Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(154)
“I honestly don’t know,” she replied. “It’s not easy to recover from something like that.” She was lying, and she hoped not too badly. Thomas had already won her over again. He didn’t need to do anything to turn her on to him. But having him try was exciting.
“Why don’t you think about it,” he said. “I told you I don’t like mind games. I like things straight up. I want to know what you think of me, where I stand with you, and what I need to do to make it up to you.”
She gestured to the dining hall, with its carved statues, gold-gilded paintings, and marble floor. “This is a good start.”
Thomas laughed. “Money? That’s the way to your heart? I wasn’t expecting that.”
Sasha frowned. “It’s not the money. It’s the gesture.”
“Because if I’d given you the address of my house instead, you wouldn’t have just as readily come there?”
“You know what,” Sasha said. “Here’s what I think of you. You’re arrogant.”
“True.”
“And demanding. You come on strong then make me feel cheap for falling for it. The question isn’t what you need to do to make it up to me, it’s why you want to in the first place?”
“Why I want to?” Thomas said playfully. “You haven’t looked in a mirror today? Your arse looks fabulous in that dress.”
“We say ass in America,” Sasha said, raising an eyebrow.
Thomas smirked. “Touché.”
“So it’s just my body you want?” Sasha challenged him.
“Isn’t that what we all want, humans, deep down? You want my money, I want your body. We’re all driven by passion and desire. You drive me wild, the look of you, the taste of you.” His eyes flashed with desire. Sasha couldn’t help but feel excitement race between her legs. Then the tone of Thomas’s voice changed, softening slightly. His playful bravado slipped a little, revealing something else beneath. “But it’s not just that. You…you….” He struggled to find the words and gave up. He licked his lips and sighed. “It’s been a hard day. I get grilled by journalists delving into my personal life like they own it. My crazy sister turns up demanding money, making accusations. One good thing happened to me today. And that was meeting you, intern.”
Sasha was so taken aback she didn’t know what to say. An automatic, “Don’t call me that,” left her lips in a breathless whisper.
The waiter came over.
“Can I take your orders, please?” he said.
Sasha broke from her trance. She hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. Her eyes flicked down to the list of posh-sounding food. If she hadn’t felt out of place in Thomas Lloyd’s company before, she certainly did now. She didn’t know what half of these things were, let alone how to pronounce them. Then she realized she wouldn’t have to. Thomas was ordering for the both of them.
The whole time the waiter looked directly at Thomas. It was as though she wasn’t there at all.
“That was rude,” she said as he walked away.
“What was?”
“Ordering for me. You don’t even know what I like to eat, and you’re being presumptuous enough to order for me.”
“Oysters are an aphrodisiac. Trust me when I say I had your best intentions at heart.”
Heat flooded her body.
“He recognized you,” she said, changing the subject.
“Of course he did,” came Thomas’s reply. “Everyone and their cat recognizes me. Apart from…you.” He tipped his eyes up to meet hers.
“And that’s the secret to my appeal...,” Sasha said with a dry laugh. “My cluelessness. If only I’d know in high school.”
Thomas smiled. He seemed to like it when she joked with him. What was it with the English and sarcasm?
“So tell me, intern,” Thomas said. “Where have you been hiding all these years?”
“Really? You want to talk about me?” She shuffled in her seat.
“I want to know how a woman can get to, what, twenty-eight, and not have seen any of my films.”
“I’m twenty-three.”
“Twenty-three?” He almost spat out the water he’d taken a sip of. “I thought you were older. You seem more mature.”
“Maybe because I am more mature,” Sasha replied. “I’ve been focused on my career since a young age. I didn’t have time for films.”
“A journalist who doesn’t have time for films. What a contradiction.”
Sasha felt the need to defend herself. “I don’t want to be a popular culture journalist. I’m just working at Atomic because I need an internship on my CV before I can move onto other things.”