“You’ll just argue with me, so we’re not discussing anything.” His teeth captured her nipple through the fabric of her blouse and her bra, causing her head to fall backwards.
When the limousine came to a stop, Joline felt like she was just a pile of mush. And all she wanted to do was to stay in that vehicle and have him finish what he’d started. But Rais wasn’t slowing down. He took her hand and led her into the restaurant, holding out her chair for her and then sitting down across from her, all with a smug, smile of triumph on his features that, somehow, had grown less harsh and more handsome over the past few days. Joline was startled to realize that his jaw was actually quite masculine and his mouth, previously just a hard, implacable line, she now knew could give her the most amazing pleasure.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked while he nodded for the waiter to go ahead and pour the wine.
Joline hadn’t even glanced at the menu options because she was still too flustered. But she waited until the waiter had departed before she laid the menu down on the table, folding her arms and leaning forward. “Are you going to try that every time I disagree with you?”
He shrugged, unrepentant. “It worked. It got you here, having dinner with me instead of eating a pathetic bowl of cereal at your apartment.”
She clenched her jaw for a moment, trying not to let her irritation fly at his arrogance. “I don’t really think that’s the point, Rais. You’re not listening to me.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Perhaps the fact that I need to work tonight and don’t have time to have dinner with you.”
His eyes were skimming the menu. “You need to hire additional help. You’re working eighteen hour days and still not getting everything done that you should be doing.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “Of course I’m getting things done!”
He closed his menu with a flick of his wrist and laid it down as well. “No. You’re not. You should be marketing the clothes with different celebrities, have a layout in various magazines. You should have stores in Paris, London and Milan as well as starting a lower-cost line of the clothes that could be mass-produced for the department stores. You’re missing opportunities that could push your business higher.”
She knew all of that, but she hadn’t been able to get all of that done. They didn’t have the capital to accomplish all of those goals. In the future, yes. The business was growing at a steady rate and they would eventually be able to do everything he’d just listed. But not at the moment. “We can’t afford that yet.”
He disagreed. “Take on additional investors. You’re one of the partners. I’m guessing Keith is the other. Who is your third partner?”
Joline pulled back. “I’ve told you before. That partner prefers to remain anonymous.”
He continued watching her and she grew uncomfortable under his knowing gaze. “You run the day to day operations as well as the expansion plans. Keith is the one who does the purchasing. Who is your designer? The third partner?”
“I’m not telling you details, Rais. Stop trying to get the name out of me,” she snapped and picked up her menu, hiding behind the leather-bound barrier. She couldn’t even read the various options for dinner, too aware of Rais glaring at her from across the table.
Unfortunately, he was more patient than she could have imagined, and more diabolical. He simply sat there and waited. When the waiter arrived to take their order, she selected a salad, not sure what else was on the menu.
Rais raised one, dark eyebrow when she didn’t order anything else. Turning to the waiter, he said, “She’ll also have the carbonara with pan seared scallops and I’ll have the coconut chicken.”
The waiter bowed a moment before he stepped away. “Very good, Your Highness,” he stated and then disappeared.
Joline glared at him. “A salad would have been enough.”
“A salad isn’t enough. You’re going to need your strength,” and he had the audacity to wink at her. “Back to your business, you were about to tell me who your third partner was.”
She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “I definitely wasn’t going to do that,” she countered.
“Why does this person need anonymity? Can you at least tell me that?”
She considered his words for a moment, then countered with her own question. “Why are you so intent on knowing who the third partner is?”
“Because you will become my wife. All issues concerning you are now my business.”
“And does the opposite also hold true?”