Page 76 of Contention

Kara stiffens anxiously, feeling like she’s witnessing a gruesome accident about to occur. Gale is silent, her lips pursed. The woman admirably refuses to fuel the fire. The air feels electric, like lightning about to strike.

Gale’s eyebrows rise precariously and her fingers fiddle with the pen in her hand. She’s not saying anything, but not backing down. The staring match continues.

Staring at her intensely, Dietrich finally sneers, “Draft something for me then and be done with it.” He glances off at the water, nearly petulant.

The tension relaxes instantaneously. Kara’s jaw softens in surprise; he was the one to relent!

Gale scribbles something furiously on her notebook, fingers white-knuckled around her pen. She takes a moment to calm herself and Kara is in awe of her willpower.I would have stabbed him with the pen already. How the hell did she get her way just from one scary look? Impressive, Gale, impressive.

“Dieter, take this seriously. You know Johann Fairfax might push the issue beyond misconduct. His wife, at a sporting event?With him there?!” Gale gives him a vaguely horrified look. “What’s next?”

He rolls those pretty eyes of his, shoulders no longer tense. “She’s a slag; not my problem. What, does Fairfax want to slap me with his glove and throw down for a duel over her honor?Please,he’s past his prime. No one forced her to come on to me. Hell, I should have beenpaidfor my services rendered!”

Kara wishes she had more background, because this sounds risqué as all get out. Gale looks like she’s struggling to not pull her hair out. Kara can’t help herself, because this has taken such a racy turn. She inserts herself into the conversation, because Gale looks like she’s putting together another scolding. “Random married women come on to you at sporting events? Did you get cougared?” She turns to Gale. “No one can control cougars, Gale. He’s clearly not to blame.”

A soft grin shapes his lips at her words, genuine amusement there. “Thatta girl! Nice to have someone on my side for once.” He gives Gale a sarcastic glance. “You didn’t see her, Gale. She was salivating.Salivating! She wasn’t going to let me leave the vicinity without her claws sunk in deep.I’mthe victim here.”

His mood change is infectious.

Feeling pulled by his intense change of emotion, plus the heat getting to her head, Kara leans over a bit and stage whispers, “Was she terribly old? Don’t say yes.”

Dietrich is downright gleeful as he looks at her, eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. “How depraved do you think I am?Laaatefifties,maybe, pretty damn bendy though. God, the perfume was stuffy, I was barely choking my way through.”

Kara makes a face and twitches, imagining a musky, powder-filled floral scent. “No, don’t make me think of it. That sounds like a crime and I won’t be party to it.”

He’s laughing, the full-throated sound that just can’t exist in this world. Kara is almost struck that she’s making this gorgeous personlaugh.

Gale elegantly touches her forehead, as if a sudden, violent migraine has come on. “Kara, please don’t indulge him. He’s impossible.”

He’s sort of funny, Kara find herself thinking instead.Not nice, definitely a womanizer, but he’sfunny.

“What’s your hourly rate?” He asks Kara suddenly, eyes once more drifting to her legs, neatly crossed in her pale white capris.

Okay, maybe not so funny.

If this is a hooker joke, I’m going to throttle him, crown jewel or not. How anyone can feed his ego by calling him that is beyond me.Trying to keep unpleasantness off her face, Kara replies, “Ah…what do you mean?”

Dietrich gives her an expression that says he hopes she isn’t being slow. “What are you paid on your accounts? Your hourly billing?” Kara’s mouth opens wide in shock and Dieterich doesn’t even give her time to reply before he’s turning to Gale, quick as a snake. “What cut does she get? Move her on my account and take her off the others. I know I give you enough business, Gale.More than anyone. You’re underwater with work already, what with the divorce and all.”

What the fuck?Kara can’t breathe, staring at his profile, the fine cut of his aquiline nose and the brightness of his eyes. His hair looks so soft and she wonders if it would feel like rabbit fur.Kara, shut up, you thirsty goddamn tramp. This terrifying, gorgeous, scoundrel of a man wants to hire you!

But, why?

Gale, on the other hand, looks extremely pained by this development. With slow movements, she closes her notebook before giving him her practiced apology smile. The tension creeps back across the table. “Unfortunately, that just won’t be possible. Kara doesn’t work at Calais, Vickers, & Yates. I wasn’t able to bring her with me in the move. She’s being phased off my accounts so payroll can get straightened out again.”

A sneer curls his lips. Dietrich scoffs. “Benson being a fucking stooge? She’s a junior, easy to replace. Why not let her go with you? Just make it happen, Gale. You rode Benson’s dick long enough to earn him giving you your head associate after all this bullshit.”

Gale’s eyes harden a bit, her left eyelid twitching at his slight. “Nicholas actually, is the stooge, Dieter.”

His eyebrows rise precariously before he laughs, that deep throated, charming laugh that sets Kara’s heart aflutter. Gale, on the other hand, based on her facial expression, is rather unmoved.

When Dietrich is done laughing, he turns to give Kara his full attention. “Is that so? Nicky said no? That’s very interesting.” There’s calculation in his face, as if he’s trying to unravel a puzzle. There’s a certain, dangerous intrigue in his gaze and Kara feels herself nearly falling into him, like he’s the center of her gravity. She doesn’t understand why she can’t find a way to not be so affected by him. “I thought he was rather fond of you, chickadee.”

Oh…is that what he’s curious about? Or is he fishing?

Gale looks utterly confused, turning to look at Kara.

Quickly, before Dietrich exposes what Kara’s been up to, Kara says, “Stop calling me that! Anyway, you must be mistaken. He and I do not see eye to eye onmanythings.” So, so many things.

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