Page 104 of Emergence and Ascendance

"Do you have a problem with my plans for tonight?"

Her eyes darted to the path to make sure we were alone again then she shook her head. "Not really a problem, but this feels like a date."

"Do you have a problem dating me?"

"That's not what we are. Our arrangement?—"

"Is whatever we want it to be. No one knows the details except us. So again, do you have a problem dating me?"

"I don't want people to misinterpret what this is."

"Which means…"

"Me dating a man who posed a conflict with a business opportunity I was interested in."

"You don't want them to assume you traded pussy for property."

Her mouth dropped open and I angled my head to the side. "No sense in being offended. That's exactly what you were implying, am I right?"

She sighed and nodded. "Yes, but I wouldn't have presented it that way."

I shrugged. "The words don't really matter, just the intent, but if that's the issue, then you don't have to worry. On paper, you outbid me. You paid twenty percent over market value and I removed the offer CD Capital Holdings initially put in. It's all documented. No one can say a damn thing about how you obtained the property or what goes on with us personally. We're also two consenting adults who are attracted to each other. We're grown as fuck and don't owe anyone an explanation for what we have going on. There's no confusion."

"This is just hard for me," she said quietly.

"This?" I needed clarification. If she meant the lines being blurred with her professional and personal lives I could navigate that, but if this meant a shift from our original agreement to something more, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear that answer.

"Every man I've had feelings for in the past has proven I wasn't the end goal. They wanted access to the Whitney name. I was just a means to an end."

"Do you think that's what I want? Access…"

"No…" She didn't hesitate and I somewhat relaxed.

"Then I don't see the problem."

"What are you asking me for?"

What the hell was I asking her for?

I hadn't fully processed that so I didn't have an answer, but what I could process was that thirty days wasn't going to be enough…

"I'm asking you to let this be whatever we want it to be."

She shook her head lightly. "You can't even tell me what you want."

She was insecure about being chosen without an underlying intention and I could relate. If Scotlyn needed my honesty in order to hand over hers, she would get my honesty.

"I want more than just the contract we agreed on and I can't tell you how that will be defined because I don't have a fucking clue. What I'm sure of is that thirty days isn't enough, and unless you tell me I'm wrong, you feel the same way."

I wasn't wrong. I could see it in her eyes. I could feel that shit but she was holding back, so I kept going.

"I'm not asking you to marry me, Scotlyn. We can just let this happen naturally. All I'm asking is that you trust what you feel."

She sighed. "That's the problem. I can't trust what I feel."

"What's stopping you?"

She dropped her eyes and toyed with the stem of her wine glass.

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