Page 49 of Velvet Sin
“Honestly?”With a knowing smirk, he shook his head.“I would have to learn to live with it.But here’s the thing,Eleanor.” The word sounded foreign coming from his mouth, and not only because he made a big deal of overenunciating it as he drew nearer.“I would rather have you as a colleague than not have you at all.I would rather exchange emails and catch up over Zoom calls than never see you again.Never knowing whether you’re okay, if you’re happy, if you have what you want.Do you think I’m going to spend the rest of my life convincing my employees to help me spy on you?”
I shouldn’t have laughed.It only encouraged him.At least I managed to cut off my soft giggle so it didn’t get out of hand.“There’s got to be some sort of ethics complaint I could file against you for that.”
“I doubt it, but you’re free to waste your time, Lenny.”He sighed, shrugging helplessly, and I didn’t correct him this time.“I’m not going to pretend I don’t want you.I still do.I always have.I don’t think there’s been a moment since I set eyes on you in fifth grade that I haven’t loved you.Really, truly loved you from the deepest part of my heart.”
The room was spinning.Why weren’t there any chairs around?I’d need one before I hit the floor.He loved me?“Really?”
“Always,” he replied, his gaze steady.Unflinching.“I tried to pretend that part of me didn’t exist.For a long time, I convinced myself.But I’m tired of that.I don’t want that anymore.And I’m not going to pretend the idea of commitment doesn’t terrify me because it does.Being responsible for another person, making sure I don’t fuck up and break their heart.It’s a big fucking deal, and I haven’t done a good job of it before now.I know that.”
He wasn’t wrong, but… “I haven’t been perfect either,” I whispered, which was as much as I could manage when he was close enough that the warmth of his body and the spicy scent of his cologne enveloped me.“I couldn’t handle my feelings, and I let all that outside bullshit get in the way.It’s not worth it.”
“Can you give me another chance?Or at the very least,“ he added when I couldn’t find the words.“Help me make sense of the monster I created with this business.I know you can.”
It was a big risk, but then what was life without a little risk?I had played it safe for so long.Even when I had everything it took to make me happy, I was still too worried about what the world would think to consider what I thought.What was the point of that?
“I told Mom,” he added, his eyes twinkling.
“What?”My head was going to explode if he didn’t quit it with the surprises.“You told her?Was it because of what I said?”
“Of course it was.I knew I should, but you opened my eyes.Thank you for that.Do you want to know the punchline?”His grin widened when I nodded.“She already knew.”
“No!”
“Yeah, some of the old guys in her community popped Viagra one night during a trip to LA and heard my name used at the club and put two and two together.She’s learned to accept it.”When he reached out to take my hands, I didn’t pull them away.Why would I when his touch made the world around us disappear?“If it weren’t for you pushing me in that direction, I would still feel like I had to hide for her.I couldn’t take this step of expanding the way I plan to if it hadn’t been for that.You talked about feeling free?You’ve given me that freedom now.”
He stepped up closer, letting go of my hands so he could cup my cheeks.His touch left me weak, wanting to give in.“Let me grant you a different type of freedom now.Go back to school at night if you want to or don’t… but dammit, put your education to use.Stand on your own feet.Take this opportunity, even if you don’t want me.”
But that was the thing.I did want him.There was no such thing as separating personal and business when it came to him.“It just so happens I’m looking for a job,” I whispered, tears filling my eyes when his face lit up.“And there’s this guy I love.I wouldn’t mind working with him.”
He released a silent laugh and pulled me in, crushing his lips against mine until my head spun.I had to cling to him to stay on my feet.“Thank you,” he whispered between kisses.“Thank you, thank you, Lenny.”
Then he froze, frowning.“Sorry.Eleanor.”
“You’re such a smartass,” I whispered, wrapping his tie around my fist and pulling him in again.
* * *
“Dante!”I pointed to the man I’d been chatting with the past few minutes, standing next to the pool.“I was just telling Clay about my idea.”
Clayton Manning owned a huge hospitality group with his wife, Mirabella Rinaldi.Knowing he’d be on the guest list for Dante’s housewarming got my brain churning, and I’d blurted out the idea last night of running adult-oriented hotels.We wouldn’t be the first, but we would be the best.That was the cornerstone of the Dante West brand.
Clay chuckled, lifting his drink in a salute.“I’ve got to tell you, Dante,” he chuckled as we approached the man pouring drinks at the outdoor bar.“She’s got a good head on her shoulders.I can see why the two of you get along so well.”
“Hey!”Mira shook a finger at him as she approached, draping an arm around his waist and winking at me.“If there’s one thing my husband is into, it’s a woman with a brain.I might have to keep an eye on him if you end up working together on a new project.”She was warm and sweet, and I didn’t get the feeling she meant it.Hopefully, anyway.
“It was just an idea I had,” I insisted, playing it off.
“It’s a damn good idea,” Clay deadpanned.“I would be interested in learning a little more.Doing a little brainstorming, maybe?”he asked Dante, who nodded in agreement from behind the bar.“The next time you’re in LA looking after the club, hit me up.I might be able to get some of the other guys in on it too.”
He turned his head, looking over to where his friends gathered near the pool’s edge.Lex Landry and Summer Strawbridge were there.I’d just about fangirled to death when she stepped onto the patio.I kept having to remind myself not to ask her for a selfie.Travis Knight told a joke that made her laugh, and his fiancée, Penny, gave his arm a playful smack.Spencer Collins and his fiancée, Rowan, danced slowly to the music pumped through the outdoor sound system.They were in their own little world, wrapped up in each other.
Everyone seemed nice, just like the guys who invested in Dante's Vegas club.They were making connections tonight, getting to know each other, networking.It was enough to make my head spin, which was why I liked working behind a desk.It would take time for me to develop the confidence these guys had.Years of being told I was stupid or at least scatterbrained wasn’t something a girl easily forgot.
But in the past couple of weeks since accepting Dante’s job offer, I was starting to build my self-image as a businesswoman.The reinforcement from a mogul like Clay Manning went a long way toward giving me a boost.
He and Mira wandered off to join their friends, giving Dante the chance to pull me aside.“You are a fucking natural at this,” he whispered, his lips brushing my ear as he added, “To tell you the truth, it got me a little hard.”
“Everything gets you hard,” I whispered back.
