Page 14 of Back in Black

Very true. She gave a blasé shrug. “So?”

“So when it’s all said and done, I’d prefer to work with you.”

She would not be flattered by that. Raising a brow, she asked, “The devil you know?”

“The devil I’ve already met.” His gaze dipped to her mouth, then her breasts. “A sexy devil.”

She started to remonstrate with him, and he cut her off. “But if you hightail it out of here, I’ll still be around, make no mistake about that. Fran and Loren might want me reformed, but they still want me.”

Gillian gritted her teeth. “Again I ask—what’s your point?”

“I have a deal for you.” He sat forward, hands flat on the tabletop. “You can take it or leave it, and to hell with consequences. But make your decision knowing the consequences will be worse on you than on me. I might get stuck with a woman less appealing than you. But you”—he rose from his seat—“won’t be able to meet your financial goals.”

What did he know of her financial goals? Damn Fran for broadcasting her private business. What she wanted, how long she might have wanted it, was not his business.

Rather than let him know that he’d gotten to her, she pretended it didn’t matter. And it wasn’t easy, because now that he was standing, Gillian felt almost vulnerable in her seat.

She tapped her fingernails on the tabletop. “Are you going to get to the deal anytime soon?”

He grinned and walked around to prop a hip on the table by her chair. The side of his calf brushed her knee. “You think my cursing and my temper are the root of all evil, right? No, don’t answer. I’m not an idiot. I know how women like you think.”

Affront made her forget some of her determination. “Women like me?”

“Yeah.” His voice went deeper. “Women who want to homogenize the sexes. You pretend disdain for men who act like men. You want us to be all smooth and glib and proper. But deep down”—he leaned toward her—“at night, in your bed, you know damn good and well you want a real man.”

Gillian opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“You want a guy who’s comfortable in his own skin. A guy who is different from a woman, in every way.”

As heat rose beneath her skin, she sputtered. “You . . . are so full of it.” And maybe a little right. But it was her dreaded secret, and she would never admit it to him.

He let that go. “You want me to control myself in public? No problem. Half the shit I do is just for effect anyway. But if I suck it up and censor myself, then you have to put up with me beingme . . .in private.”

Oh, now that was too provocative for her to stay seated. Gillian slowly stood before him. “What, exactly, are you saying?”

CHAPTER 3

LOOKING down into her wide eyes, seeing the flush on her skin, Drew almost forgot that this was part of a plan. He almost forgot that everything he did right now was to achieve an end goal.

He’d just told her that he did outrageous things for effect. The SBC audience appreciated his “man’s man” attitude; the more he cursed and ranted, the cruder he acted, the more they loved it.

He’d lay bets that right now, standing so close to him, Gillian wouldn’t remember that.

Ramping up the machismo, but keeping his stance relaxed, he said, “I want you, Gillian Noode, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”

“But that’s . . .” She started over. “You can’t just . . .”

“But I do. How and where doesn’t matter. Hell, the dining table here would work for me. I’m not picky or all that traditional.”

Hot color scalded her face. It was anger, not embarrassment.“No.”

“When was the last time you got laid?” He touched the pearl at the end of her chain necklace, resting almost in her cleavage. Damn, but her skin was warm and so silky . . .

“None of your business.”

“That long ago, huh?” He toyed with the pearl, just to brush the backs of his fingers over her skin again and again. “When was the last time you even had a date?”

She grabbed his wrist to stop his teasing. “I get asked out all the time.”

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