Wild Card by Lila Monroe

Author:Lila Monroe [Monroe, Lila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lila Monroe Books
Published: 2018-06-10T18:30:00+00:00

11

Olivia

After my “adventures” in the spa, I could use a day of real R&R, but Ryan has us scheduled for our big lunch with Mason and his wife, so the next morning the two of us set off to meet them at a private marina along the shore. “Nervous?” I ask as we drive over.

“Me, nervous?” Ryan arches an eyebrow, all confidence—and almost certainly full of shit. “No way.”

“OK,” I agree, hiding a smile. “It would be fine if you were, but for what it’s worth you’ve got no reason to be. You’re going to be great. Guys like Mason are easy.”

He glances at me sidelong. “They are?”

“Yes.” I nod. “First of all, he obviously likes your whole aw-shucks, all-American thing, so play that up. Flatter him, but not too much. I’m guessing Mason prefers going toe-to-toe with someone, instead of just a brownnoser. Besides, the person you really want to impress is Arianna.”

Ryan looks surprised. “Really? I mean, she seemed nice and all, but she’s not officially part of his company, or on the board of execs at all.”

“I know, it may not seem like it, but my guess is she’s the one making a lot of the business decisions in that partnership. She’s got a mind like a steel trap. And she’s super into philanthropy, so make sure to mention that work you did with the Boys and Girls Club.”

Ryan stops short at a red light, glancing over at me in surprise. “I never told you about that.”

I grin, popping my notebook back into my bag. “Lucky for you, I’m great at research.”

“That is . . . not surprising to me,” he says with a chuckle.

“I’ve been handling guys like Mason my whole life,” I tell him, reaching out and patting his thigh before I can stop myself. “You get in a jam like the other night, just give me a signal and I’ll come bail you out.”

Ryan smiles. “Like a secret code?”

I laugh, I can’t help it. “I mean, sure, if that helps you.”

He pulls the car up to the valet stand outside the marina, and pauses. “Look,” he begins, “I know we’re both helping each other out here. But I wanted to say thank you for all the work you’re putting in. PowerBar means a lot to me, and I’m definitely sleeping a lot easier having somebody like you in my corner.”

“Of course,” I say, waving him off even as a pleased pink flush works its way up my body. “I’m having fun.”

“Yeah,” Ryan says, eyes trained steadily on mine. “Me too.”

His tone is decidedly non-platonic—at least, I think it is—and my stomach does a slow flip. “Good,” I manage, swallowing hard.

“Good.”

For a moment we just stare at each other, neither one of us saying anything. Ryan’s eyes flick down to my mouth. His gaze is like a lightning bolt of desire that I feel right between my legs—it takes every ounce of restraint in my body not to climb into his lap right here in broad daylight, wind my arms around his neck and—

God, Olivia.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.