I nodded and gave her a quick wink. “Of course you can think it over. I’ll give you until tomorrow to decide.”
MADDIE
“Okay,” I began. Talk about being caught off guard.
“To new partnerships,” Grey said, raising his glass.
I lifted mine in turn and with a gentle clink toasted to Grey’s unexpected offer. After taking a much larger than ordinary sip of my Pinot Noir, I placed my glass back on the table.
“So how do we get started?”
“When I return to Chicago, I’ll have my attorneys draft a formal agreement. For now though, I’m willing to accept a more casual arrangement. A consummation of sorts.”
I swallowed hard. The dryness left behind on my palate seemed to intensify with the conclusion of his statement. Right away it became clear to me I needed to define the exact terms or risk losing more than my business in the process.
“Grey, please don’t take this the wrong way, but…”
As I spoke, he raised his hand in the air with his palm facing me. My thought interrupted, I stopped.
“Let me guess,” he began, as he lowered his hand. “You aren’t going to sleep with me.”
Taken aback, but not completely surprised, I attempted to compose myself.
“Yes,” I replied with all the confidence I could gather. “And…”
He raised his hand once more. “And you think that if you refuse me, I won’t agree to help you.”
As Grey finished speaking, I felt a rash of redness flush my chest. I wanted to melt into to the seat and disappear into vapor, just fucking vanish. I didn’t realize how insulting I’d been. Here I wanted to offer a well-reasoned, polite comment. But until I heard the words come out of his mouth, I had no clue how self-centered, egotistical and ugh, just downright bitchy I must have seemed.
Wanting to avert any disastrous impact on the deal he offered, I jumped in.
“Grey, I’m sorry. Please, I didn’t mean for it to come across that way. No woman in her right mind would turn you down. I hope you aren't insulted.”
Grey shook his head. With little to no change in his demeanor, he casually waved off my comment. “If you were any other woman, I wouldn’t be interested, Maddie. But, I understand and respect your decision. Trust me when I tell you that what you’ve said doesn’t affect my business decisions. I think you have a good business idea. It’s an idea I want to invest in. Okay?”
Oh my God, could I feel like more of a complete ass right now?
As he spoke, my head drifted forward a bit in a gesture of shame. My hair slipped down in front of my eyes. Tugging it behind my ears, I looked back across the table at Grey. The soft ambient lighting in Chef Claude’s reflected in his normally dark brown eyes, lighting them with a cinnamon-like hue.
“Maddie?” he said, as I stared at him, wordless. “Are we okay? We understand each other?”
His words snapped me out of my trance and I nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Grey.”
He smiled and gestured for the waiter to bring the check. “Don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure. I need to get some rest. Come up to my suite with me and I'll give you some money for tonight, since I won’t be staying and paying you the full amount we agreed on.”
Feeling as if this might be as good a chance as any to show him some appreciation, I politely refused. “I couldn’t, Grey. Really. Not after what you’ve offered. I wouldn't feel right about it.”
As he signed the check, he shook his head. Without looking up at me, he replied, “Don’t be ridiculous Maddie. I insist and I won’t take ‘‘no’ for an answer.”
In desperate need of the cash, I decided to take Grey up on his offer and ten minutes later, I stood in the foyer of his suite while he disappeared into the bedroom to get his checkbook. As he walked away, the hard soles of his loafers clopped along the floor offering the only sound in an otherwise quiet moment.
I glanced around at the opulence and luxury of the suite as I waited for him to return. Rich, ivory marble flooring reflected the soft white lighting of the ornate brass sconces adorning the walls. Everywhere I looked, the finest in furnishings and fixtures captured my attention. Was this something you ever got used to?
Hell, even the air smelled expensive.
I turned my back on the hallway leading to the bedroom and realized what a far cry this was from my tiny accommodations at Katy’s place. And, unlike the pricey oxygen floating around my nostrils here, the dominant aroma at my room was the ever-present scent of hair spray and the remnants of an at-home sugar waxing experiment gone horribly wrong. Now, walking on my bathroom floor was like moving across a room full half-chewed bubble gum and to top it off, I still looked like Yeti when I was done.