Page 26 of My Forbidden Boss

Chapter 10

David

I said too much. Pushed too hard. I see desire slip from her eyes, replaced by uncertainty. A touch of fear. I didn’t mean to say so much, but this woman is so deep under my skin I drove two hours to show her my first build.

I never do that.

I take women out to expensive restaurants. Take them to my luxurious condo. They don’t know where I came from or the work it took to bring me to where I am.

They don’t care.

Adeline saw it in less than ten seconds. I watched the shock, the awe, and understanding flicker across her face when I pulled up opposite the development that made me. I told her the truth of how hard I worked, and she didn’t blink. She knows hard work.

I don’t want her accolades either. Bringing her here wasn’t about that at all.

I want to show her much more than that house because there is one thing missing from her gaze that’s obvious in others.

Greed.

I meant what I said. She’s my obsession.

But I need to show her a softer side of myself now before I scare her off. I run my fingers through her silky hair, to the soft curls at the tips and smile. “Now we’re here, I’ll show you where we ate lunch every other day. This restaurant fueled my development.”

She offers me a polite, tentative smile back. I want more. I want a high voltage smile. I point the car downtown and pull up under the striped awnings at T Bar. People sit at the neat sets of white clothed tables that line the sidewalk, but I take Adeline into the softness inside. I’m greeted with warm garlic and a smile from the lead waitress.

“May I help you?” she asks.

“Do you have an empty booth?” I want the privacy and the booths here offer that in abundance.

She grabs menus, then leads us past people talking to one of the empty booths where she sets us up with water and a description of the meals of the day. She leaves us to order, and I focus on Adeline. The top of the booth clears well above our heads and offers us a semi private cave overlooking empty tables and the street beyond. A few cars pass, but the traffic is light. Southampton isn’t busy in winter. The waitress comes back after a while and we order and before long sets down plates of the pasta we ordered.

Adeline fiddles with the cutlery before she puts her hands under the table. I want to set her at ease, so I launch into a conversation about how I haven’t been here in years, how I missed the food and how I built Blue Sky from nothing but determination and a wish.

“If it wasn’t for Tristan, the bank would never have approved my loan,” I say.

My gut clenches when she eats the creamy pasta off her fork with those full, kissable lips. I want to lick the sauce off her lips and then kiss all over her body. Naked. In my bed. Mine to feast on alone.

“Who is Tristan?” she says. Her blue eyes are guileless. She doesn’t understand how tangled up I am over her.

It’s laughable. Me. At forty-three, tied up in knots over a woman her age.

My daughter’s age.

But there it is. And I am.

Every debauched inch of me.

“My oldest friend. We met at college and studied together. Thank god he went into banking. He helped make me, but if you meet him, don’t tell him how thankful I am. His ego doesn’t need to be inflated any more than it is,” I say, liking the shy smile on her lips.

“It’s good to have a best friend you can confide in,” she says. “You can tell them anything and everything and they don’t judge.”

I think about the girl she mentioned in my office. “Is Maddy your best friend?” A shuttered look crosses her face and I’m compelled to understand. “Tell me about her. You said she lives in the public housing.”

Her too-large eyes flip to mine, filled with a complex mix of emotions I can’t hope to untangle. “I wish that building had never been targeted.”

“The state chose it for demolition because it’s run down. It’s best to tear down buildings like that. Renovation can be more expensive,” I say.

“They had years to fix it. The state ran it to the ground because they want to develop the land and sell it to rich people. Everyone living there will be displaced,” she says with venom in her voice. This is personal.

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