Page 77 of My Book Boyfriend
“C’mon.” I scoop up Tiger, who’s exploring the hallway, and pull Rupert into my apartment.
Bennet winds herself around Rupert’s legs, meowing. Darcy is on a shelf on the bookcase, looking aloof. I put Tiger down, and he scampers into Bella’s room.
I gesture to the table. “Choose your seat.”
Rupert sets up his laptop and takes a seat. I grab my pad with notes and sit across from him.
We stare at each other with serious expressions. Rupert breaks first, grinning. He slides his hand across to caress mine. “I’m looking forward to this partnership.”
“Are you buttering me up?” I ask.
“Yes.” He runs his foot up my leg. “I’m definitely planning to use all the weapons at my disposal.”
I shake my head. “You might be sorry. You may be more susceptible than me.”
He raises an eyebrow but then reaches back into his messenger bag and pulls out a piece of paper from a folder. “Here’s our proposal.”
Shit.It’s good. It’s basically exactly what we wanted. It’s twice the amount of money that we have now to maintain the community garden.
And on top of that, there’s another pot of money for creating and maintaining the roof garden.
I school my face. He’s probably already seen that I’m fricking delighted.
“This is your opening offer?” I ask as if it’s not enough.
He narrows his eyes. “It seems pretty fair to me.”
“Hmm.” I whistle through my teeth and get up. He pushes his chair back from the table and leans back, his feet sprawled out.
“You’re looking for a better offer, Burton?”
“I am, Evans, I am.” I stride over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. His laughing eyes look up at me. “We were thinking 10 percent more in funding.”
“You’ll have to do some persuading.”
I sit on his lap and kiss him, running my hands through his hair. He kisses me back, holding me tight. I lean back and loosen his tie.
“Five percent more,” he says.
“Done,” I say.
“Done.” He pulls out a version with a 5 percent increase. I think I just gave in too easily. But it’s a fair deal.
He signs it and hands me the pen. I turn to face the table and sign it, his arms embracing me. He unbuttons the top button of my shirt, pulling it slightly off my shoulder. He softly traces my collarbone. I shiver. His gaze is intense, reverential. I unbutton his shirt so I can wrap my arms around his bare skin. He smooths the hair from my neck and trails kisses down to my shoulder.
“Shall we go celebrate now?” he asks, his voice gravelly, his glance heated on mine.
I sink into him and rest against his warmth. We did it. And he’s here. He still wants me.
“I have a gift for you,” he says, his voice muffled against my hair.
“You do?”
“Yes.” He reaches down to his bag with one arm and pulls out a copy ofA Devilish Darewith colorful tabs sticking out of it. “There are some things I definitely think we should try.”
I laugh. “We’ll need to compare notes. I tabbed some sections too.”
Rupert kisses me firmly on the lips. “I think this book club is going to be very fun.”
