Louisa Neil (18 page)

“I surprised myself,” she told him in a whisper, hoping he wasn’t able to hear her words. His outright laugh caught her off guard, and she started to laugh with him.

“You are lovely when you laugh. Maybe I can make you do it more often.”

“Maybe we should just keep things as they are. You’re my boss, and I’m the employee who should know better than to mess with you.”

“Yes, but look how much fun we’d miss out on.”

“While I enjoy a nice meal out occasionally, I get the feeling you are a lot more dangerous to be around when away from work than at work.”

“Diana, you have no idea how long I waited to meet you. How I wondered what you’d be like.”

“I hope I didn’t disappoint you, even though I didn’t know you existed until a few months ago.” She was trying to sound arrogant, but he didn’t accept her tone in that way. She found him more frustrating than Dane in all ways, yet she didn’t walk away. Didn’t leave the restaurant as she’d imagined she might. Now all she wanted to do was spend time with him, without Dane to see who he truly was. Just because he reminded her of her
bête noire
, didn’t mean there was any real connection. Diana decided to stay, wanting to know just how he thought the three of them were destined through history to come together. She hadn’t forgotten his remark from her first interview in his office weeks ago when he finally showed himself.

“Now that you know, what will you do with me?” He glanced away and back to her. “Our table is ready,” Sloan told her, guiding her by her elbow through the crowd toward a quiet back corner table for two. He held her chair and made sure she was settled before taking his seat. They were both quiet while scanning the menu. She glanced at him through her lashes and found him watching her. She knew her face heated with embarrassment and quickly went back to her menu. She prayed he wouldn’t know how she was pressing her thighs together under the table, hoping to stop the ache in her pussy just being in his presence. When the waiter appeared, she ordered the crab cakes, and he ordered a steak, rare with all the trimmings.

Finally alone in the crowd, he leaned back in his seat and watched her. “So, you decided not to cancel. I’m impressed. After yesterday I figured you’d find an excuse.”

“I thought about it,” she admitted, “but a free meal in my favorite restaurant is hard to resist.” Sloan raised his glass to hers and let them gently clink. “And I figured you’d finally leave me alone once the novelty wore off.

“What novelty is that?” He was relaxed, sipping his drink while they spoke.

“The idea of bedding the same woman Dane did. I suppose you two have done this before.”

“Actually, Diana, you are the exception. Neither Dane nor I care to take the other’s leftovers.”

“Leftovers,” she said, her voice loud in the room. Glancing around at the other diner’s, she quieted her tone. “You’re an egotistical bastard. What makes you think I’ll sleep with you?”

“What did Martin tell you?” He gave her a blank look and waited for her response. “Or should I call him your Minotaur.”

Too many things went through her mind to focus on any. Diana thought to walk out and never look back, but his mentioning Martin stopped her. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

“Of course you do. Your dream lover, Martin, told you that you’d need two men to satisfy your needs once he was through with you. Didn’t he?”

“I don’t have a lover named Martin.”

“Perhaps you’d prefer to call him Monster still.” Sipping his drink, Sloan looked very slick and very pleased with himself. As she sat calculating her next move, she couldn’t help but notice again Sloan’s overall dark intensity. Even in the restaurant lighting, his black eyes shone as he stared at her. She wanted to reach and push a lock of his black hair from his face but resisted. Pressing her thighs together harder to relieve the ache in her pussy, she hated him and herself for letting her body betray her needs. She’d never reacted sexually to any man like this before. Since the dreams started and she met Dane, she’d turned into a puddle of need and sexual want. Diana pulled a breath, thinking through her options.
Maybe I was talking
aloud one day, and he overheard me?
How else could he know about Martin or her Monster? This was becoming too confusing, and she didn’t have a copy of the playbook he and Dane were using.

What she needed, she decided, was to finish her meal and get away from Sloan before her pussy started doing her thinking for her. Mentally shaking herself from wondering what his cock would look and feel like, she tried to pull back the heaviness her whole body had carried since seeing him across the bar. Just what he wanted, she decided. He wanted her to need him, physically. A small part of her recognized she did, but she refused to give in to that side of her new personality. Never before the dreams started was she ever so horny and cock crazy. Looking up at Sloan, Diana knew she’d told nobody about her dreams, so how could he know? She tried to bluff her way past him.

“I don’t have a lover named Martin.”

“Perhaps you don’t in real life, but in your dreams you allow this monster to do things to you no man has done in real life. Am I wrong?”

Diana didn’t answer. She felt an embarrassed heat creeping up her neck and landing on her cheeks again. “What do you think you know?”

“I know more than you can imagine, but we’ll save that for later. Our meal is here.”

They waited while their plates were placed before them. She wanted to be outraged over his words but decided to save her attitude for later comment. Something inside her made her feel he was probably guessing about her dreams. She wasn’t sure how he’d come up with the name Martin. He’d piqued her curiosity now. He thought he knew her secrets. She wanted to know what he really knew. Diana choked down the first bites then found she was hungry, and the only one she’d hurt by not enjoying her meal was herself. She decided to change the subject. A crowded restaurant was not the place for probing questions and discreet conversations. Sloan seemed to have a plan for their evening. She hoped it would eventually let her know what he had in mind long-term for her. With another bite of the crab, she was able to let it go and just enjoy the meal. At first she figured she’d be anxious with Sloan, but in reality, the angst he created made her more determined not to let him see how he affected her.

“How did you and Dane meet? Do you own any other businesses or homes together?”

“We met ages ago,” Sloan told her between bites. “We’ve been together longer than I care to admit. But we work well together, each taking up the slack the other leaves.”

“So am I Dane’s slack now.” What she really wanted to ask was how they’d been together and exactly what that meant. Were they together sexually?

“No, you’re our conquest.”

“Conquest, that’s an interesting choice of words.”

“But an accurate one. We’ve searched for you, Diana, searched specifically for
you
for a long time before we found you.”

“Why me? I’ve no special talents or family money. What would make two seemingly educated men search for me?”

“You still don’t know your family history.”

“No, I was adopted as an infant, a closed adoption. I figured since my parents gave me up, they wouldn’t want me finding them with all sorts of questions they’d prefer to forget thirty years later. Besides, it seemed rude to the parents who raised me.”

“But they’re both gone now.”

“I’ve had no interest in finding my birth parents. But you seem to know all about them. Why not tell me what you brought me here to tell me. Obviously you’ve engineered this meal for that very purpose.” She took a few more bites of the crab and sipped her wine.

“I’m a historian,” Sloan said between bites of his meal.

“So I’d think you’d appreciate the work I’m doing at the paper, putting the original issues on computer to save them for the future.”

“Yes, I do. It’s just that I never thought to look for you as an archivist. It would have saved me a lot of time and energy.”

“Why me? What significance do I hold to your history?”

“You’re a beautiful, talented woman. Why wouldn’t I be interested in you?”

“I meant, why would you look specifically for me. There are a lot of beautiful, talented woman. What specifically led you to me?”

“History,” he told her. “We’ll talk about it later. Let’s just enjoy our meal for now.” They ate in silence, Diana pushing her plate aside, surprised that it was all but empty. Coffee was offered, but Sloan declined. “We’ll have coffee at home, where it’s quiet and private. Where we can talk openly.” He dropped cash on the table, nodded to their waiter, and guided her from the restaurant. A town car was waiting at the corner for them.

“I think I’d prefer to go directly home,” she said, settling in the backseat of the vehicle.

“I’d of thought you’d be curious to know more about your history and why you dream of Martin.”

The car drove them directly to his home, and while she wanted to be mad, each time he dropped Martin’s name, she couldn’t work past her curiosity. She noted Sloan sat on the other side of the vehicle, leaving space between them. He hadn’t reached to touch her, except to guide her through the restaurant. Diana decided Sloan and Dane each had a different approach. Now she was curious about his. She’d go into his home and drink his coffee and listen to his version of a history he wanted her to learn about. From there, she’d make any decisions concerning sex. And she was curious if Dane would be there.

* * * *

Sloan ushered Diana through the unlocked front doorway. “Would you be more comfortable in the salon or the library?”

“You don’t lock your door?” she answered and shook her head. “The library,” she added, walking down the softly lit hallway and directly to the room.

He’d made sure Dane had a fire burning for the time they’d be back. Sloan had to clear his throat to get her attention as she scanned the titles on the books.

“Make yourself at home, and I’ll get the coffee.” He walked out and paused in the hallway, noting she used her purse to fan her face. So, she was horny already. The concept pleased him, and he walked to the kitchen. He poured the fresh-brewed coffee from the glass carafe into a silver coffee pot that matched the rest of the serving set. He’d chosen the bone china cups and saucers tonight, liking the thick gold band that ran on the outer edge and the thicker black band that ran just a bit inside it. He’d always liked this china set and found it to be masculine for its purpose. When he returned, she was still standing before the bookshelves. He put the tray on the ottoman before the fire and paused to add a few logs.

He’d known the moment she walked into the restaurant she had nothing on under her dress. There were no telltale bra or panty lines. She wore no hose. His cock had been hard since his first glance at her. It had been hard to resist stroking it a few times for his own pleasure. He hadn’t. He wanted to wait until she was touching him. Now in the privacy of his home, it was getting more difficult to keep his hands off her and his thoughts clear.

“That was quick,” she said, acknowledging his presence.

“The tray was set and the coffee pot on a timer. All I had to do was carry it in.”

“It is a beautiful silver set. Very masculine in its way. Is it art deco or art nouveau?”

“Deco. I saw it and just had to have it. As you can see, I like nice things. They keep every day civilized.” He poured coffee in a cup and nodded to the creamer and sugar.

“Just black,” Diana said, finally coming closer and taking his offering.

“Have a seat, relax, and get comfortable.” He watched as she looked around the room before dropping gracefully onto a small sofa. He also noted that she sat almost sideways, one leg crossed over the other, leaving her with a very appealing position with no room for him to sit beside her.

“Is Dane here?”

“No, do you want him to be?”

“Just trying to figure out what you have in mind.” She sipped the coffee. “This is good,” she complimented, using it as a diversion as she took a second sip.

Sloan chose the armchair beside the fireplace. It was comfortable to his large frame and usually the same place he always sat. He liked it better because he could see both the doorway and the windows. Sloan was nothing if not careful. Even in his own home, he was on alert. He figured once they were there a bit longer he’d get used to the noise and location. For now, he felt secure and had Diana sitting across from him, on edge, waiting to hear what he’d tell her about her family.

“You mentioned you know my history. Would you care to elaborate on that and why you claim you searched specifically for me?”

He watched Diana settle back on the cushion, waiting for his answers. “Do you believe in fate?”

“I’m open to the concept but not married to it.”

“The earrings you’re wearing,” he started and put his coffee on the tray. “Do you know their value?”

She automatically reached to finger the beads hanging from her ears. “They were a gift from my mother, the mother who raised me.”

“Yes, she did give them to you. But they were from your birth mother, handed down through her family. Your adoptive mother was told to wait until you were twenty-one before letting you wear them.”