Despite all of the benefits, Joline knew that it would still be dangerous. Signing a contract with Rais as the landlord only meant he would be closer to her. That was something she had to avoid. “I don’t think that your store location is going to work out with our long term plans,” she told him, lying through her teeth and feeling ashamed that her fear of this man was getting in the way of a sound business decision.
Rais chuckled softly. Taking her hand, he led her to the back of the store. “Come along, my beauty. We should probably discuss this in private. Where’s your office?”
Joline was halfway to the back of the store when she realized what he was doing. Pulling back, she tried to extricate her hand from his but he only stopped and looked down at her with those dark, mysterious eyes that made her stomach tighten with anticipation.
“We can’t go to my office,” she whispered, trying to get him to understand. “In fact, we can’t go anywhere together.”
Rais pulled her closer. “Joline, you have three options. We can go to your office, you can come with me or we can have this conversation right here in the middle of your store.” He moved closer, letting her know that he wasn’t going to stop touching her. Nor was he going to allow her to hide behind her fears. They were explosive together and he was going to show her how perfect they could be once she accepted him as her lover.
And he damn well wanted to help her out in business as well! If she’d just stop being so stubborn!
Joline looked up at the man who had haunted her nights when she’d been trying to sleep. He really was a huge man, but she didn’t like huge, arrogant men!
It didn’t help that her mother had heard about her visit to Shantra’s country. That conversation had pretty much doomed any possibility of a relationship with Rais out the door. There was no way she could put his family through the ridicule that would most likely occur if he ever became serious about…
What was she thinking?! Rais never became serious about anyone! He was the ultimate playboy, hopping from one continent to another, and one woman’s bed to another. The list of women that had shared his bed was probably enormous! Goodness, in some ways, he was worse than her mother! At least she sought out men who could make her happy, even if that happiness was completely based in mercenary desires.
This man sought out women purely for sexual satisfaction then tossed them aside when his lust for them diminished. She refused to be the next in a long line of women stepping daintily through his revolving bedroom door.
“Listen,” she said as calmly as she could, “I sincerely appreciate all of your…”
“In your office, Joline,” he interrupted, taking her hand and pulling her along to the back of the store.
Joline really didn’t have much choice but to follow along behind him, feeling like a puppy as he closed the door to her miniscule office.
He looked around at her tiny office that was filled with papers, filing cabinets and the cheapest desk she had been able to find when she’d initially gone looking for office furniture. There was a metal, folding chair that she sat on but with a pillow on top of the seat because it became pretty hard to sit on that thing for several hours straight. There were no windows, white walls that had been beaten up by the movers over the years and no decorations of any kind. Not even pictures of her friends or family. “This is really where you work?” he demanded in a horrified voice.
“Yes,” she replied, looking around at all of the paperwork that was neatly stacked on each side of her desk, perfectly color coded to help her prioritize the issues she needed to resolve. “What’s wrong with my office?”
“It’s not even big enough for a closet,” he told her. “This isn’t an office, it is a broom storage area.”
Joline laughed and leaned against the opposite wall. “It works for me,” she countered.
“This is ridiculous, Joline. I’ve seen the financials of this business. I know now that you’re a partner in this venture and you should have a larger office.”
Joline shook her head. “We’re putting all of our profits back into the business. My partners and I have agreed that this is better.”
“Who are your other partners?” he demanded.
Joline had known that this would come up. From the moment she’d stepped into his office last week after his arrogant summons, she’d known that he would demand more information from her. That didn’t make her any more prepared, but at least she’d been forewarned. “Keith is my other partner,” she mentioned, hoping he would just leave it at that.