She huffed out a breath of air and crossed her arms.

“Have we decided on the name yet?” Julian asked, changing the subject before Lily and I dominated the rest of the meeting with an argument.

“I’m still working on it. I’ve got a few in mind though.”

“I’ve been coordinating with the graphic designer you hired in Vegas,” Zoe said, directing the meeting toward her work. “Obviously, we can’t do much without a name, but we’ve begun to work on basic branding. You’ve told us what aesthetic you’d like for the restaurant, so once we have the name we can home in on what logo would work best.”

“Have you forwarded me that progress?” I asked.

She nodded. “Everyone should have it in their inbox.”

“Good.” I turned to Hunter and his eyes widened. “How is the search going for the restaurant space?”

He swallowed and pulled at the collar of his shirt, trying to loosen its hold around his neck. “Um. Yeah. I’ve been looking, but there’s not much out there. Whole lotta rough, not many diamonds.”

I narrowed my eyes. That’s not what I wanted to hear. “I’m not looking for anything polished, just something we can work with. You’re telling me there are no available leases in Manhattan?”

Was that his attempt at a bad joke?

His cheeks flamed. “It’s just a tough market right now and I think…it’s just…”

He was rambling and it made no sense. Hunter had helped me find the spaces for my last four restaurants and he’d never once had a problem.

“I’ll help,” Lily offered gently. “I can search around online when I get home.”

Hunter shot her a sharp glare. He clearly didn’t want her help, but tough shit. He needed it.

“That’d be great. Thanks.”

She smiled and the impact of it knocked me off my equilibrium.

“Actually, Lily could you stay after the meeting for a second?”

Her smile faltered. “Oh, uh…sure. Okay.”

She was as surprised by my question as I was. The plan was to have a group meeting and then send everyone on their way, together. I should’ve realized I’d cave as soon as I saw her. Two weeks apart meant that she was more tempting than ever. The desire that should have faded was too sharp to ignore. I had nothing business related to discuss with her; I just wasn’t ready for her to walk away yet.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Lily

Zoe was the last to leave Dean’s office. She turned back and shot me a knowing grin just as I shut the door on her. Dean stood behind his desk, peeling off his suit jacket. His corded arm muscles flexed as he tossed it onto the back of his chair.

When his attention was focused on me, I wet my bottom lip and tried to smile. It felt weak.

“I asked you to stay so that we could have a moment alone to talk about the situation between us.”

He was putting our relationship into business terms. Dean’s opening move was always to treat the issue like it was just another danger to his bottom line, but I knew better. I could see the way his breathing had shifted when I’d turned to him. We were alone in his office. I was a few feet away and he was already daydreaming of the ways he could take me across his desk.

I stepped forward. “I’m completely capable of being professional around you.”

My words said one thing and my tone hinted at the opposite.

His mouth twitched and he bent his head to hide the smirk he didn’t want me to see. “I agree. Sleeping with each other doesn’t have to interfere with our business relationship.”

“Exactly.”

“Did I hear that you have a blind date this week?” he asked, arching a brow at me.

“Uh huh. I’m sure you’ll keep yourself busy as well.” I stepped closer and kicked one shoe off and then the other.

He loosened his tie. “Very busy.”

“When’s your next meeting?” I asked as I hit the edge of his desk.

He unbuttoned his belt. “I have to be across town in an hour.”

I nodded.

“You?”

I smirked. “I’m free all afternoon. I just have to do that property search.”

He nodded, then his brown eyes met mine, and in less than a second, the spark between us was ablaze. I dropped my purse on the floor and crawled over his desk. A ballpoint pen fell off and rolled across the floor as his hands gripped my waist and he pulled me all the way over.

It’d been two weeks since his hands had been on me. Fourteen days to go insane. A clean cut with Dean was never truly an option. I knew it had to be messy. I wanted Dean to kiss me like he was kissing me at that very moment. I wanted his hands searing through my skin. His tongue slipped into my mouth and his finger slipped into my panties. I gripped his hair and spread my legs on the edge of his desk. He stood between them, yanking my dress up over my thighs like the material offended him.

“I’ll never get enough,” he threatened, as I unzipped his pants. I shook with adrenaline as he pushed his pants and boxer briefs down and kicked them aside.

He had me there on the edge of his desk, completely under his thumb.

“You love this as much as I do,” he said, skimming his hands up my thighs.

He smiled with such satisfaction as he slipped into me. I dragged my nails down the back of his neck, trying to throw back some of the feeling onto him. I didn’t want it. I hadn’t asked to have my heart split in two.

He was wrong; I didn’t love it as much as him.

I loved it more.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Lily

Lily: I’m headed to my blind date right now…

Dean: Where are you meeting him? Don’t let him lure you back to his apartment. Jo probably picked a creeper.

I smiled and shoved to the side of the subway car so that people had room to exit. Every stop we passed, the car emptied out a little more, finally leaving some vacant seats. I nabbed one and turned back to my phone.

Lily: We’re just going to eat somewhere uptown. I’m meeting him at a park first.

Dean: Romantic.

Lily: Are you seeing someone tonight?

Dean: Not sure yet.

Lily: Don’t have sex with her.

Dean: Lily…

Lily: Fine. Whatever. Sleep with whoever you want. Just don’t spoil your appetite.

Dean: I’m not the one going on a date right now.

He had a point, but I was going for a very, very noble reason: I’d been too busy daydreaming about having sex with Dean and then actually having sex with Dean to remember to cancel on Carson. See? I’m sure this sort of thing happens to the Dalai Lama ALL the time.

Whatever. Jo said I couldn’t stand him up and I couldn’t cancel last minute because that was almost as bad as standing him up. Instead, we agreed that I’d go on one date, and give him a chance. She said I needed to test the water with other guys. Maybe I was into Dean because I was lonely in a new city and there weren’t any other guys in my life. I knew better, but she was annoying and I kind of owed her at least one date with a random guy after subjecting her to two weeks of Love Actually on repeat. (Yes, you actually CAN overdose on Hugh Grant.)

Dean: Y’know this guy could probably do better. Does he know how stubborn you are?

Lily: I’m sure he’ll fall in love at first sight and we’ll run away together.

Dean: Hunter will be so disappointed…

I typed back “More than you?” but my finger hovered over the send button. I knew I couldn’t actually send it. Dean and I were in a comfortable limbo; I had to tread lightly.