When she arrived home, she took a quick shower and pondered her next decision. If she wore homely underwear, she was less likely to let things get out of hand. Dammit, it almost seemed like a sin though with the short, flirty fuchsia dress that she had picked out, especially since she had a bra and panty set that would match it perfectly. If she wore granny panties, there were bound to be panty lines, right? She put on her silk thong underwear and the matching demi bra and then slid into the dress. She was a sucker for a skirt with some twirl in it and this fit the bill perfectly. The top of the dress had a square neckline with a bustier-type bodice. She added a pair of four-inch black platform sandals and stood back to survey her reflection. She knew she was playing with fire. She should be dressed in something approaching business attire. You didn’t go to a restaurant with a man dressed in a short dress and fuck-me heels and have any hope of keeping things strictly professional. She wanted him and thanks to the unexpected intervention from her mother, she was in a position to have that opportunity sooner than expected.

If things went well, the installation project at Oceanix Resort would be finished in another week or so. Assuming that Seth was willing, surely they could use this next week for foreplay. No lines needed to be crossed when the finish line was just ahead of them. What was wrong with a little harmless flirting tonight just to gauge his level of interest in taking things to a personal level?

Her mother was correct about one thing: she seldom had this type of instant connection to someone. She had felt like she had been sucker-punched when they had met in his office for the first time. That type of connection was something she had only read about, but never experienced. There was an attraction there and she was sure that it wasn’t one-sided. He had seemed uncomfortable around her and she thought that was because he had felt that same way. God, she hoped she wasn’t misreading the whole thing. They might not be able to do anything about it tonight, but she intended to confirm Seth’s attraction to her, and her little pink dress should help her do just that.

Seth scanned the crowded bar area at Ivy, looking for the blonde from the auction. He was a few moments late, but the hostess assured him that his party had not arrived. When he was making another pass around the room, he spotted a familiar figure at the bar seated between two men in business suits. She looked up and noticed him at the same time. What was she doing here? He had stayed away from the office all day to avoid having to work in close quarters with her again. He had no self-control around her. He knew that visions of throwing her across his desk and fucking her until she couldn’t stand up would make it damn near impossible to get any work done.

Now, here she was in this restaurant of all places, looking like pure sex. The men sitting near her at the bar looked like they were in need of bibs. He knew the feeling; he felt like checking himself for drool as well. She was wearing a sexy dress in an eye-catching color. When she stood, he saw a pair of high heels that only brought to mind other fantasies involving her wearing them and nothing else. The man next to her was obviously disappointed by her departure. He saw both men and women staring as she crossed the small space confidently to meet him. Giving him a flirty smile, she said, “You’re late.”

Before he could even think about what she said, he answered automatically, “I know, sorry about that.” Then it hit him. How could she possibly . . . ? “What?”

Mia appeared to take pity on him as he struggled for a reply. Taking his arm, she said, “It’s a long story. Why don’t we go to our table and I’ll tell you everything.”

Still at a loss, he said, “But, I’m supposed to be meeting someone.”

“I’m the someone you are meeting. Just trust me. I’ll tell you everything when we’re seated. There is no one else coming.” They were starting to attract some attention and by that point, he was intrigued despite himself, so he held his hand out, indicating that she should precede him. Within a few moments they were seated at a window table. He stayed quiet until they had placed their drink order and then settled back to give her a questioning look. He had a feeling this was going to be entertaining.

“I must admit, you have me more than a little curious.”

She gave him a slight smile, looking suddenly nervous. “Er . . . I don’t really know where to begin. I guess I should say that the blonde who bid on you at the auction is actually my mother’s assistant, Cathy. She was instructed to, um . . . buy you at my mother’s directive.”

He interrupted her, clearly surprised. “Your mother bought me? Why in the world would she do that?”

By this point, Mia’s cheeks had flushed to a hue that matched her dress. “For me,” she whispered.

“Pardon?” he asked, not sure that he had heard her correctly.

Clearly exasperated with him, she said louder than she had probably intended, “She bought you for me!”

He knew it was probably his imagination that everyone in the restaurant was suddenly looking at them. He was sure there were probably a few people in the back who hadn’t caught that attention-getting statement. Holding up his hand, he said, “Okay, I got that. Does she . . . do this type of thing for you often? I mean, buy you dates?”

The confident Mia seemed to have returned as she chuckled at his question. “No, believe it or not, you’re a first. Apparently, seeing us together at lunch yesterday gave her the idea. Wouldn’t you think she would have just tried to fix us up or something instead of spending thousands to force you to have dinner with me? Sorry about that, by the way. I was planning to tell you all of this at your office today, but you never came in. I didn’t want to just not show up tonight. Plus my mom assured me that if you cancelled, you would have to pay the money yourself, which isn’t exactly fair.” He felt like his head was spinning at the end of her rapid-fire list of things that had brought them to this point tonight. All he could focus on was how sexy she looked in that dress. He had to refrain from moaning out loud when he noticed the distinct outline of her nipples against the fitted material. He wondered how they would taste when he licked the tips with his tongue.

“Seth . . . Seth . . . hellooo.”

Finally, her words penetrated the sexual fog and he was sure that his face was now the color of her dress as well. His heavy cock pressing painfully against the zipper of his pants made it necessary to shift in his chair before answering her. “Sorry, Mia, that’s . . . it’s fine, really. It’s not a big deal. Who knows why parents do the things they do? Let’s just have dinner and enjoy the evening. You look beautiful, by the way.” Way to keep things business, Jackson. You shouldn’t notice how she looks, much less compliment her on it.

“Holy hell, that’s a relief. I was afraid you were going to freak out or something.” When the waiter returned with the bottle of wine that Seth had ordered, she held her glass up.

“Do you want to sample it first?”

Smirking, she shook her head. “No way, I trust your judgment. Go ahead and fill it up. I could use the liquid courage.”

He smiled in agreement. So far this evening was nothing like he had planned . . . it was so much better that it scared the shit out of him.

Mia was tipsy. How had that happened? Maybe she had drunk a glass or two of wine before their meal arrived, but surely that wasn’t enough to have her giggling at everything Seth said like a schoolgirl. He didn’t seem to be in much better shape than she was. Oh, shit, were there two bottles of wine on their table or was she seeing double? When she had told him a few minutes before that his ass was so beautiful she wanted to take a bite out of it, she knew she had had one too many. Far from being offended, he had shifted his chair closer to hers and now had a hand on her thigh dangerously close to the hemline of her dress. She should move away or go to the restroom and hide. Was she doing any of those things, though? No, she was returning the gesture and running her hand up his thigh. She wasn’t stopping there, either; she was now stroking the outline of his hard cock through his trousers, and his wandering hand was getting closer and closer to the apex of her thighs. Before she thought better of it, she said, “You’re a big boy, Seth, a really big boy.”