Part 4 (2/2)

”I can't believe you did that. Why did you do that?”

”Because, it was the only thing I could think of at the time. It's just until he leaves and then things can go back to normal.” She tried shamelessly to defend her actions as well as convince herself she'd done the right thing. At least she hoped things would go back to the way they were. There were no guarantees and she really wasn't sure about much at this point.

”Don't look at me like that.”

”That's kind of dangerous. What happens when he finds out?”

”He's not going to find out, and how can it be dangerous?”

”I'm not just talking about Gates. I'm talking about how you commandeered Chase's life. Did you consult him, or better yet, did you consult Hannah before you decided to do this? This has the potential to be very bad and you should get it over with and tell Gates the truth.”

”I can't, Liyah, not now. And you know I'm not doing this to inconvenience Chase or Hannah. It's harmless.” She couldn't deny the truth; she was deathly afraid of telling Gates about Brayden. So much so, that she hadn't really taken anything else into consideration when she told the fib. Of course this wasn't the way she wanted things to go, but now she'd started the ball rolling and there was no stopping the momentum.

”Sloane, be careful, okay?”

”I will.” For the first time since she opened her mouth with the latest lie, she stopped to think about Chase and how she'd involved him in this whole mess and how it could affect his life. He and Hannah were getting more serious and before now, it never crossed Sloane's mind how this farce could affect her.

As both ladies started to leave the room, Gates reappeared at the door. ”Great. I caught you before you left. Sloane, could I talk to you for a minute?”

”Sure.” Glancing at Liyah apprehensively, she swallowed hard and wondered if he'd heard her and Liyah's previous conversation.

”Gates, thanks for listening to our presentation. It was great to see you again.” Liyah held out her hand and waited for Gates' strong hand to envelope hers in a friendly shake.

”It was my pleasure, and it was good to see you, too.” Excusing herself, Liyah closed the door behind her.

As soon as the door closed, Gates turned. ”Have dinner with me?”

”Ah, what? Gates, I, I don't think that's a good idea.” She clutched her briefcase, almost sighing a breath of relief when he didn't say anything about Brayden. His impromptu dinner invitation surprised her and she felt her knees weaken. She could get lost in his deep-set gaze.

”Chase, huh? Come on, he can't be that insecure? If that's the case, then maybe he isn't the guy for you.” She watched him confidently lean against the boardroom table.

”Okay, you don't know anything about Chase or my relations.h.i.+p with him, so-”

”Hey, I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries, just making an observation.” He threw up his hands in mock defense and grinned. What was it about this man? Anytime he looked at her, she felt like a jellyfish.

”I can't go to dinner. I have plans.” She looked away and clasped her hands together; trying to change the subject, get her mind off of him, anything to keep her from looking at his gorgeous face.

”Cancel them.”

She looked up to see him staring at her with the most serious expression. ”Who do you think you are? You order people around and we're all supposed to jump when you say so?” She was secretly happy he was acting so arrogant and c.o.c.ky again. For a moment, she thought maybe he was reverting to being nice to her and it would make it that much harder for her to deny him his wish of going to dinner.

Chuckling, he moved away from the table and walked closer to invade her s.p.a.ce. ”Come on, Sloane. You know when I want something, I get it.” She could feel his breath on her cheek and she fidgeted with the clasp on her briefcase. It was hard to stand near him and be under his resolute stare without growing more and more nervous. What is he doing? He suddenly seemed interested in spending time with her and she was thrown off.

”Well, I guess you'll be disappointed today because I'm not going to dinner with you.” Don't cave Sloane. Stay calm. d.a.m.n, he smells divine.

”Really?”

”Yes, really.” All she wanted was to get out of the room and away from his hypnotic gaze. Trying to sidestep him, she moved to head towards the door, but he stepped in her path to block her.

”Why're you being so obstinate? You said I could ask questions at any time, remember? I simply want to take you to dinner so we can talk about how we're going to proceed.”

”What do you mean, how we're going to proceed?” She was trying to regain her composure; she had not been in this close proximity to Gates in a long time and his cologne made it hard for her to catch her breath. Her chest constricted when her eyes met his and she realized her facade was fading fast.

”You want to be able to take good news back to Antony and Isabella, right?” His eyes sparkled and she could tell he was enjoying toying with her. Of course she wanted to be able to tell her boss good news, but at what cost, and what did Gates have on his mind?

”Of course I do.” Stop looking at me like that. Please.

”Then have dinner with me.” His voice whispered on the wind and she had to brace herself to keep her knees from giving way.

”You're blackmailing me into going to dinner with you? Are you serious? If I don't go are you just going to automatically decide to go with D&S?” She was trying desperately not to give over all power to him, but failing miserably.

”It's not nearly that serious Sloane. That's not me. I don't have to blackmail any woman into going out with me. I merely want to talk to you about the project. But, if you don't want to go, out of fear of your boyfriend being mad at you...then hey, far be it from me to get in between a happy couple.” He reached out and gently moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. His finger grazed her ear and she could feel a tingling sensation run down her ear and neck to wake up a place that had lain dormant since she left him over a year ago. Please don't do this to me.

”I'm not worried about Chase, and he's my fiance.” As the words exited her mouth, Sloane knew Chase was going to slaughter her. She'd practically elevated their 'fake' relations.h.i.+p to a whole other level without consulting him.

”Oh, I'm sorry, fiance,” Gates said slowly. He paused and she couldn't tell what the emotion was crossing his face. Whatever it was, he quickly recovered. ”Then if you aren't worried about him, we can go.” He took her hand in his, continuing to hold her gaze, and began drawing circles in her palm with his thumb. Every bit of the bone and cartilage in her body was surely starting to melt.

”Gates.” The cotton filling her throat made it hard to form his name, much less get it out of her mouth. Please G.o.d make him stop.

”Come on, you're really too uptight. Stop thinking about it, just come with me.”

Finding it harder and harder to concentrate as he gently ma.s.saged her hand, she relented. What can it hurt? If he pressed, she would embellish the truth about her and Chase some more and he could leave quicker. She was never one to be able to resist Gates' charm and she meekly gave in. ”Okay.”

Practically dragging her down the hallway, Gates took her briefcase from her and kept her other hand in his as they made their way to the parking lot. Once there, he opened the door to his rented Mercedes for her and they sped off through traffic.

”Gates, exactly where are we going?” She could no longer sit in silence as she watched the city skyline whiz by; it looked like they were headed away from any conceivable restaurant nearby.

”It's a surprise.” He offered up cryptically, glancing at her before turning his attention back to the road.

”Um,” she sat up as she watched him pull onto the road for the airport.

”Just sit back and relax.”

Before she knew it, she and Gates were sitting on his private jet. ”This is a bad idea.” Mumbling to herself, she knew she needed to get up and get off of the plane, but she couldn't make her body listen to her brain. She gripped the armrest as she heard the pilot inform them they were ready for take-off. ”What is this?”

”Dinner. I told you that. We used to do this all the time, remember?”

She bowed her head and sighed, thinking about the many times Gates would surprise her with spur-of-the-moment trips when they first started dating. It never ceased to amaze her how at any time she could be whisked away to some exotic island or a metropolitan city for dinner or a play and she never had to pack. It was always done for her, or if it was truly spontaneous, by the time they landed, she had a whole new wardrobe for the duration of their stay. It was something she missed by not being with him anymore. They were always so impulsive and it was somewhat thrilling to have that same freedom again.

”What're you trying to do here Mr. McCall? I'm the one who should be trying to impress you so you agree to back the Reyes project.”

”Sloane, I'm going with the Reyes project. There never really was any doubt in my mind about it. I'd be a fool to stir up a controversy like that in the community. Plus it's a great project and it gives me good publicity.” She watched him sit back in his seat with a smug, satisfied look on his face.

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