“I think that both you and I know that Dexter & Brent has little use for the services of Woodside Consulting.”
Aryanna wasn’t terribly surprised by Dexter’s statement, but she was confused. She stared down at the plate of pasta he had prepared. It was delicious. It tasted as though someone had spent hours on the sauce, though she knew that wasn’t the case. Dexter had the most high-tech kitchen she had ever seen. He’d pushed a few buttons and out had come two plates of pasta topped with grilled chicken and what appeared to be freshly chopped bell peppers.
Everything in his place was high-tech. The man obviously loved his gadgets. Lights came on and went off automatically as they entered and exited rooms. Doors opened and closed. Even the chairs in the dining room molded to conform to the user. That had given her quite the surprise when she sat down.
“Mr. Sloane, then why-”
“Call me Dexter or Dex.”
She didn’t feel comfortable calling him Dex. “Dexter, why am I here? If you’re not interested in signing a contract, why meet with me? You could have handled this over the phone.” It wasn’t that she regretted the opportunity to spend more time with him. Dexter Sloane was serious eye candy. And he smelled delicious. She hadn’t been able to smell him last night since it was pretty impossible to smell anything over the perfume that Melissa favored.
He took a sip of water from his goblet. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Yes.”
He leaned forward and his violet blue eyes bored into her. “I invited you here because I wanted to know what I have to do to get you in my bed.”
Aryanna gasped so hard that she began to choke on the swift inhalation of air. Coughing, she grasped at her glass of water.
“I see that I’ve shocked you. I like to be straightforward in my communication. I could have continued to drag out the pretense of being interested in a contract, but I felt it would have been a waste of both our time. This way is so much more efficient, don’t you think?”
Aryanna gulped her water and cleared her throat. She was surprised at how detached and clinical he sounded about the prospect of their sleeping together. She did find him very attractive. She would have to be blind not to. He was gorgeous. If pressed, he could make his living as a model. The breadth of his shoulders alone was enough to leave her breathless. And she had always found intelligence sexy. Without a doubt, Dexter Sloane was the most intelligent man she had ever met. But did she want to be with a man who sounded as though he’d be cataloging the experience as though it were some sort of experiment? No.
Dexter muttered something indecipherable before sighing. He straightened up in his seat. “Aryanna, would you like to go to dinner with me? Tonight?”
She blinked at the sudden change in topic. Then she realized what he was doing. The direct route didn’t work so he’d decided to go to plan B. She didn’t know if she should let him get away with it. Wouldn’t dinner just be more of the same? He’d probably proposition her after dessert and she’d have to make a decision.
She wet her lips and his gaze tracked the movement of her tongue. Then she saw it—the flare of heat in those dark eyes. He quickly extinguished it, but she knew it had been there. Mr. Sloane was not as detached as he seemed. It intrigued her. She’d been prepared to turn him down, but she found herself nodding. She smiled. “That would be lovely.”
