A virus, was what the doctor surmised—probably the catch-all diagnosis he gave so that patients wouldn’t leave with too many questions. A simple bug she’d get over in a week or less, if she took care of herself properly. Fluids, rest, and anti-virals, which she’d pick up on her way home that night.
Adjusting her purse strap over her shoulder as she exited the building, she almost missed the sight of the gleaming black Escalade parked against the curb right outside the building. She didn’t bother stopping, those cars were a dime a dozen in Manhattan. She continued on a few strides until the back of her neck began to burn. Gasping, she halted, turning just her head to look over her shoulder.
The back door of the car opened and David Brenner stepped out into the afternoon sun. His raven hair glinting like jet, and the lenses of his designer sunglasses reflecting the world around him. A world beneath him—if his haughty, arrogant demeanor was any indication.
What the hell was he doing there? Doing her best to ignore him, she made to wave down a passing taxi, but David’s voice stopped her.
“Miss Bluth… Diana… In need of a ride?” his deep voice carried over the din of the city, settling into her chest where it sprouted butterfly wings. And why did the word “ride” sound so…naughty?
Just your wild imagination, Di! Geez. Get over yourself. There’s no way he’s flirting with you, especially out where everyone can see and hear. That’s when the self-hatred reared its ugly head. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she have the attention of a man like David Brenner? Wasn’t she woman enough? While he’d given here five orgasms, hadn’t she also given him pleasure? Those grunts and growls he’d made as he’d emptied himself into her hadn’t been her imagination, he’d enjoyed their night together the same as she had. So why couldn’t he be there to see her because he actually wanted her?
Because you’re a broke paralegal, who still lives at home with her mother, and has nothing to offer a man who has everything. Besides that, he can have any woman he wants.
Why you?
No. He wasn’t there for a pleasure call, but he was there for something. Either way, though, he wasn’t getting it from her.
Sucking in a fortifying breath, she turned to him fully, doing her best not to walk back toward him. The pull was strong, making her yearn to give in to the draw. Her whole being seemed to hold its breath, waiting for what she would decide.
Offering David a sharp smile, she replied, “No, thank you.” Before she could turn to move farther away from him, he removed his sunglasses, pinning her with his gaze. There was a stillness to him, a strength and sensuality that called to her. She wasn’t the only one who noticed it, either. A group of women exited the building behind them, their attentions immediately captured by David Brenner. Did they know who he was, or was it just how ridiculously beautiful he was?
“Come now, Diana. Surely you wouldn’t turn down a ride with an old friend?” Was that a challenge in his voice? Well, fuck that. Challenge or no, she wasn’t going to risk getting her ass in trouble by getting into that car with him.
Steeling herself, she answered him without words, raising her arm to hail a cab that was slowing to let out another passenger. She hurried to the passenger door, waited for the woman inside to disembark, and then, holding the door, Diana glanced back at David.
“Have a good day, Mr. Brenner,” she drawled, her smile a mix of saccharine and acid.
She climbed into the back seat, shut the door, and let out a loud breath.
She gave the cabbie the address of the office and, when he pulled out into traffic, she couldn’t help but turn around and stare out the back window.
David Brenner was still standing there, his hands in his pockets, his expression inscrutable.
Once the traffic obscured her view of him, she faced forward and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. What the hell was she supposed to do now? For some reason, David had followed her to her doctor’s office—the fact that he knew where to find her doctor’s office was not lost on her. Had he wanted to discuss something to do with his case? No, that couldn’t be it. She wasn’t the paralegal assigned to that case, though she’d been the gofer for the documents that afternoon. She only knew as much as about it as people who watched the news. So, if he hadn’t been there to discuss his case, what other purpose could there have been for his ambushing her?
Sliding down into the seat, she leaned back. She wouldn’t figure it out in the back of a taxi, not that she really wanted to bother with it. Right? She didn’t need her connection to David to see the light of day, not if she wanted to keep her job. That’s right; fucking a client was a big no-no, but she’d allowed herself that one night of forgetting it all and just letting herself feel. She both regretted and enjoyed that decision, and now she was left with the aftermath—the worry and the uncertainty.
Best to go on as if nothing happened. Put David Brenner out of her mind. After her rebuff at the curb, he’d leave her alone. Men like him didn’t pursue when they didn’t really want what they were aiming for. To him, she was a curiosity, the plushy that banged him and then left without telling him her name. Perhaps the reason he’d even put forth the effort to find her that afternoon was simply because he’d never been ditched before.
Shrugging, she opened her eyes and noticed the
