Page 66 of Owen North

I quickly try to fix it, but all I end up doing is making it worse. In the end, I give up and just let my hair down while muttering about the fact I need to excuse myself and leave this dinner party far behind.

All I can think about is Owen’s bedroom.

Like, where is it?

How has he decorated it?

Does he have a bath I could get lost in?

How many pillows does he have?

Does he have something he can tie me to in there?

I squeeze my eyes closed.

Right, I’m going to go out there, find that waiter, steal a tray full of canapés, say my goodbyes, and get the hell out of here before I go in search of that bedroom.

I have a date with pizza to get to, and I’m also now scheduling in a date with my vibrator.

I take one last deep breath before opening the door to leave.

Owen is standing on the other side of the door, leaning against the wall, waiting for me. I stop myself from taking the step I was about to, and say, “One of us needs to go and steal a tray of canapés and that needs to be you. And then I’m leaving.”

His lips pull up at the ends and he pushes off the wall. “Stay for dinner.”

I hold my hand up to slow his roll. “That is a very bad idea, and you know it. Your friend has already figured us out. The last thing we need to do is share a meal together and have your client work it out too. And don’t say I’m your employee and you can’t let me starve. Let me starve, Owen. I’ll be less inclined to force my way into your bedroom and demand filthy things from you later.”

“Fuck,” he growls, only just stopping himself from moving into me. “The word filthy is not to leave your mouth while I can’t do anything with it.” He takes a moment. Probably trying to talk himself out of what he fails not to say next. “I want you to stay. You can sit at the other end of the table from me. We don’t need to talk.” His eyes search mine. “Five minutes in the break room was nowhere near enough for me today.”

I read somewhere once that when a person is turned on, all good sense flies out the window. That they do things they would never normally do. I’m here to tell the world it’s true. All of it. True, true, true.

“Okay.”Why must he have those blue eyes?“I’ll stay.”

* * *

“Didyou tell Owen that Crème Brûlée is my favorite dessert?” Crystal asks her husband when dessert is served.

Ron shakes his head. “No.”

I eye him. I don’t think much of Ron, but then, I’ve only just met him tonight and I haven’t had a proper conversation with him. Still, he strikes me as the kind of man who has an inflated sense of self-importance from the things he’s said.

“Oh, to have a husband who shares those kinds of secrets,” Adeline says with a teasing look at her husband.

“That would require a wife who doesn’t have a new favorite each week,” Jameson says. These two banter like pros but it’s obvious they adore each other.

Adeline grins. “Well, just in case you spring another dinner party on me this week before I fly back to London, I’d love to see chocolate mousse on the menu with perhaps a little Nutella on the side.”

“I am one hundred percent in agreement with that suggestion,” I say.

Owen’s eyes find mine, a smile hiding in them. “If I’d known you were coming, Nutella would have been served.”

Bradford gives me a knowing look from beside Owen at the other end of the table before raising his glass at me.

“Girl,” Adeline says as she eats her dessert, “If you love Nutella, you need to check out that new coffee shop around the corner from here on Seventh Avenue. They have this to-die-for Nutella slice.”

Thank goodness for Adeline. She’s managed to keep me distracted from Owen for most of this dinner. It helped that the men have been engrossed in business conversation, leaving Adeline, Crystal, and me to our own devices. Owen did try to steer the conversation to one we could all engage in, but Crystal made it clear she’d rather talk about something else with Adeline and me.

It turns out that Adeline was a fashion model and now runs her own über-successful fashion brand. I bet Poppy has heard of her before, but I never have. I love clothes and make-up and all things girly, but I don’t follow brands. I just buy what I’m drawn to at the time.

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