kari laughed and shook her head.  “You stupid,” she said, and Alex laughed too.

Then both of their smiles dissolved into sadness.  “I’m sorry, babe,” he said.

“You just got back in town, that’s why I’m a little peeved about it.  I was hoping we’d be able to spend some quality time together this time,” she said.  “You, me, and Jordan.”

“I was hoping so too.  You wouldn’t believe how much I hate that I always have to close the deal myself when I’m paying those fuckers top dollar to negotiate.  But in this instance, it’s a fact.  I have to close the deal myself.”

“And you go there and close that deal,” practical Kari said as she accepted what she knew she wasn’t going to be able to change.   “But you’d better get going now.  That airport isn’t around the corner, and you said yourself that your plane is already ready for takeoff.”

“They won’t leave without me,” Alex said bluntly as he stared at her, at her concerned eyes, at her beautiful lips.  Those breasts.  He was going to miss her in every way!  “But I wasn’t leaving without at least spending a few minutes with you,” he said.

“I appreciate that,” she said.  “But I also understand you need to leave now, Alex.  I really do.  It’s your first step to becoming the Reno Gabrini of Europe, and you have to get on with it!”

They both laughed.  Reno Gabrini was a hotel and casino mogul in his own right.  “You’re a very special lady,” Alex said to Kari.  “Reno thinks so too.  And his wife Trina told me to be sure to bring you with me next time I’m in Vegas.  She said if I didn’t bring you, I wasn’t to come myself.”

Kari grinned.  “That Trina!  But this is only Monday and you’ve got an immediate trip at hand, one you need to get going to.  And don’t worry at all about not being able to stay and have lunch with me.  I’ll be fine.  This won’t be the first time I’ve eaten alone.”

Alex was upset with himself for his decision to keep expanding when he needed to slow his ass down.  Especially now that Kari had already warned him that she was going to take his shit just so long.  But despite his need to leave, he couldn’t part with her so easily.  And he had an idea.  “Are you hungry?” he asked her.

“Not really, no.  I ate a pretty hearty breakfast this morning.  Why?”

Alex rose to his feet and stood behind her chair, assisting her to her feet.  “Give me your valet ticket,” he said as she stood.

Kari looked back at him.  “My ticket?  What for?”

“My limo is here.  One of my men will drive your car to your office, and my limo driver will take you there after I’m on the plane.”  He gave her a hard, sensual look, one she was well familiar with.  “I want you to ride with me,” he said softly.

Kari understood exactly what kind of riding Alex meant.  He was about to go on a long plane trip to handle business, and he wanted her, not so much to ride with him as he had said in polite company, but to ride him!  And, knowing Alex, he wanted her to ride him hard before he left.  An idea that she, and her underused vagina given Alex’s recent absences, were warming to.

She took her valet ticket out of her purse, and she handed it to Alex.