About ten minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open and then saw his nude body come toward the shower. “I want more,” he said as he opened the glass door. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
My girlie parts swelled. That was always nice to hear.
His condom was already in place and he didn’t waste any time. He backed me up against the tile, pulled my leg high on his hip, and thrust into me with all the glory I’d recently come to expect from him. My scream of delight was a side effect, and the harried rocking toward an orgasm that weakened my knees and had me praising his name beat the delicious lovemaking from the night before.
I leaned against him languidly, letting the hum of aftermath vibrate through my body. “You are sexy as hell, Delilah,” he said as he bent to run his lips along my neck.
“You’re okay too. I guess.”
He laughed and spread body wash on the loofa before lathering me up. After he’d washed me, hair included, he quickly did himself and then followed me out of the shower. Not a moment too soon. The ding of a doorbell—a doorbell in a hotel room was a new one for me—announced the arrival of our food.
Brad threw on a robe and let in the man with the cart.
“Good morning, Mr. Resslen,” the man said pleasantly as he wheeled the cart toward the table.
Cold trickled down my middle. I stood, wide-eyed, as the man dressed the table and then set up the food. After he’d gone, I said, “Resslen?”
Brad had been pulling out a chair, but his whole body tensed and he stopped mid-action. He turned to me, expressionless.
“As in the up-and-coming star that created Resslen Company?”
Brad continued to stare at me.
“As in the owner of the company that blew up, went global, and is now kicking crazy ass? The company I was presenting to?” I threw out a hip, not really able to believe I’d slept with a freaking celebrity in the entrepreneurial world. I needed a moment for that to sink in.
Still he stared, not even twitching. If I hadn’t known better, I would have guessed he was hiding his discomfort.
“You are a ga-zillion-aire, and you settled for merely a room?” Hiding my awe under faux-scorn, I tsked at him. “Cheap ass.”
His blank mask cracked into a smile. Relief flooded his eyes. “I’m frugal—what can I say?”
“Cripes. I hope they have your credit card on file to charge for the towels and cutlery that’s sure to disappear when you leave.”
Smiling larger, he motioned me into the chair. “Come on. Eat.”
“Don’t be so pushy.”
He waited until I was settled before finding his own seat.
I rolled my eyes. “I mean, I should’ve known. I know the name Bradley Resslen, your friends were affiliated…”
“A little dense on your part, yes.” He took a bite of pancakes.
I shook my head again. “I’d only ever heard your full name said. Bradley Resslen. And usually CEO was affixed. So, just Brad…obviously you know why my career choice wasn’t to be a detective.”
He met my eyes as seriousness stole his expression. “Does this change things?”
Taken aback, I said, “What’s there to change?”
“I like you, Delilah. I want to keep seeing you. But sometimes my…job gets in the way. People change around me. For the worst, usually.”
I pointed my knife at him. “If you don’t let me start buying a drink or two, then yes, things will change. I’ll give you a kick, for starters.”
“But seriously…”
I shrugged. “I don’t see why it matters. You have a job like anyone else. You just happen to be a lot better at it than most.”
“We won’t be using your company,” he said. “I apologize, but I think you know why.”
“I should probably feel bad about basically warning you off, but yeah, I get it. No hard feelings.” I blew out a breath and looked at the ceiling. “I mean, how dense could I be? Brad. Your buddy talks to you about— I mean, I really missed the boat on this one. I didn’t even consider the possibility.” I shook my head and went back to my breakfast. It wasn’t the first time I’d missed the obvious. It was still ridiculous, though.
“But we do have some openings that would be a perfect fit…”
I waved my knife at him. “That’s going too far, actually. That makes things weird. If I get laid off, I’ll go through the proper channels.”
Brad dropped his gaze to his pancakes. “That’s noble, but big business often means networking. Leveraging who you know. Use your connections, Delilah. Get yourself on the same playing field as your peers.”
“Fine. Then I’ll talk to Lucas. But I don’t want to be accused of sleeping my way into the position.”
His face turned red. “I hadn’t thought about that angle.” Now who was dense? “Fair enough.” After a pause, he said, “So about today—what do you say to just hanging out? Maybe set up on the beach?”