Page 77 of Contention

His mouth is slightly open, a hint of perfect teeth, amused. Looking away, he rasps, “My mistake then.” He shrugs casually. “Regardless of the fact, I can still pay cash, if that’s the issue. You don’t need to be part of his firm.”

Kara blinks; he’s still pressing the issue? She looks to Gale, completely out of her depth, mouth open. Gale isn’t even looking at Kara, her lips pursed tightly as she stares at hercrown fucking jewel. In fact, Gale looks downright uncomfortable. “Dieter, that’s an extremely generous offer,” Gale says slowly, diplomatically. “But Kara is, as you said, a junior and is very fresh in the industry. You would be paying more for her to learn how to work with your account rather than her getting the work done in a timely fashion. We all know you hate being overbilled for time spent, Dieter.” As if to soften her rejection of his idea, Gale smiles sweetly. “Maybe in a year we can revisit the idea.”

The bill has come and Dietrich scribbles on the receipt. He stands and slings his suit coat over his shoulder, looking like he just stepped off a photoshoot for a fashion ad. “I’d prefer we revisit it sooner. Your opinion is noticed, but unappreciated.”

“You have no patience for inexperience, Dieter.” Gale almost sounds like she’s pleading with him, which Kara finds excessively strange. What the hell is going on? “Let’s think about this a bit more and discuss it next week?”

“I’ll think about it.” He pauses, tilting his head, frowning, clean shaven jaw clenched. Then, he straightens, saying, “There, I’ve thought about it. She’ll assist you on my account and I’ll pay directly. Get with the program, Gale,” he says, giving her that sudden, flat expression, empty of emotion like a shark. “As you say, my patience is thin.”

Then, he turns to look at Kara, that same, icy expression still hovering about his eyes. It changes his demeanor entirely, making him seem dangerous when moments before he was someone Kara would have fallen over herself to be noticed by. Now, she’s afraid he might be able to stab her with his gaze alone. “Do you like boats?”

She blinks. Does she what now? “B-boats?”

Gale groans in dismay, not even hiding it.

Those green eyes are absolutely unrelenting. “Yes, boats. People float on them. Drown next to them.Boats.” His cool gaze shifts to Gale, chilling even more. “Bring her Friday.” Redirecting his attention to Kara once more, he softens his expression, as if seeing her unease. Like a predator, trying to look harmless, telling her lightly, “We sail at dawn, chickadee.”

Is he out of his fucking mind? “But, I have work!”

“Yes, well, you’ll just have to let Benson know you’ll be late. Gale will have work with her anyway, won’t you Gale?”

Gale is silently mouthing something to herself, rubbing her temples.

Dietrich smirks, as if enjoying her displeasure. “What are you doing over there, praying for serenity? Deliverance?” He laughs at his own cleverness with delight and says to Kara, “See? She’s practically cracking under pressure. You’d be doing us all a service, Kara, if you help the old gal out.” Then, he leans down, his mouth close to Kara’s ear, so close that she feels her skin prickle with heated awareness. “Nice job with the bruises,” he whispers darkly, “Almost unnoticeable, butIknow what to look for. See you Friday, bright and early.” He stands with a devious wink and saunters away, fishing out his cell phone to make calls.

Kara feels frozen, vaguely horrified.He saw. He knew what it meant. A strange sort of humiliation sweeps through her in a wave of nausea.

“I really didn’t mean for him to still be here,” Gale says absently with a dismayed note in her voice. She’s staring at her empty plate. “He requires a delicate hand and he loves playing with women. As you surely can see; he’s very good at it. Worse yet,heknows it.”

Giving Gale an uncomfortable look, Kara asks, “What is this thing on Friday? Why does he want me to come with?”

“It’s a routine. Friday mornings he and a few friends, including myself, sail around and work on his yacht. He tans. I work through his documents. Some guys practice their golf swing.” Gale looks ill. “I wish you hadn’t ingratiated yourself with him. He’s always scheming. And; never in a good way.”

Looking down at her hands, Kara wonders if this is entirely bad. He must…like her, somewhat? Not like, a crush or anything, but perhaps he finds her amusing? “I didn’t…ingratiate myself. I made him laugh, what, once? Besides, would it be that bad to help you, Gale? I didn’t…know you were getting divorced…” Kara gives her a worried glance, concerned. “I could use the extra money. I still have bills…from school. It would help.”

“Kara,” Gale pauses, looking uncomfortable. “I’ve kept you away from his account fora reason.”

“But-”

“Kara.” A hand falls on her shoulder kindly and Gale quirks her lips. “I wanted to protect you. He doesn’t want to hire you out of the sliver of goodness in his heart. I know him, and you, friend, do not.”

“What is it you want from me then?” Kara fiddles with her glass of water. “Should I just not show up on Friday?”

With a deep sigh of resignation, Gale shakes her head. “No, don’t ditch. He’ll be put out and I don’t want to be trapped on a boat with him when he’s put out. It’ll be fine, you’ll be with me. You may even have fun, it’s very relaxed. He’s into zen stuff, believe it or not,” she adds with a short, bitter laugh.

A rushed thought comes to Kara’s mind. “Nick doesn’t…go on the boat outings, does he?”

Gale squints at her. “No. He doesn’t. Are you relieved or disappointed?”

Relieved? Sure. Disappointed? Maybe that, too. Kara shrugs vaguely. “Just wondering.”

The words settle between them for a moment of silence. Then, Gale says softly, a dark look in her pale blue eyes, “Don’t try to catch Dieter’s eye, Kara.”

Why is she on about that still? “Gale, are you blind? I’m last night’s leftovers next to Dietrich Bittinger,” Kara says drily. “No way do I even show up on his radar. Guys like that do not take interest in girls like me.”

“You sell yourself short. I saw the way he looked at you. He’s interested. Insomething. I just don’t know what though. Which is why I’m worried.”

Kara isn’t sure how Gale can actually tell something like that, considering the guy seems to flirt with anything that has a vagina. “Well, fine, how about this;I’mnot interested. I’m not really big about men who have all sorts of women falling over them and he’s clearly got no shortage ofthat.”

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