Page 21 of Indiscreet

She jutted her chin out. “It’s…it’s my business.” She would have been more convincing if she hadn’t stammered.

“Oh, come on Liz. I’m not here to judge, just to listen,” I prodded. It was too much of a change in her behavior for me to just ignore it. “Something’s going on. You can tell me anything.”

She sighed heavily. “I’ll just say, I pushed for something I wasn’t ready for, and it won’t happen again. I also realized I pushed you to try something you weren’t ready for, so I’m glad you’re finished with The Agency. Promise me you’re done with them?” She seemed so upset that I sought to assure her, though I had already made up my mind.

“I have no plans to go there again,” I told her. Truly, she didn’t need to keep warning me. I didn’t plan to see Elliott or go to any mixers again. Dane had been pretty clear that he didn’t think I was suited for The Agency, and I doubted I’d even be invited again if I tried. The topic seemed to distress Liz, so I decided to change the subject. “Things are better for you now,” I pointed out. “You have Marco.”

“Do I, or does he have me?” Her voice broke miserably. She looked at her watch. “I need to get going.”

Before I could say anything else, my cell phone buzzed.

She motioned for me to take the call and quickly left before I could say anything more. I was worried about her and made a mental note to call her as I absently answered the call.

“Hello Gia, it’s Dane. You contacted my company for a remodel.”

I couldn’t stop the flutter in my chest at the sound of the deep tenor of his voice. “I’m at the gym, one second.” I swiftly moved to stand in the hallway leading to the swimming pool for more privacy and cleared my throat before returning to the line. “Yes. My place needs a remodel. You had mentioned the possibility at the party.”

“I did, but that was before we had an intimate moment,” he said quietly. I found his choice of words gratifying, but then he added, “If the remodel is the reason you contacted me, be sure about it, because I never mix work with sex.”

I pressed my lips together. You just mix in extra partners to spice things up. I shook my head, reminding myself that it was none of my business, though I couldn’t resist asking, “Do women often call you for sex?”

“Why do you care about other women?” he said without missing a beat, answering my question with another. His voice sounded amused.

“I don’t, I was just curious,” I said as I glanced around. “If, say, I was interested in sex, what would you do?”

“I’d cut the meeting I’m in short and come over right now.”

My nerves were jumping as my mind imagined what it might be like for a man I barely knew to come over to have sex with me. Hell, I never had one-night stands. The four men total I had dated, including Patrick, had waited months before we had sex. “It’s that easy for you?” I asked, slightly flabbergasted.

“It’s easy for me to decide to have sex with you right now. Sex is where things start with me.”

“What about your partner?” I asked. “Wouldn’t she be upset at you dropping everything to come have sex with me?” I held my breath.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

I stubbed my shoe into the tile floor. “I heard you’re already in a relationship, though you didn’t mention it at the party. Perhaps it’s okay with her, but personally I don’t like to get mixed up in romantic entanglements.” The line went quiet, and I anxiously waited for him to deny what Liz had told me.

“I see,” he said. “I don’t share my private life with those I’m not intimate with. You’re conflicted, and I understand. I will say monogamy isn’t where I start. It moves too fast into attachments without even knowing if you’re well-matched for sex.”

I wanted to argue against it, but what he said made sense. I had no doubt now that Patrick and I were intimately incompatible now. Still, I was conflicted about wanting to know more and frustrated by his unwillingness to share with me.

Before I could say anything else, he said, “What I offer is too much for you right now and that’s fine. We’ll stick to business. I’ll send someone over for a consultation. We could fit you in today, how does that sound?”

“Sure. That would be great,” I replied dully.

Once again, disappointment washed over me. He asked a few more questions about my house before ending the call. Professionally, I was impressed with the work I saw on the website and in his home, and there was no harm in agreeing to a preliminary assessment of the property. It wasn’t a commitment to work with him, so it was fine…or so I told myself.

I was attracted and frustrated at the same time. Dane had seemed so up front at the party, but the second I questioned his personal life, he shut me down—except for sex, which he was clear was going to be on his terms. I thought perhaps I should take Liz’s advice about him. She wasn’t herself after getting mixed up with people in his company, but even after I went back to finishing up my workout routine and took a shower at the gym before heading home, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

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