Page 46 of Heart of Stone

His eyes turned dark as I awaited his response. I held my breath in anticipation.

“Of course you would. I believe that you are more than qualified to handle the position. It would just be without the fringe benefits,” he added shamelessly. “However, I’m warning you now – I always get what I want. Iwillfuck you eventually, Krystina.”

He didn’t bother to disguise the determined glitter of lust in his eyes. I let out my breath in a quiet hiss.

Now there’s the Alexander that I’ve grown accustomed to.

His direct approach was crude and alluring all at the same time, leaving me squirming in my seat – and not because I was offended, but because it was sohot. An ache began to form between my thighs and the devil on my shoulder started doing fist pumps in the air.

Alexander allowed his gaze to drift lazily over me, causing excited butterflies to dance in my belly. I was thrilled that he was back to his normal, salacious self. But even so, I knew that I still had to be cautious. He was dangerous and I was like a moth to a flame. I had to gradually ease into this or risk being burned.

“Mixing business with pleasure is risky. What happens if things don’t work out with us personally?” I asked. “I don’t want to end up jobless and back to square one.”

“We’re both adults, Krystina. And as long as we keep it casual, I don’t think we’ll have an issue with managing our business dealings.”

“Well, I don’t do casual sex if that’s what you’re after. I think that two people should at least date a few times before jumping into bed,” I replied evenly, proud that I was able to keep the tremor out of my voice despite my racing heart.

“That’s very unfortunate,” he said, shaking his head back and forth.

“Why is that?”

“I don’t date, Krystina. It tends to complicate things that are much better off kept simple.”

Bullshit.

“Then explain the hundreds of red heads that you’re constantly being photographed with,” I spat out, just a little bit too harshly. It was a gut reaction, a defensive move based on instinct, and I fought the urge to slap a hand over my mouth. I heard the level of contempt in my voice and regretted it almost immediately.

This was not going the way that I had planned, even if I was just winging it. I was the one to start this line of conversation and being a bitch every time he said something that I didn’t like would get me nowhere.

“I must say that your own background check onmewasn’t very accurate,” he pointed out. His mouth twitched, like he was trying to hold back a smile.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a slew of connected people on my payroll. I had to make do with my trusty friend Google,” I scoffed, although I was thoroughly embarrassed that my slip up had inadvertently revealed that I had researched him.

“You shouldn’t believe all the filth that can be found online,” he said, showing a hint of disgust beneath his calm demeanor. There was a cool gleam in his eyes and his jaw tightened. “The things you’ve seen or heard about me are based on pure speculation. I’m a wealthy man and I am expected to attend numerous functions, many of which require a date. I’m not sure if thetwored heads you saw pictures of could classify as hundreds, but either way, they were mere acquaintances.”

“So you didn’t sleep with either of them?” I questioned doubtfully, not that it should matter one little iota. After all, I had already committed myself to no personal details. But those curvy red heads were definitely more than tempting with their come-hither smiles and I felt compelled to know the answer nonetheless.

“The answer to that is completely irrelevant, but I’ll indulge in your curiosities. No, I did not fuck either woman,” he openly admitted. His change of verbiage did little to help the trust factor. He must have sensed my disbelief because he let out a long sigh, and then adapted a more placating tone. “You can think what you want, but I have very little in common with those women. Their needs are very different from mine. I’m a man with a variety of sexual interests, Krystina. Knowing that about myself, I deliberately stay away from women that don’t share my desires and adhere to the rules that I’ve set for myself. There are no false pretenses that way.”

Rules?

I wasn’tthatfar removed from the dating scene. He made his sexual exploitations sound like business arrangements.

“You know what? Forget I even asked. You make it all sound so damned complicated,” I muttered, shaking my head.

“It’s not complicated at all – at least until I met you. For some odd reason, I find myself breaking many of my rules when it comes to you.”

“Such as?”

“Well, take tonight for example. I just told you that I don’t do the dating thing, yet here we are. This is, in many ways, like a date – and well out of the norm for me.”

“Is that why you keep referring to tonight as meeting? Dating isn’t in your rule book?” I asked tauntingly, rolling my eyes at him. “I mean, really. Even if you only go out with someone once, you have to have some sort of relevant conversation before jumping into bed. That’s what defines a date. You can’t just walk up to a girl and say ‘hey baby, let’s fuck’. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Don’t be crude, Krystina.”

“My, my. Aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black?”

The right corner of his mouth twitched again, showing me that he was fighting back a smile. However, I wasn’t finding this conversation even remotely humorous. It was frustrating.

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