Let’s finalize this one last contract with Darryl and his assistant,” I say.

I feel myself smiling. Not only because I’m about to make a huge profit on this company I’m about to buy, but because I saw Sarah last night, and again, the night before that. And things are going well. Each taste of her lips brings me to new heights of wanting her. And I’ll have her for real as soon as this takeover is done.

I might even take a chance and let her know who I really am. I think. The thought of her running from me is becoming less and less appealing—and she might run, if she knew this is what I do for a living.

But those lips. The curve of her waist. The unabashed way she runs her fingertips over my body. I focus on that for a moment before looking back through the documents that this guy needs to sign.

“You really look like you’re taking pleasure in destroying this man’s life,” Nathan says, breaking up the pleasure of my daydream.

“I’m not. Really. I view it as…” I pause. “Solving a puzzle. I figure out how much money to offer. We solve the problems and decide how to make the working parts profitable. This stage of the game is exciting. It’s like getting the first glimpse at all of the puzzle pieces.”

“Sure,” Nathan says. “But I have seen you grinning like that any time a CEO signs away his life to you. So, there is that.”

“Most of these people I pay off had piece of shit companies, and Darryl Lawrence, in particular, is a real piece of shit.” I pause. “I’m cleaning up the world. Making shitty companies profitable. Providing jobs for people who need stable, dependable jobs.”

“That is definitely true.” Nathan looks at me as I ready the paperwork. There’s a hesitation in his voice. “You’re good at all of this, though. Compartmentalizing. Remaining cold. Keeping emotions out of the equation.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I mutter, taking the warm papers from my printer and sealing them in an envelope bound for Darryl Lawrence’s lawyer.

“It is, and it isn’t.” Nathan shrugs. “You’re very closed off, you know that? Maybe that’s why this works for you.”

I give him a look. “And why does it work for you, Nathan? You’re a part of this business too.”

“I’m a research guy. I like the puzzle part. And this—” He gestures broadly to my office. “Puts food on my table, buys an SUV for my fiancée—one that gets good gas mileage and holds two car seats. Pays for my honeymoon. Closing down companies buys a life for me and for Elaine.”

I raise an eyebrow, reminding myself to get a wedding present for Nathan. I’d almost forgotten he was getting married at all.

For some reason, the image of Sarah pops into my mind—again. What would she think of this acquisition? I get the cold feeling that she wouldn’t like it. After all, she’s the CEO of her own startup, the type of person I go after. As if he’s trying to read my mind, Nathan gives me a penetrating look.

“You know, I forgot to ask you how it went with that girl—the one with the pink hair.”

“She had Amish parents,” I say. I figure that fact will keep Nathan mentally occupied so that he doesn’t ask anything else, but that hope is futile. Nathan always asks, and he always does it at the very worst times.

“That’s fascinating information, but not relevant to the question I actually asked.” Nathan doesn’t skip a beat. “So, did you make a date to see her again? I liked her. She’s different.”

“She was. Is. I mean, she is different. Very. We’ve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks. Casually. My life doesn’t have a lot of room for complication right now.” I press ‘print’ again to make a second set of the signing papers. “And neither does hers.”

“She blew you off, didn’t she? When she found out what you do?”

“No. We haven’t gotten that far yet. She still thinks I’m in recycling.”

Nathan slaps his knee, laughing. At that moment, I see Darryl Lawrence, his personal assistant, and his lawyer all standing nervously in the lobby in front of my office. At the same instant, I feel my phone ringing in the pocket of my slacks.

When I pick it up, I expect it to be my lawyer calling from out of town, or maybe one of the CEOs I’ve talked to recently.

But it isn’t.

It’s Sarah Bauer. The one girl who keeps popping into my thoughts.

Against all better judgment, I answer right then.

“Ben Lucas,” I say. I mentally fall back into the role I’ve created for myself—the man she thinks that I am.

Nathan gives me a wide-eyed look. “You didn’t tell her your real name?” He mouths the words, and I slowly flick my middle finger in his direction.

“Eat a dick,” I mouth back.

“Hey, Ben,” Sarah’s voice comes in clear and vibrant at the other end of the line. I feel uneasy, and that cold feeling at the pit of my stomach grows. But this is casual, isn’t it?

“Hi there,” I say, and I feel a smile come to my face. Darryl Lawrence can wait. I watch as Darryl and his team eye me from his office. They look frustrated. They should be. I’ll keep them on their toes.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” she says. She says it plainly, honestly. Most women in this city aren’t that way—especially not with me.

“I’m flattered.” I’d like to say more. I’d like to tell her that she hasn’t been far from my mind since the moment we met. But Nathan is sitting right in front of me, watching me like a hawk, and there are three increasingly angry people waiting for me just outside my all-glass office door.

“You should be. I don’t think about much besides my company. I also occasionally think about food, and about my friends. Today, I’ve been thinking about all of those things at the same time.” I hear her take a deep breath. “I’d really like to take you to lunch today to meet them. My friends. The women who started PinkBook with me.”

I pause—for probably ten seconds too long. I’m thinking about the acquisition. I’m thinking about the fact that Sarah thinks I’m unemployed and free for lunch. And I’m thinking that for the very first time in my life, things don’t feel as balanced as they normally do.

“I can’t,” I say simply. My words come out in the cool tone I usually reserve for one-night-stands. And at this point, Sarah isn’t that. Not quite. I haven’t even slept with her yet. I stumble over my next words. “I mean, I’m busy today… with an interview.”

Nathan groans, and I hope that Sarah can’t hear him.

“Oh, well. It was spur-of-the-moment.” There’s disappointment in her voice, and I hear a hint of that Amish country accent in her vowels.

Something clenches tight in my chest. I want to backpedal. I want to offer something else. But I’m tied up for the next several days with this business deal. And if I meet her friends—I might just get exposed for the fraud I am.

“I’m so sorry. Just not today,” I say.

“Maybe tomorrow?”

“I have another interview tomorrow,” I say quickly.

“Dinner?” Sarah’s voice is starting to sound more annoyed that hopeful.

“I doubt I can make that. Not for the next two days. Maybe you and I can get together on the weekend, just the two of us.”

There’s a long silence at the other end of the line. For a moment, I think she’s hung up, but I hear the faint, rhythmic sound of her breathing. She’s still there. Processing, thinking.

“Okay,” she says. “I’d like to make a plan for you to meet them. Or maybe I’ve been misinterpreting what’s been going on between us.”

“You haven’t been misinterpreting anything,” I say quickly. Nathan shakes his head. I see him in my peripheral vision.

“I don’t have time in my life for foolish men.”

“I know. I’m not one of them.” I know this isn’t true the moment I say it. I’m digging myself deeper with every word I say.

“I do want to see you. I want more between us. But I also want a man who’s honest with me.”

“I’ll see you this weekend? Your place?”

“Yeah, okay. That’s… just fine.” Her voice is hesitant, and I know that I’ve made her feel the same as any of the other women I’ve dated. And it’s not what I intended.

“See you then.” There’s a click at the other end of the line, and I walk into the lobby for the acquisition proceedings. My mood is dark and sullen now, and the entire lobby feels gray and cold.

Nathan slaps me on the back and whispers in my ear as he follows me out to meet Darryl Lawrence. “Ya done fucked up, buddy. Big time. Better get 1-800 Flowers on speed dial.”

I sigh and give him what I hope is a withering look.

Sarah and I were supposed to be fun. If she were any other girl pulling shit like this, I would have told her to bark up another tree.

But she’s Sarah Bauer.

And I’m beginning to realize that she’s not any other girl.

And that I done fucked up, from the very beginning.