Hamilton smiled at Dakota’s directness as he pondered her question. Apparently, this appointment must have come up suddenly since he was usually made aware of meetings with potential new clients. But it didn’t matter in this case. He was just glad Mason was running behind schedule.
Dakota was even more stunning than he remembered. Her skin glistened under the fluorescent lights, and her confident gaze held a bit of humor. It was as if she was waiting to see what type of nonsense he was going to come up with. He didn’t know much about the woman, but there was something in the way she stared back at him with a bold confidence that intrigued him.
But Hamilton took his time responding, preferring to admire her sense of style which matched her adventurous nature. Wearing a short brown leather jacket over a low-cut tan button-up blouse that hugged her full breasts and flat stomach, he hadn’t been able to stop staring when he spotted her downstairs, even more so now. Tan skinny pants and tall brown thigh-high suede boots rounded out the sexy attire.
“Are you trying to come up with a good lie on why you haven’t called?” Dakota asked, interrupting his thoughts, a wicked smile gracing her tempting lips.
Hamilton sat back in his seat and rubbed a hand down his goatee. “One thing you should know about me, Dakota, is that I will never lie to you. As for me not calling, I’ve been meaning to. Things have been crazy busy, and—”
“And you really don’t have a good excuse,” she added. A twinkle of mirth radiated in her honey-brown eyes. Eyes he could stare into until the end of time.
Hamilton smiled. “Direct. I like that, and you’re right. I don’t have a good excuse.”
“Someone once told me that we always make time for what we really want to do. So maybe you really didn’t want to talk to me.”
“That’s definitely not it. I did plan to call. I just hadn’t taken the time to do so. But while we’re on the subject, Dominic has been on me to call you as well.”
“You have a great kid.”
“I agree. He’s the best, even if he is a pain in the ass sometimes. Oh, and he’s been concerned about you.”
Dakota’s perfectly arched eyebrows dipped into a frown. “Concerned about me? Why?”
“He saw a photo of you in the food truck that was parked outside the movie set the other day. The guy working in it told Dom that you were his woman.”
“What? Are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous! The guy…Lester is a little too…too creepy. Trust me, I’ve never even considered hooking up with him. As for the photo, I have no idea where he got a picture of me. I’ll have to talk to him about that.”
Warning bells blasted inside of Hamilton’s mind at the thought of this guy having her picture and claiming they were an item while she vehemently denied it. But Hamilton’s attention immediately shifted when Dakota slipped out of her leather jacket and hung it on the back of her chair, giving him a perfect view of her full, perky breasts pushing against the thin blouse.
“Wait. Is that why you haven’t called me?” Dakota asked as if putting two and two together. “You actually think something’s going on with me and Lester?”
Hamilton shrugged, knowing that wasn’t the reason he hadn’t called. He actually didn’t have what she would consider, a good reason for not calling. He couldn’t deny that he was interested, but there was something about her that gave him pause and he couldn’t put his finger on it. Rarely did he go against his gut instinct. Yet, he was seriously thinking about making an exception.
“Lester owns the food truck,” she said. “And though he’s told me that he’s in love with me and plans to make me his wife, there is absolutely nothing going on between us. I just figured it was his way of flirting.”
Hamilton nodded, seeing how that could be the case.
“And besides that, there is no way I would’ve suggested you call me if I was involved with someone else. I don’t know what type of women you roll with, but that’s not who I am.”
Hamilton studied Dakota and heard the conviction in her voice. He might not have called her, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about this woman. She had even invaded his dreams the night before. Yet, he still couldn’t shake whatever was holding him back. He’d always been selective about the women he spent time with, but whatever this vibe was that he was picking up from Dakota was something different.
He glanced at his watch.
“Well, even though it’s clear that you’re not as interested in me as I am in you, if I need a bodyguard will you take on the assignment?”
A slow smile crept across Hamilton’s mouth. He liked this woman more and more. “Nope. I couldn’t.”
She leaned forward and placed her forearms on the table as she narrowed her gorgeous eyes at him. “You mean to tell me that you dislike me so much that you wouldn’t even take me on as a client?”
Hamilton mirrored her move and lowered his voice. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. If I were to take you on as a client, then I wouldn’t be able to invite you out to dinner. It wouldn’t be professional.”
She stared at him for the longest time before the beginning of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “Is that right?”
Hamilton nodded.
“Mason is grabbing something out of his office, but you and your daughter will be meeting with him in here,” Hamilton heard their executive assistant say as the conference room door opened. He stood just as Egypt stepped into the room.
“Hey Hamilton, this is Wesley Bradford,” she said of the man who followed her in.
Shocked with disbelief, a slow burn of anger swirled inside Hamilton’s gut at the sight of the man who had almost ruined his life.
“What the hell are you doing here?”