Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(10)

"And you liked that?"



"I did," he said, simply.



"You have issues," I told him. He laughed again.



"Yes I do. But my arrogance is only skin deep. I need constant   reassurance." He leaned across the small table then and when he spoke   again he was so close that I could feel the heat of his breath and smell   the wine there. Lowering the pitch of his voice he said, "Since you   seemed to misunderstand the question, I'll clarify it for you. If you   had to describe how I look in my clothes using only one word, what would   that be? I'll get you started, handsome, debonair, cultured … "



"Rich and spoiled," I said.



He put his hand over his heart and said, "Harsh," but his tone was soft and he was laughing. "I still like it."



"So you're a masochist?"



Still laughing he said, "Not quite, but sometimes when you're the boss's   son, or the boss you get tired of everyone kissing up and saying what   they think you want to hear. Your honesty …  although a bit brutal, is   refreshing. Not to mention that I love to watch your face turn the color   of your fiery hair."



I chose not to comment on that. Instead, I took a sip of my wine and   then said, "So Harlan tells me that your father has handed the reins to   you, unofficially. What is he going to do with his time now? It would   have to be hard to go from sixteen or twenty hour days to …  nothing."



Seth's face changed when I mentioned his father. It was a subtle change,   but it was there. I think his eyes even darkened a bit as he said, "I   doubt that my father will ever fully retire. He doesn't want the  sixteen  hour days any longer, but he has his issues relinquishing  control as  well."



"And will you have issues with him keeping his fingers in the pie?"



Seth took another sip of wine. He shrugged, it was designed to look   casual, I think. But the intensity of his eyes gave a completely   different answer. There were definitely issues there between him and his   father. I was beginning to see my "In."



I was about to ask him another question when the waiter once again   interrupted, this time to bring our dinner. He sat down the plates and   then placed a platter of delicious smelling bread between us and said,   "Can I get you anything else?" Seth looked at me and I smiled at the   waiter.



"Nothing for me, thank you."



Seth nodded at him and he went away. He looked at me then and said, "My   father and I have a complicated relationship. Business only serves to   make it more complicated. Now that he will only have his "fingers" in as   you say, instead of his arm up to his elbow, I am hoping for less   issues."



I was impressed by the simple honesty of that answer. I watched him as   he put his napkin in his lap and took a bite of his chicken. By the time   he'd chewed and swallowed it, his eyes had lost some of their   intensity.



"I'm sorry if I brought up a sensitive issue," I told him.



He smiled and reached across the table again. I closed my eyes when he   touched me. It was an automatic reaction, but it felt so intimate and   familiar. He ran his fingers across my brow line and said, "I don't like   that worry line there. I like it better when you're being feisty, or   blushing. You didn't say anything wrong. You couldn't have possibly   known about my relationship with my father."



This guy was killing me. As soon as he pulled his hand away I opened my   eyes. The way he was looking at me made me shudder. I wasn't supposed  to  like him at all. He wasn't supposed to be so …  human. He finally tore   his eyes away and returned his attention to his plate. I stuffed a  much  too large bite in my mouth just in case I was going to say  something  stupid in response to that touch.         

     



 









CHAPTER SEVEN









After our dinner that night Seth walked me back to my car. In the dimly   lit parking garage he leaned past me to open the door and I thought he   was going to kiss me. Shamefully, I have to admit that I was horribly   disappointed when he didn't. He did run the back of his hand along the   side of my face again just before I got in. That simple touch in and of   itself started a fire raging in the pit of my stomach. I got in the car   and drove home, trying to remember what I was doing here. If I'd had  too  much trouble grasping it, Grant was there for me when I got home  and I  told him, as always.



"Hey doll face. Where ya been until ten o'clock on a school night?"



"Ha ha! You're hilarious," I told him. "I worked until late and then I had dinner."



"With?"



"With what?"



"With whom?"



"Is it whom? I would have gone with who."



"That's because you were a business major. It's all numbers, no English."



"Look whom is talking," I said with a smile.



"Knock off the Laurel and Hardy routine and answer the question."



"I had dinner with my boss," I said. "It was strictly professional."



"Really?"



"Really," I said.



"Hmm, then why did you hem and haw and blush, and why is your hair all   down and pretty around your shoulders? You never wear it like that in a   professional capacity."



I yawned and said, "Oh wow, look how late it's getting. I should get to bed."



When I reached the hallway he said, "Erin." I stopped and turned around   to face him. He had his serious face on now. He was no longer playing  as  he said, "You're going to get hurt."



I know he loves me, but I didn't want him taking away my happiness tonight.



"How do you know that, Grant?"



"Because this is about family, baby. You want revenge for yours and he   will undoubtedly be willing to go to great lengths to protect his.   Family is one of those things that have torn couples apart for   centuries. Please be careful."



"I am being careful," I lied. I had completely let my guard down tonight   and had not once considered the fact that I intended to destroy   everything that Seth held dear. I went back over to where Grant was   standing and he opened his arms. I folded myself into them and as he   hugged me I said, "I'm trying so hard not to feel anything for him."



"Sometimes chemistry, or love, or whatever you want to call it, can't be overridden."



I pulled back and looked at him and said, "So then what do I do?"



He wiped the loose curls off my forehead and looked into my eyes and   said, "You have to decide which one you want more because I'm afraid   that you can't have both."



I went to bed that night with Grant's words ringing in my head and   Seth's gentle touch resonating in my heart. Grant was right, it was   doubtful I could have this man if I also chose to destroy his family.   But how could I give up something I'd virtually lived for over the past   eleven years? The warm, cozy feeling I had left Seth with that night   morphed into a pounding headache and very little sleep. I went to work   the next morning resolving to keep my distance from Seth. I think he is   genuinely a good man and my attraction to him was strong, but I owed it   to my father to take back what he had intended to be mine. I couldn't  do  that if I was emotionally involved with the enemy.



Several hours after I had that thought, I was sitting at my desk pouring   over some documents that Harlan wanted my opinion on when there was a   knock on my half closed door. Without waiting for an invitation, it was   pushed open and Seth appeared.



"Good morning," he said, with that smile that drove me wild.



"Good morning," I said, returning his smile. I tried to make mine less   enthusiastic, but my body reacted in strange ways when he was around.



Seth came in and closed the door behind him. I expected him to have a   seat in the chair on the other side of my desk. Instead, he came around   to where I was sitting and took me by the hands, pulling me to my feet.  I  was standing with my head tilted back, looking up at him wondering  what  in God's name he was doing. He didn't make me wait long to find  out.



"I barely slept at all last night," he said. "I kept thinking about our   dinner and walking you back to your car and the one thing I should have   done, but didn't."



I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about, but just because I'm a glutton for punishment I said, "What was that?"