Page 32 of Dissension

She’ll deal with him. She’s a big girl, she can take care of her mistakes.

There’s a complete breakfast spread on her kitchen countertop from the local brunch club. Croissants, fruits, tarts, chocolate-filled crepes, healthy egg scrambles with spinach-

It smells heavenly and there isfar too muchof it.

“Penelope’sdelivers?” Kara questions in shock, forgetting to be awkward. Sheshouldfeel awkward, shouldn’t she? The handsome blonde man sitting at her table, the one drinking coffee? Yeah, well he went down on her in public and she let it happen and sheworks for him-

Green eyes flicker over her baggy attire. Dieter’s expression is bland and unimpressed. His hair is fluffed up, looking so soft. Her fingers ache to touch, butno no no…

“I was hungry and you were sleeping.” Dieter gestures to an array of breakfast food covering her countertop. “The place looked good online. I wanted stuffed French toast and your coffee is disgusting, I needed something real.”

“You ordered this inyourself? I’m so proud of you,” Kara replies, vaguely annoyed. “Idistinctlyremember you pretending to be incapable of doing tasks such as this.” What was all that bullshit when he refused to do this when his chef quit? Blasted game-playing bastard…

“I wasn’t about to starve like some peasant. Your fridge is appallingly empty. And small.” Dieter pulls out his phone andstarts scrolling through emails, shifting in his seat to answer a few here and there, a scowl briefly passing across his features.

Work never ends for a man like Dieter Bittinger. Not even on the weekends.

With a huff, Kara fills a plate and sits down to start eating. She won’t turn down free food, especially not fromPenelope’s.The line to get in the damn restaurant is like seventy minutes in the morning, every morning.

“It’s too early for that scowl on your face,” she tells him, seeing the furrow deepening in his brow. “What’s wrong?”

“Paxton.” The name drips with a surprising hint of poison. “He’s being a nuisance.”

Kara frowns, eating a slice of honeydew. “He’s not contacting you about his legal issues, is he? I don’t want him trying to drag you into that investigation. You need to keep a distance from him, Dieter.” As if it isn’t already troubling that Dieter financially backed multiple businesses for Paxton; including theDark Mirage.

He exhales, eyes suspiciously dark. “He’s trying to claim he never bought the warehouse property. That he never knew about it. He wants me to clear this up for him, considering the loan was from me.”

What?Kara’s fork clatters loudly. “His signature isall overthe closing documents. He owns the property. Don’t answer him. This doesn’t smell right to me.”

“From your pretty lips to my ears, chickadee.” He puts the phone down, disconnecting from troubling matters.

The furrow in his brow smooths and Dieter returns to looking calm and collected, perfectly poised as he reaches for his cup ofPenelope’sspecial coffee blend. The aroma of it is heavy, filling the air with its earthiness.

Kara’s eyes dwell on his lips and she feels her stomach flip, a certain pull behind her navel. A yearning that shouldn’t be.A memory of his mouth, the sensation of his hot breath on her thigh. His playful grin against her skin. God, his perfect white teeth, and how she wishes he had bitten her-

You don’t want him, she tells herself, even as desire flutters in her mind. Kara digs her fingernails into the skin of her thigh under the table.You don’t.He is not for you. She’s falling into his sphere of gravity and she can’t seem to save herself.

After a moment of watching him sipping his coffee and eating his mascarpone-stuffed French toast, Kara asks awkwardly, “Are we going to talk about what you did last night?”

An arch of one fine eyebrow. “Talk about what? The contract? Good job dealing with them, by the way. That sweaty moron Kallack will remember to not try pulling a fast one on you again-”

“I meant in the men’s bathroom,” she interrupts sharply. “In that stall you dragged me into. Remember that?”Don’t make me say what you did there.

Silence fills the air between them as he pins her with a confused stare, eyes hazy. She wonders if he’s hungover.

Then, he laughs, which makes her feel stupid for even asking. “What’s there to talk about?” He chuckles, green eyes bright again, shadows chased away. Seeing the expression on her face, he pauses and softens his tone a bit, removing the amusement. “Did you not like it?”

Kara gapes at him, feeling her center heat.Did she not like it?What the fuck is he on? “That’s…that’shardlythe point, Dieter!”

“So, youdidlike it?” He’s grinning that cheshire grin again, far too pleased with himself. God, the way he easily draws her in with that look. It feels like the whole room is tilting into his gravity.

Flushing, completely flustered, Kara scrambles to control the narrative. “That was completely unprofessional. You’re my client. We can’t have…we can’t have…”

He waits patiently for her to figure her own brain out, looking like he’s mentally laughing at her still.

“We can’t have a relationship like that,” she finishes lamely. “It’s not appropriate.”

“Are you done? Good.” He continues eating his absurdly fancy meal. “It was a bit of fun. You enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. No one is a fucking victim here. End of conversation.”

---