Page 28 of The German's Guilty Pleasure
As I snuggled into bed, I was convinced something that personal was even more intimate than sex with another person. You don’t spend that much time thinking about how perfectly part A was going to fit into part B and not call it intimate. It didn’t help that the moment I saw his design, I knew I was going to have to tell him he was right. I hated that those words were going to leave my lips regarding this matter. I hadn’t discussed it with him and I didn’t plan to, though something told me eventually he wouldn’t give me a choice.
I turned the lamp on in the living room, grabbed my clutch, and left the apartment. It was already after nine, and my stomach was grumbling about the lack of food I’d fed it today. I was famished and I prayed dinner was quick and copious.
I knocked on the penthouse door and waited, wondering why I was invited into the inner circle when Seth and Lexie hadn’t been. Maybe they planned to make it a working dinner to discuss marketing strategies while we ate. Perhaps they intended to fire me and were buttering me up first. I shook my head and forced the negative thoughts from my mind.They aren’t going to fire you, Serenity. You’re their lifeline in the business right now. Without you, they don’t have a finger on the pulse of the American woman. Remember that.
I blew out a breath and nodded once at my inner dialogue when the door opened, and I came face-to-face with Lars. He was all Miami Vice, and the best part was, he didn’t even know it. He wore a creamy linen suit with a V-neck t-shirt under it that accentuated his muscular chest. The only thing that set him apart was the classic pair of Melvin & Hamilton leather shoes on his feet. He looked good. No, he looked good enough to eat, and I was starving.
“Hi,” he whispered while his eyes took in the length of me, “du bist schön.” He shook his head a moment and then sucked in air through his nose. “No, you are more than beautiful. You are unforgettable in the best possible way.” He threw me a wink, and I had to work at keeping my knees locked, so I didn’t fall to the ground.
“I didn’t know what to wear. Thank you for the compliment. I’m glad you like it.” I did a small curtesy. He looked behind him for a moment and then grabbed me and planted a kiss on my lips that promised so much more … if only our lives weren’t what they were.
“Like is a weak description of what I think about you in that dress. I can barely think with the proper head right now.”
My eyes drifted south and paused at the tenting of his linen pants. “Depends on which head is the proper one,” I said, flirting in a way I had never flirted before.
What was wrong with me? I swear to God this company had turned me into a horny teenager. Then again, maybe it was this man.
“When it comes to you, I absolutely know which head would like the chance to get to know you. It is the one on my shoulders that tells me we have already crossed the line into workplace sexual misconduct if you so desire to call it that.”
“Workplace sexual misconduct? Last time I checked, every time you’ve kissed me, we’ve been off the clock, so those three words don’t apply here. If I didn’t want you to kiss me, I would have already kneed you in the balls.”
He snorted, his eyes sparkling with pure pleasure. He pushed me up against the door and braced a hand on each side of me. “While my balls appreciate that, I still struggle with my attraction to you and my need to protect the company. I am not sure I can have both.”
That red-headed temper flared to life inside my chest. “I don’t want your stupid company, Lars,” I ground out, then ducked under his arm. “Where is Gretchen? I’m ready to eat.”
“I am as well,der liebling. I was famished hours ago.” She swept into the room in a dress that could only be described as dazzling and seductive. It was black with a swath of crystals running from her left shoulder, across her breast and down the front of it in a swoop. She had paired it with dangling diamond earrings and three-inch heels.
My mouth fell open slightly. “You’re a knockout,” I whispered, suddenly feeling frumpy in a dress that made me feel beautiful five minutes ago.
She eyed me up and down and then nodded once. “As are you,der liebling.” She shook her head. “If I was forty years younger.” She clapped her hands twice at her son, who stood behind me. “Is the car ready? We must go.”
I followed them to the elevator, my mind wandering to what she meant by that comment. If she was forty years younger? I shook my head to clear it, acutely aware I had better be on my toes tonight, or I was going to get run over by these two steam locomotives on the track. Together they were a team of power, skill, and knowledge the likes of which I had never seen before, and doubted I would ever see again. They knew every little thing about each other and used that knowledge and commonality to their advantage. I didn’t have that advantage, so I had to be sure I was always paying attention.
We stepped onto the elevator, and Lars hit the button for the lobby. I noticed his jaw tic, and that told me he was aggravated.Sometimes the truth hurts, Lars. How pretentious to think everyone wants your company. We’re not all out to take what isn’t ours.I thought he knew that about me. “Where are we going to eat?” I asked chipper as ever. “I’m starving.”
Gretchen smiled a smile that told me she had something up her sleeve. “It is a private dinner party on the beach outside of 1 Hotel South Beach. All the seafood you can eat and all the mojitos you can drink. It will be divine.”
Devine. Well, I was okay with divine as long as there was something besides seafood. “Will there be other food there?” I asked when the elevator left us off in the lobby. The lights were low, but I could see a car waiting for us under the portico. It took me a moment to discern it wasn’t Lars’ Porsche. It was an Audi A8, four doors, sleek silver, and hot as hell.
Lars held the back door open for me, and before he could close it, Gretchen lowered herself to the backseat as well. Once he was in, he fired up the engine and glanced at us in the rearview mirror. “I am playing chauffeur?”
“You are,der Sohn,” Gretchen murmured, her smile enough to put one on his face.
He put the car in gear and headed toward the beach while Gretchen turned to face me. “You do not like seafood? You live in Miami.”
I nodded and bit my lip. I wanted to avoid eye contact, but her intensity didn’t allow for that. If she was speaking to you, she had your eye. “I’ve never had it, at least not in the last twenty years.”
She patted my knee lovingly. “It is time you try it then. Lobster is most decadent when served fresh. Sit by me. I will teach you.” Whatever look I wore was enough for her to stop speaking and wait. My eyes flicked to the front of the car, and I noticed Lars was paying equal attention to our conversation.
“What I mean is, I can’t eat fish or seafood.” I lifted my neck and pointed at a thin scar hidden by my necklace. “When I was four, I tried shrimp for the first and last time. I was in the hospital for a week and went home with a tracheostomy.”
The car jerked slightly, and I glanced up to see Lars appear shaken, but he recovered, and the ride smoothed out again. Gretchen opened her purse and pulled out her phone, hitting a number and bringing it to her ear. I started waving my hands when she began speaking, making the cut motion at my neck, and assuring her it was fine, but she never blinked. She spoke to someone at the hotel and informed them there was to be no seafood served. When she hung up, she tucked the phone back in her purse. “Problem solved.”
I leaned back against the seat and sighed. “Thank you, but that was unnecessary. Others can eat seafood around me. It’s not a big deal.”
“I disagree,” she said, in her usual CEO tone. “It is a big deal. I will not risk your life by sitting you around a table where seven other people are eating seafood. Steak and chicken will be on the menu instead.”
“Okay then, thank you, Gretchen. I’m so used to it that I don’t think anything of it anymore. Wait. Seven other people?”
