Monday
Though he’d finally spent the night with Abby, had her moaning his name and begging for more of his mouth and his cock, Dan still longed to impress her. His money alone was usually an easy way of impressing people; combined with his looks, there was no woman he couldn’t have eating out of his hand in short order.
He’d learned to tailor his personality, too—for those who liked it cockier, he put on a show of arrogance, while those put off by that got a more down-to-earth version of himself. He liked playing traits up or down, turning the dials on his personality to make sure whomever he’d hooked was firmly trapped. He had seduction down to a science.
The only reason he hadn’t gotten Abby into bed sooner was because he had chosen not to; he knew that. But once he decided he was going for it and finally did get her into bed, he also knew, even before it happened, that it wouldn’t be enough.
His interest in Abigail Brennan had gone beyond sexual long ago, and he’d expected to still want her to be around to some degree, but not to the degree he actually felt. He wanted her to look at him with admiration; he wanted to see heart-eyes, dammit! He wanted her to…
What was it? What more did he want from her? He knew he enjoyed her company, so he obviously wanted her to stick around. He knew that her occupational plans were grander than what she was currently doing, so she was definitely going to leave at some point, one way or another, and he wanted her to… stay. Not at the job necessarily, but stay in his life somehow.
He wanted to keep dating her, and he’d sensed enough hesitation and doubt in her that he wasn’t certain she was interested in that prospect. Though he’d won her mother over, he hadn’t yet won over Abby.
Something about her demeanor the morning after they’d spent their first night together had alarmed him; she’d seemed ready to take off and disappear from his life forever, and he certainly couldn’t have that. No woman had ever been first to excuse herself from his life and he didn’t want it to start now.
But he knew it was more than that. He couldn’t think about what their relationship meant in the long term—as he’d become accustomed to, all he could do was act on what he wanted at the moment, and he knew he wanted Abigail around him in various capacities, various settings.
He wanted to make love to her again, but he also wanted to get to know her more—her darkest secrets, her greatest regrets, her most burning desires, her naughtiest fantasies.
He wanted to test her limits, make her smile, comfort her in sadness.
He wanted to check in with her in person if she was ever under the weather again.
He wanted to be a real part of her life—not a page in a short chapter.
It disturbed him that he couldn’t see a future where they calmly parted ways, easily accepting they’d never see or hear from each other again. Something pierced him at the thought of them ever splitting up, taking divergent paths. He couldn’t have that—he couldn’t let Abby slink away from him.
Dan finally knew what he had to do now—he had to get her to fall in love with him.
During the week, Dan found himself impressed by Abby’s poker face. When he caught glimpses of her, she looked the same as ever, no sign of their altered relationship softening her pretty eyes as far as he could tell.
He wasn’t sure what either of them looked like to others when they interacted in public, but he was convinced they were doing a good job of hiding their feelings—Abby better than him for sure.
Who was he kidding? He probably looked like an enamored fool. He had trouble tearing his eyes away from her, wanting to drink up every moment of her presence. He was smart enough to know the difference in feeling probably altered his expressions.
Where he might’ve looked smug or predatory before when it came to a doomed, casual sexual conquest, his look of cold calculation had been replaced with affection and warmth. If he felt such a gush of it inside, no doubt it was reflected on his face as he gazed at Abby.
But still—it was one-sided. Anyone observing him might simply conclude he had a crush this time—for the first time. Anyone looking at her would probably conclude she was ignoring it, remaining professional.
Yes, one way or another, they were doing a good job of covering their tracks.
“What have you and Abby been up to?” Nancy commented casually as Dan ran into her on the way to his office one morning. “You seem to be in a really good mood lately.”
Dan glared at her briefly, refusing to answer.
She began trying to keep in step with him. “It’s just that—well, usually when I see you in the morning, you look so serious. But I think I caught you smiling just now.” She grinned at him encouragingly.
Dan remained silent and didn’t bother to slow down.
“Anyway, it was so nice running into you and Abigail on Friday!” Nancy said in a sickly-sweet tone. “You guys should join the rest of us this Friday—though it definitely won’t be in some fancy restaurant.”
“Perhaps!” he said through his teeth, fully aware of her disappointment at essentially being ignored. At least he knew enough to not actually completely ignore her.
He sped up as he headed to his office, but when he settled in behind his desk, his mind was still chewing over some of Nancy’s words. Had he really been that obvious? Smiling?
He needed to be more careful.
Dan figured it out—how to see a look of utter admiration on Abby’s face. His body vibrated with excitement once he made the decision, and he couldn’t wait to see how she reacted to his proposition.
He rung her up, still getting a kick out of calling her to his office for a legit work reason or no real reason at all. Sometimes just to see her. He never even bothered making up an excuse beforehand in those cases—just came up with something up on the fly.
This time, he had a really good reason.
He both loathed and welcomed the chaotic emotions bubbling in him once he knew she was on her way, afraid of what the uncontrollable swell of feelings meant, but enjoying the strange inner takeover nonetheless.
It was somewhat similar to how he felt at the beginning of a race, which, given his reason for calling Abby to him, seemed appropriate.
Abby knocked before coming in, and his eyes took in the full sight of her before he began, appreciating her crisp, professional stance but noticing her soft look. “You called?”
She appeared to be doing her best to stop herself from smiling at him, but despite the control of her delectable mouth, her eyes were practically dancing as she looked at him. She even seemed to be breathing quicker than usual.
He watched the rise and fall of her chest for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again. “I have a race coming up, and I want you to be there.”
“Oh?” she said casually, but knowing her a lot better now, he recognized that she felt at least half as excited as he did.
“Are you available this Saturday? I’ll send a car for you.”
“Well…”
“And don’t worry about what to wear—I’ll send along a few options for you to choose from. Totally appropriate options, of course, so you don’t feel out of place; I know you’ve never been to anything like this before.”
She chuckled, glancing down. But she still hadn’t answered!
“You’ll be driven straight to the location in a stretch luxury vehicle. Along the way, you can take your pick of drinks—I know you’re not the biggest fan of alcohol, so there’ll be sparkling water, juices. And I can make sure any snacks you like are in the car as well…”
“Twist my arm, why don’t you?” she finally said.
“So that’s a yes?”
Abby smiled warmly, and his heart turned to goo. “Yes,” she said with a slight nod. Then after a short pause, she asked, “Can I bring someone?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’ll be busy racing, and it’s pretty much a guarantee I won’t know anyone there, so I’d like to bring a girlfriend for company.”
He grinned. “How many?”
“I’ll probably only get one to come, so let’s go with that.”
“She’ll have to sign an NDA.”
“That’s fine, I guess. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to convince anyone to come, so…” She shrugged. “Either way, yes, I’ll be there. And I can’t want to see you.” She smiled wider this time, her whole face lighting up.
The way his heart pounded, Dan knew he was in deep trouble.