Page 10 of Ruthless Legacy
This is so ingrained in me I signal the cocktail waitress and order whatever she’s having and another whiskey for me before I realize what I’m doing.
Still, a little light flirting won’t hurt, right? No one expects me to be a monk. I don’t think anyone would believe it. But this is a chick I’ll spend some hours getting sweaty and sharing orgasms with and never bothering to know more than her name and some light conversation.
Already my resolve slips. Am I meant to be starting now? Or in the morning?
Jesus, Ryder, I think. You’re a fuck up.
One who knows how to have a good time.
I couriered back the contract but I haven’t heard from Elliot and it’s heading towards eleven pm. So…
Flirting is fine. I’m in public.
The woman slides her fingers down my arm. I think she mentioned her name, but I can’t remember it. She’s everything Elliot Perry isn’t. Beautiful, overtly sexy and knows it, and down for fun.
“So what do you do, Ryder?”
I didn’t tell her my name, but I let it slide. If she wants to pretend she doesn’t know who I am, more power to her. I’m not about to put a ring on her finger. I’m not about to enter into anything like a relationship with her.
Hell, I’m probably not going to be anywhere private with her, either.
“This and that,” I say. “You?”
She leans in and starts talking. I’m going to have to have words with Jillian. We fucked about a number of times a few years back and stayed friendly. I’m friendly with most of the women I bone. Some hope for another chance, others just know the score and we like each other.
But Jillian’s the one who I see the most in some of the circles I move in. And when she told me about Elliot Perry when I called her, she forgot to mention the red hair and the most interesting mouth I’ve seen.
Wide, soft, with a sharp, intelligent tongue.
Yeah, Elliot has the most intriguing mouth I’ve ever met.
If one can meet a mouth.
The woman’s stopped talking and her hand is on my thigh, warm and high enough that she’s not interested in subtle.
I meet her brown eyes. “What do you say we take our combined hotness out of here and to somewhere a lot more private?”
Shit. I want to. I shouldn’t. It’s a physical thing. She’s going to bore me after sex, I’m aware of that.
“Well, thing is, I—”
My phone lights up. It’s a number I don’t recognize, but I know who it is.
Time to begin, Sinclair.
Something in me relaxes as something else tightens and I pick up the woman’s hand and place it on the arm of the chair.
“I’d love to,” I say, trying to keep the relief from my voice, “but business calls.”
And with that, I get up, pay my bill and get the fuck out.
When and where?
To my utter shock, I’m looking forward to working with Elliot Perry.
Chapter Four
Elliot
