Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41351 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Ethan took the seat opposite of her and poured himself a glass of wine. He held up his glass. “Let’s toast.”
“Ethan, I’m sorry.”
A small smile curved his lips but he went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “A toast to new beginnings and a successful endeavor between the two of us.”
She raised a brow. “Endeavor?”
“Our sex with no strings attached pact. Cheers.” He winked.
8
Things were going better than he anticipated. After the initial tension of their first dinner together in years was erased, they’d eased into an engaging conversation. He’d filled her on the last seven years of his life while keeping how much he’d missed her to himself.
He was pleased to hear that that Riley had earned her Master’s in Business and was doing well in her career. She seemed to love what she did which was great to know. She’d traveled to Europe and Central America and wanted to eventually visit Africa. Ethan enjoyed listening to her describe the places she’d seen and watching the way her eyes lit up. It had taken a considerable amount of willpower to not reach across the table and pull her in his arms. Riley had a confidence she didn’t have when they’d first met and he found it sexy as hell.
By the time dessert was finished and half the bottle of wine had been consumed, Riley invited him to stay and wa
tch a movie, an offer he didn’t decline. Halfway through the movie, they found themselves next to each other until they were full blown cuddling. It felt warm, right and real. Her scent drove him crazy but he managed to behave himself, just barely. Although a few kisses were exchanged and light petting occurred, Ethan made sure it never went beyond that. Ethan’s dick was so hard he nearly lost his resolve to behave.
Riley seemed confused when he didn’t want to take things further but it was all part of his plan. He wanted to keep her guessing. Before the movie ended, Riley had falling asleep. Ethan had carried Riley to her room, undressed her, and tucked her in. He left a note on her nightstand before leaving for the night.
Even though he went to bed alone that night, Ethan had gone to sleep with a smile on his face. He was one step closer to winning her back.
A knock on the office door brought him out of his silent musings. “Come in.”
Andrea poked her head through the door. “Do you have a minute? I wanted to pick your brain and get your take on a case I’m currently working on.”
Ethan frowned. This wasn’t the first time in the past few weeks when Andrea had stopped by to get his opinion on something. She was one of the most brilliant attorneys in the firm and he had no doubt that many of the questions she’d bombarded him with of late were things she could figure out herself. It was apparent to him she still hoped for things to move forward with them beyond a working relationship.
Now was as good a time as any to be blunt with her since subtle hints weren’t working. He’d made the mistake seven years ago of not putting his foot down in an attempt to spare someone’s feelings. It was an error, he didn’t plan to make again.
“Sure come on in.”
Andrea entered his office and closed the door behind her. Ethan took note of how her skirt was shorter than usual and the first three buttons of her blouse were undone which showed off a generous amount of cleavage. “Thank you, Ethan.” She took a seat on the edge of her chair and leaned forward to give him an even better view of the inside of her shirt.
“Andrea, I think one of your buttons came undone.”
Her cheeks turned a bright red. “Oh, I didn’t realize.” She quickly fumbled with her buttons to fasten it.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“It’s the Sanderson case. I have my best team working around the clock on this and I was hoping you might give me a little direction on the best way to present this case in court. I know you’ve handled quite a few class action lawsuits and I’d love your advice.”
“Andrea, I’m sure whichever direction you’d like to take with this case will be fine. I have every confidence in you otherwise you wouldn’t have been assigned the case in the first place.”
She straightened up in her chair and smiled. “I’m glad you have so much confidence in my abilities. But I was hoping maybe you could stop by my office and look over the paperwork or maybe we could discuss it over a meal.”
“That wouldn’t be ideal, but George has as much if not more expertise in these type cases than I do. You may be better served to ask him.” Ethan hoped by directing her to one of the junior partners she’d get the hint.