“But sharing a meal as colleagues doesn’t count?” he asks.
“I guess not.”
“Deal. What else?”
“I’m not sleeping with you,” I say, my voice firm.
“Yet,” he says.
“Ronan.”
“Fine, we’ll come back to that later. What else?” he asks.
“We won’t come back to it later. And no … shenanigans in the office.”
He laughs. “Shenanigans? You’re going to have to be more specific.”
“You need to stop hard-core flirting with me in front of my coworkers.”
“No flirting in front of coworkers,” he says. “Fine. What else?”
“No closed door meetings in your office just the two of us,” I say.
“That I can’t promise,” he says. “There are a lot of reasons I might need to have a closed door meeting with you.”
I sigh. “Fine, closed door meetings with legitimate reasons only.”
“Is wanting to fuck you on top of my desk a legitimate reason?” he asks.
“Ronan!”
“All right, all right,” he says, his one dimple puckering. “Anything else?”
“Just … keep it professional,” I say.
“Always,” he says. “My turn.”
“Your turn?”
“If you get to make demands, I think it’s only fair that I do, too,” he says. “Every business negotiation has a bit of give and take.”
I raise my eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
“Neither of us date other people,” he says.
“What?” He cannot be serious.
“I don’t want you dating anyone else. And I won’t either.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” I say.
“Not in the least.”
I tilt my head to the side. “I’m already dating someone. Are you actually suggesting I break up with him?”
“Dating someone? Who?”
I roll my eyes. “Aidan. You interrupted our date the other night.”
“Him?” he asks. “That had to have been a first date.”
“Not even close.”
“Second?”
“No, I’ve been seeing Aidan for a while.”.
He waves his hand. “Regardless, it doesn’t count.”
“Why doesn’t it count?”
Ronan’s eyes never leave mine. “It won’t last.”
“How would you know?”
That wolf smile creeps across his face again. “You haven’t even slept with him yet.”
My mouth drops open, and I snap it closed as fast as I can. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do,” he says. “You definitely haven’t slept with him. And you aren’t going to.”
“Is that a demand?”
“No, it’s an observation,” he says. “I don’t have to demand anything, because you already know you’re going to break up with him soon. After that, my rule applies. No dating anyone else.”
“And how long does this rule apply?” I ask.
“As long as yours do.”
I laugh and shake my head. “So, your rule is that we can’t date other people, but I can date Aidan, because you think I’m going to break up with him anyway.”
“Exactly.”
“And unless I change my mind about my rules, I can’t date anyone else?” I ask.
“Right.”
“But you can’t date anyone either,” I say.
“Absolutely.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “If I agree, that means no one-night-stands. No getting around it by bringing women home without taking them on a date.”
He leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “No dates. No sex.”
“Why would you do that?” I ask.
He smiles again, but doesn’t answer.
I stare right back at him. What he’s asking is ridiculous. If Aidan is an exception, I can keep dating him as long as I’d like. Maybe I will sleep with him. I can go on, happily seeing Aidan, while Ronan has to spend his nights alone.
Of course, the thought of staying with Aidan just to piss off Ronan makes me a little queasy. I absolutely hate to admit it, but Ronan is probably right. He’s a self-absorbed asshole, but he’s perceptive. And if I don’t stay with Aidan, do I really want to abide by Ronan’s terms? Not date anyone else?
I’m sure he’ll be the one to cave, and then our little agreement will be over. I don’t think a man like Ronan goes very long without a woman in his bed. How long can he hold out? A week? A month? Maybe I should agree to this, just to watch him squirm. I can walk by his office every day, knowing he’s not getting laid. That might be worth a no-dating spell, just to see it play out.
“Fine,” I say. “No dating other people. But if you cave, that part of the deal is off.”
“I won’t,” he says. “And if you do, no more ground rules.”
“All right.” I reach out a hand and he takes it. “Agreed.”
He sits back in his seat, his eyes never leaving mine. I’m clearly getting the better end of this deal, but somehow I can’t shake the feeling that he has the upper hand.
8: Ronan