“An unfinished building?” She looked at me skeptically. “This place needs a lot of work.”
“It’s not just any unfinished building. It’s going to be our building.”
“What are you talking about?” Her voice climbed an octave.
“I’m talking about this place. This is where we can join Corban and Martin organizations into one company. We’re going to merge into one organization.”
She blinked. “You’re kidding.”
“No. Dead serious.” I reached for the champagne bottle. I remembered her favorite from Marguerite’s. I’d had it delivered for the occasion. “Watch out,” I warned, positioning my thumbs at the base of the cork. It shot across the room. The champagne flowed into the first glass. I handed it to Kennedy.
“I have no idea what you’re up to.”
“Think about it.” I filled the second glass. “We convert this into our joined space. We run our projects together here.”
“Our projects?” She hadn’t even attempted to bring the champagne to her lips. “Since when do we have projects?”
“It doesn’t work when we’re on opposite teams. It never has. Look at the Crescent Towers. The Vieux Carre. The distillery.” I rattled off examples that made us enemies. “If the last two days taught me anything, it’s that we’re so much better together than we are fighting each other. We can run New Orleans together.”
I snaked my arm around her waist and drew her toward me. Her lips were only inches from mine. Her breath floated across my cheek. I was dangerously close to causing her to drop the champagne glass.
“I already run New Orleans.” Her eyes lit with fire.
I smirked. “You can either compete with me, or work with me.”
“I could take my chances,” she whispered. “With what you still owe me, you won’t be a threat for a long, long time.” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. Our eyes locked on each other.
Our noses practically touched. “I’ve already had the plans drawn up for our suites,” I whispered in her ear. “There’s a hidden room in the middle that only we have access to.” I kissed behind her ear. “Mid-day meetings are essential.”
“You’ve made a lot of assumptions rather quickly.” Her head leaned backward, allowing me access to her throat.
“I know what I want. Why wait?” I dotted her skin with kisses. She grinned.
“Because I haven’t agreed to any of the terms,” she responded slowly. “This is a big merger. We need to think through every detail. Analyze every angle. There’s nothing simple about it.”
I traced my finger over the Carpe Noctem pearl. “You’re wearing it again.”
She nodded, straightening her neck into an upright position. “I’m sorry for the way I left it in the suite.”
“No. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the tech company.”
I hadn’t released my hold on her waist. It felt too good holding her close. She didn’t wiggle away. We both wanted the proximity. We worked best this way. The merger was perfect in many respects.
“Are we going to drink the champagne?” she asked.
“Are you going to agree that this is our new office space?” I teased.
“I can’t agree to anything like that. You know we have to talk about it. Sort through it. I need to discuss it with Renee. What does Paul say?”
“He works for me. He does what I tell him to do.”
Her lips brushed lightly over mine. “I don’t know if I can work with someone so bossy.”
I chuckled. “One mid-morning meeting and I think you’ll be hooked.”
She moaned slightly, more purr than whimper and our lips collided in a blistering kiss. She wrapped her free hand to my neck, carefully holding the champagne to the side. Our tongues twined. I moved my mouth against hers. Damn. She had already made me forget why we were here. She nipped and sucked at the corners of my mouth.
“Knight,” she whispered.
My hand rounded to her ass, squeezing her curves through the silk dress. “Mmm?”
“Give me the tech, and I’ll agree.”
I froze in mid-squeeze. I had a full palm of delicious Kennedy ass in my grip.
“No.”
She stepped away playfully, turning on her five-inch heels, drinking the champagne. I let go of the silk reluctantly. “I thought you wanted to merge everything?” she toyed. “Combine our assets.” She walked to the wall of windows. “You listed the distillery and the Vieux Carre. Why not add in what you have? I want the tech as part of the deal.”
I strolled next to her. There were a series of barges pushing cargo along the river. From this far above the city we could make out small forms of tourists on the street.
Her green eyes tilted upward toward mine. “What? You don’t want to negotiate now? Too much risk? You don’t like giving up the most valuable asset you have?”
“The tech isn’t on the table, yet.”
“Ahh. I see.” She drank more champagne. “When exactly are you ready to add it to the deal?”
“You have stock in everything my father owned. You have enough.”
“And I want the tech,” she responded. “No tech. No deal.”
I was amazed at how quickly the hot and sexy woman could chill in front of my eyes. How did she do that? It was like she flipped a switch. I had to remember I knew her. I knew the vulnerable Kennedy. This was an act. A good one, but still an act that had worked on many men in this city.
“I know this is off topic, but Crew is with me.”
“He is?”
“Yes. He’s in the car. He drove me over. If you look over the side, you can see where he’s parked. See? Right there.” She pointed to the lone car next to the sidewalk. “He wanted to talk about Seraphina.” She stopped. “I agreed to help them.”
My eyebrows rose. I’d been trying for two days to get her to launch a plan to help my sister. “What changed your mind?” I asked.
“I don’t want anything to happen to him, or your sister. Isn’t that enough?” She posed the question.
“It is. It’s plenty of reason to get them out of
