Page 35 of Rival Desires

I considered his words, weighing the pros and cons of pursuing a relationship with my professional nemesis. Could we move past the messy circumstances of our first few encounters? Did I even want to?

“Hey, how ‘bout another round for the lady?” The bartender’s smooth voice cut through my mental fog as he set down Cory’s drink, his gaze locked on me like a laser beam.

The buzz from my martinis made my head pleasantly fuzzy, and Cory’s unwavering stare wasn’t helping matters. So, I found myself giving the bartender a nod.

“Why not?” I said, returning his smile. His answering wink sent a little shiver down my spine as he picked up my empty glass and sauntered off.

A low rumble from Cory’s direction drew my gaze. His eyes narrowed as he watched the bartender walk away. I bit back a sigh and resisted the urge to nudge him with my foot.

“What’s your deal?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That guy’s supposed to be slinging drinks, not flirting with the ladies,” Cory grumbled, scowling into his glass.

“Oh, please,” I said, gently leaning in. “You mean to tell me no cute bartender has ever batted their eyes at you or flashed a winning smile?”

Cory’s face turned beet red, and he quickly looked away, fidgeting with his napkin. “That’s not the point,” he mumbled. “They’re supposed to be professional at work.”

I laughed at Cory’s expression. “Oh, right, Mr. Perfect,” I teased, waggling my eyebrows at him. “You’ve never turned on the charm for a client or a business contact, have you?”

The server returned with my fresh drink and scooched it in my direction on the table. Cory finally looked at me, a troubled expression clouding his pale green eyes. “That’s the second time you’ve accused me of doing something unethical,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my drink. “Yeah, well, if the shoe fits, Cinderella,” I replied, feeling the warmth of the liquor spread through my body.

He tilted his head as if seeing a different side of me. “As much as I’d like to discussthatcomparison, I’m not getting side-tracked this time. Be straight with me and tell me what the hell you’re havering on about.”

I frowned at him. “What did you just say?” I asked, my words slurring slightly.

He made an impatient gesture with his hand. “My dad’s Scottish, and I still have a couple of phrases floating around in my head,” he explained. “Don’t change the subject. Just tell me what you’re talking about.”

I let out a big sigh and leaned back in the seat. It was time to get it all out in the open. Maybe if I confronted him about it and got him to apologize, I could play nice and move on. And if he didn’t apologize, well, I could spend the rest of the night stewingin righteous anger, and Nat couldn’t say a damn thing about it. Either way, it was a win-win.

“Alright, I’ll spill the beans,” I said. “I’m talking about how you went all James Bond on me at that swanky gala just to get into my head. And then, to top it all off, you pulled a repeat performance at the grocery store, flashing your killer dimples. I mean, come on! I’m your arch-nemesis in the business world, and you knew it all along while I was clueless. Talk about playing dirty pool!”

His eyebrows shot up so fast I thought they might disappear into his hairline. The shock on his face was so obvious that I felt a flicker of doubt for a second. “Wait, that’s exactly what I thought you did to me,” he said, sounding surprised.

Now, it was my turn to be taken aback. “What? No way, I didn’t do that,” I said firmly, shaking my head.

“Well, neither did I,” he insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

For a moment, we just sat there, staring at each other in disbelief. It was like we were both actors in some bizarre comedy of errors.

Suddenly, so many things made sense. The way he’d sounded insulted when I’d suggested he’d been inappropriate with Nadine Seaworth. The fact that he’d seemed pissed at me like I’d done something wrong.

“Shit,” I muttered, closing my eyes and sighing. “This really was a coincidence. We’ve been wasting so much time and energy being annoyed at each other when it was all just a huge misunderstanding.”

“Fury’s never gonna let this one slide,” Cory grumbled, his voice a low rumble that sent a shiver down my spine.

I blinked my eyes open, looking him straight in the eye. “Alright, spill it. You fessed up to your cousin about us?”

Cory had the good grace to look a bit sheepish, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks. “Look, I’m sorry, but I had to. I thought you were playing us.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “So, you didn’t tell him about our first time at the masquerade since you didn’t know we were competitors then?”

He scrubbed at the back of his neck, gaze darting away like a guilty puppy. “Alright, I might’ve let slip a tiny detail or two about that,” he confessed. His eyes swung back to me, pinning me down. “Look, I don’t normally do the whole one-night-stand-and-vanish thing, you know.” He heaved a sigh. “Now, back to the grind. You’re not gonna sit there and tell me you haven’t been trying to swipe our clients because of that mix-up?”

I released a sigh, the tension draining out of me. “Yeah, I’ll back off on that front. But the Seaworth’s account is still fair game.”

“Agreed,” he said, a slow smile spreading across his face.

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