You have to be shitting me.
A low rumble of disbelieving laughter filled my chest, and I bit it down, refusing to show Ms. Redd just how dumbfounded she had me. So maybe I stumbled a minor step at finding her standing in the office. Totally floored Ms. Redd and the fucking gorgeous woman who’d kept my dick hard all last night were one and the same.
Figured.
There had already been something about her that had me intrigued. Something that had me wired and excited at finally coming face to face with the woman who’d worked to cut me off at every turn, thwarting plans and throwing up roadblocks.
And somehow…I’d liked it.
It took my walking into her office for me to fully understand why.
“You…Brody…Broderick Wolfe,” she sputtered through her own shock as that unmistakable attraction from last night lit up like the Las Vegas Strip between us, powered by the circuit of contention that had already been well-established.
I straightened my tie. “Ah, Ms. Redd, it’s so very nice to see you again.”
She heaved out an incredulous breath, her tiny hands fisted in little balls of indignation. “Did you…did you seek me out last night? Did you already know who I was? Were you following me?”
It was all a fiery demand that burned in all the right places.
God.
I liked this woman about just as much as I hated her.
I shot her a mocking smirk. “Who me?”
Her jaw tightened.
Damn, she was easy to rile.
Her attention fell to her desk, as if she were gathering herself, before she returned that emerald gaze to me, her chin lifted. “I’ll have you arrested for stalking.”
I almost laughed as I moved farther across the room. “Don’t you think you’re getting a little carried away, Ms. Redd? I find it presumptuous of you to assume it was me who searched for you to gain the upper hand. You were the one who knew I’d asked you for drinks. Perhaps you were the one stalking me.”
Aghast, her pretty lips parted in a gust of fury, and her fists clenched tighter. “How dare you imply I would do anything outside of the law. I’ll have you know, Mr. Wolfe, I take my position and all it entails very seriously.”
“As do I.”
“I doubt that.” Her tone was a sarcastic blade.
My chuckle was low, laced with more amusement than it should have. “Then perhaps you should have done more homework, and you’d know full well how seriously I take my position and the ethical business policies and practices I demand.”
A disbelieving huff jetted from between that goddamned, lust-inciting mouth that I wanted nothing more than to devour.
“You’re going to stand there and pretend as if Wolfe Industries doesn’t have a reputation for shady deals? Broderick Wolfe Sr. is infamous for infringements and wrongdoings. It’s the platform on which your company was established.”
The second she said it, anger rushed in to erase the lust, and the rigid, powerful exterior I always wore dropped for the barest moment as I grated the words. “This is my deal…not my father’s, and I’d appreciate you not comparing me to him.”
“It’s all in the name, Mr. Wolfe.”
Rage bloomed in my blood, and I strode forward and pressed my hands to the top of the desk. I leaned over it in her direction just as she leaned mine. The two of us nose to nose. Breath to breath.
My heart hammered harder in the confines of my chest, and something more severe than the anger twisted through my nerves as I inhaled her sweet, rosy scent.
Her breaths became shallow, her eyes growing wide, and I swore I could smell her. Her need. Her want.
The need to consume her slicked across my skin like a slow, demanding burn.
“I. Am. Not. My. Father.” It was a growl. He was the last thing I wanted her to see me as.
“No?” she challenged.
“No.”
She lifted her chin, her face so close to mine my mouth was watering again. “Then prove it by not screwing over Mrs. Tindall.”
My tone lowered. “Believe me, Ms. Redd, I will finalize this deal. And when I do, there will be absolutely nothing shady about it. I’ve been more than generous…more than fair to your client. It’s you who is making unreasonable demands.”
I leaned forward, my mouth at the tender lobe of her ear. “Lily Pad.” The last slipped from my tongue like a slow, promised threat.
Edging back a fraction, I reached out and ran my fingertip along the sharp, defined curve of her jaw, my eyes keen on the movement as I did. Her mouth dropped open just as I began to murmur deeply, “Mark my words…I will have that building, and then I will have you.” I edged even closer. “Or maybe I’ll have you first.”
A shiver tumbled through her delicious body.
Blood still burning with an irresistible hunger, I forced myself away from her, adjusting the cuffs of my jacket as I tamped down the need that raged in my body, my dick hard and my determination at its height.
“What do you say we get started here, Ms. Redd? It seems we have work to do.”
*
I rocked back in the chair where I sat in the office area of my penthouse suite that overlooked the twinkling lights that glittered and gleamed on the blackened waters of the river that ran through the middle of the city, fed by the two lakes at the base of the mountain that sat as a darkened silhouette on the near horizon.
Of course I was staying in the nicest hotel in the city which afforded an awe-inspiring view of the area.
That was at least until mine stood tall and proud in what would be the reclaimed city square.
Bigger and better than ever before.
Resolve settled into my bones, and I leaned forward to where I had my laptop sitting open at the end of the long conference table. I let my fingertips move across the keys.
Confidently.
Precisely.
Without question or hesitation.
Ms. Redd,
My offer is the best Ms. Tindall will receive. She can sell to me for more than double the value of the building, or I will simply bide my time until I can buy it from the bank once the property has been repossessed.
I’m not entirely sure what your end intentions are here, but it seems you’re denying the inevitable, whether I’m involved in the equation or not.
But make no mistake. I am a part of this equation.
I never have been, nor will I ever be, a quitter, and I’m more than eager to enlighten you on that fact. I’ve been told I’m a great teacher.
I always get what I want. Always. You’d do best not to forget it. Actually, I think there’s little worry in you forgetting who I am. When I’m finished with you, the only thing you’ll see when you close your eyes is me.
I pressed send while a thrill built up inside of me. God, I wanted that building if for no other reason than to prove to my father my approach was better than his. But I was beginning to wonder if I might want Ms. Redd more.
Chapter Six
Lillith
“Not a chance, Nikki. There is no way I’m going back to that bar.”