Page 94 of Wicked Fantasies

“I have to admit the two of you seem to have an odd relationship.”

He lifted his arms, linked his hands behind his head. “Odd how?”

She dropped down into the seat across from his desk. During the course of the past two weeks, she’d spent countless hours in this chair, the two of them just talking. Once Reed dropped the cocky façade he showed the world, he was actually an interesting man to converse with. He was intelligent, insightful, even thoughtful.

“It’s obvious there’s a deep respect between the two of you.”

He snorted. “Respect? Try again, sweetheart. That’s definitely the wrong vocabulary word.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s not. You respect your uncle. Anyone can see that. And he respects you.”

He started to contradict her words again, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“Let me finish. I’m not sure you see it, but I’ve watched Brian when the two of you are in the room together. He listens to what you say, and if you don’t offer your opinion, which I have to say is pretty much next to never, he asks you for it. I’m not saying he always agrees with everything you do or say, but he listens and he appreciates your comments.”

Reed was silent when she finished speaking, and she wondered for a moment if he’d even heard what she was saying.

When he did finally respond, his words came slowly, as if he were measuring every one. “I think my uncle is one of the greatest men I’ve ever known. There’s very little of value I’ve learned about life, about business, that I didn’t learn simply by observing him. But you’re wrong, Frankie. I’ve recently come to the realization that I’m a disappointment to him.”

“A disappointment?” She knew his words were wrong, and she wondered how he could have come to such a terrible misunderstanding.

“He sent me to London for nine months to play office manager rather than allowing me to do the job he hired me for. Then I come back to discover he’d hired the talented young upstart Frankie Carlyle. He didn’t hire us to be partners. He hired you to cover my back because he doesn’t think I have the talent to continue to succeed in this job. I figure I’m living on borrowed time.”

She was shocked by his comments and overwhelmed by his erroneous thinking. How could he believe any of that? How could he not see what seemed so obvious to her? “That’s not true.”

He shrugged, and she knew from his perspective the conversation was over.

“Reed. None of what you said is true.” She felt strongly about her beliefs, but the look on his face told her nothing she said would penetrate his damn hard head. When Reed latched onto something, he held on to it with the tenaciousness of a pit bull.

Suddenly she understood the tiredness in his face, appreciated why he felt like he needed to work so hard. He was fighting to prove himself to his uncle.

“Big day tomorrow,” she said, changing the subject to one she was sure he would welcome. No one enjoyed trash talk more than Reed Donovan.

A grin broke on his face. “Wanna declare defeat now? Save all the muss and fuss tomorrow?”

She leaned forward in her chair, giving him a bird’s-eye view of her cleavage. “Nope. I’m going to relish every moment of watching you go down. Hmmm. Going down. I may need to work that into my victory lap.”

He reached toward his crotch. “I’ve got something here you can lap…with that tongue of yours.”

“Crude, Reed. Even for you.”

He stood with a chuckle. “Yeah, I think it was at that. Come on, Carlyle. I’ll take you to Carter’s bar and buy you a drink. The calm before the storm.”

She rose as well. “Ah. A drink would definitely hit the spot right about now.”

He took her hand and led her toward the door. The gesture was nothing more than friendly, and yet she couldn’t still the slight tremble in her stomach his touch provoked. She was starting to feel like a silly schoolgirl around him. She kicked the feeling out with a vengeance, releasing his hand to push the button on the elevator. Mentally, she tried to batten down her hatches, find a way to close her heart to the man before he managed to weaken every defense she possessed.

Frankie walked backfrom the conference room, brimming with happiness. She’d won. Simply Lovely picked her ad campaign. She’d fought to restrain her victorious smile for nearly thirty minutes as the CEO of the company praised her ideas. Reed had put up a good front, but she could see in his eyes a wariness, a slight tinge of worry.

He was hers to play with, and she had every intention of bending the man to her whims. He’d played her like a violin on his desk, pulling words and feelings from her that she still wasn’t able to think about. He’d thrown her world for a loop. Now, she was about to shake his rafters, watch his foundation crumble a bit.

They approached the door to their offices. She waited until his hand was just at the knob, let him believe he’d escaped for the moment.

“Oh, Reed,” she said, smirking when he paused and sighed heavily. “I’m going to need to see you in my office in ten minutes.”

He narrowed his eyes and she wondered if he’d refuse to honor the bet. Balk at it.

He nodded. “Fine.” His tone was nothing short of a bark, and she couldn’t suppress the giggle that escaped. He studied her face for a moment. “You aren’t going to play nice, are you?”

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