The Billionaire's Demands (A Boardrooms and Billionaires Series Book) (Entangled Indulgence) (2 page)

“It was still more than a little obvious.” Camryn snagged her phone from her purse and gave it her full attention, effectively ending their conversation.

“Now you’re going to ignore me, too?”

“I’m waiting for an e-mail.”

“At nine thirty?”

She dropped the phone into her lap. “Don’t tell me you turn it off when you leave the office.”

“No, but I do attempt to turn it off when I’m talking to another human being.” She had the decency to look contrite and Booth took that as a good sign. Despite his outward irritation, he couldn’t help but wonder if the “checking e-mail” routine was a sign of something deeper.

She’d said little during dinner other than the moments when she was directly questioned, content to let her sisters shine during the meal. The fact Mayson and Keira were both newlyweds and Mayson had a baby on the way meant they had a lot to discuss, but it still struck him as curious that Camryn seemed to deliberately fade into the background.

Her voice broke into his musings. “Do you agree with what your dad said? At dinner?”

“When he finally got the stick out of his ass he said a lot of things. Refresh my memory.”

“The part about advertisers. About keeping them happy.”

“He does love his ad revenues. The businessman in me agrees with him. But the newsman I am in my heart of hearts knows the ad dollars have to come second. We’re beholden to the people who read our products, not those who run ads in them.”

A small smile ghosted her lips. “The CFO in me is protesting.”

“So have that drink with me and we can debate it.”

“You don’t miss an opportunity to go after what you want, do you?”

Booth leaned forward, the light scent of her surrounding him as he breathed her in. “Never.”

…

The small spark of electricity lit once more under her skin but Camryn fought it. She would not let herself even think about going down this path.

She refused to hope again. Even if she could feel the heat of his body through the material of her coat.

Or the way those delicious sparks of heat arced between the two of them.

“I’m afraid I can’t do drinks tonight. I really do have an early meeting.”

“Fair enough.”

The quick acquiescence had a small spark of sadness blooming in her chest. This was the
exact
reason she didn’t need to get involved with her sister’s brother-in-law. Even if it might have been nice if he’d argued a bit…

Damn, but she needed to get a grip, especially as her inner Yoda started giving her pointers.
Go or do not go, there is only one choice
.

Booth turned his full focus on her, the wash of streetlamps outside the taxi lighting his face in the dark of the cab. “So you agree with my old man?”

“I didn’t mean that. But he does have a point about how we make money as a business. My father forgot that.”

“I thought he forgot that because he paid no attention to the business, not because he focused on editorial at the expense of the ad revenues.”

“True. But it doesn’t change the fact that we
are
in business to turn a profit.” Did the words escaping her lips sound as cold as they felt? And why was it this was the only subject that she felt truly comfortable speaking on?

“Of course we are. No one works for free and they shouldn’t be expected to. Hell, I’ve learned that working in financial journalism for fifteen years.”

Booth’s role as the leader of the
Financial Journal
meant he’d overseen the coverage of every major business story in the US and abroad for most of his adult life. The
FJ
not only covered the financial news, it often helped create it as well. “You wield an inordinate amount of influence with that paper.”

“Exactly. Because we’re the resource decision makers trust. If we favored advertisers first, we wouldn’t enjoy that position.”

“But because you are the favorite, you command a higher ad dollar. A virtuous circle if I’ve ever heard one.”

His blue eyes flashed with something decidedly wicked. “No one’s ever quite called me virtuous, but yes, I’d say that about sums it up.”

Camryn weighed her words. She was used to deliberate speech. Her role as the chief financial officer at McBride Media demanded it. Yet, somehow, she sensed the stakes between her and Booth were even higher. “You do tempt a girl, I’ll give you that much.”

“Then I’m doing it right.”

“I won’t be distracted.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” His gaze was speculative as he ran a finger over her knuckles. The simple touch was shockingly effective, and her body tightened uncomfortably under her clothes as a heavy burst of need cratered her stomach. “Most everyone can be tempted by something.”

She fought for control, anxious to keep them on a level playing field. “Why is this so important to you?”

He closed the space between them and pressed his lips against her ear. The light exhale of his breath had shivers skating down her spine and she fought the very real urge to climb into the man’s lap. “I’d like to see where things could go between us.”

“I thought we already determined things can’t go anywhere.”

“You fascinate me, Camryn McBride. You’re so buttoned-up on the outside. So determined to stay in control. I wonder…” His voice trailed off when he lifted his head a fraction from hers and ran a finger down her jawline, his gaze never wavering.

“Wonder what?” Was that breathless voice really her own?

“What you’d look like out of control.”

“Then you’d better learn to live with disappointment.” The words seemed to only heighten the mischief that rode his sky-blue eyes.

The cab stopped in front of her prewar building, the majestic, fifteen story structure rising into the night. He was like that building, she realized. Tall, proud, and sure of his place in the world.

As if punctuating his point he asked the driver to wait a moment.

“I think I’ve been going about this all wrong.”

Camryn pulled her gaze from her window. “Going about what all wrong?”

“Seducing you.”

A nervous laugh escaped. “I don’t need to be seduced. I’m more than capable of deciding whom I let into my bed.”

“No doubt.”

“So why do you think you’re an exception?”

“It’s something you said earlier. In the kitchen.”

Her mind whirled with their earlier conversation over the crudités. “I think I said no.”

“Which I can handle and respect and then walk away.”

“So why aren’t you?”

“Because you didn’t say no.”

Damn it, what the hell had she said?

“You said that a fling would be messy with our family connections.”

“Which you can’t deny is true.”

“Only if they know about it.”

The thought hung there between them, growing and expanding. “My sisters and I don’t exactly keep secrets from one another.”

“They’re entitled to every private thought you have?”

She shrugged, trying to come up with the right words. “No, of course not. But you’re Keira’s brother-in-law. No matter how I slice that, it doesn’t change the personal connection between our families. Besides. I don’t hide my relationships in the dark. If it has to be hidden, it’s not worth having.”

“Yet you’re perfectly willing to deny any exploration of what’s between us because it might be a little complicated.”

Oh, how she wished that were the only reason. “It’s not the same.”

“It’s not all that different.” He resumed that delightful stroking over her hand with his index finger. “We try it. If it doesn’t work out, we end it. No harm, no foul.”

“This is a ridiculous conversation.”

“Because you know I’m right.”

The urge to simply agree with him and give in to this crazy attraction pounded steadily in her brain. Everything he’d said was accurate. She
did
want him. And she was well aware that her reasons for saying no were flimsy. “I hate messy situations, especially ones where someone puts all they’ve worked for at risk. I’ve worked a long time to get where I am and I’m not willing to give it up.”

“I’m not asking you to give anything up.”

Temptation flared once more and she suddenly had a very real understanding of what Eve had faced in the garden. “And when it’s over? When we both go back to being acquaintances who get together at family functions. What then?”

“Do you really think there can be any event we will ever attend with our mutual families that can be more awkward and uncomfortable than tonight?”

Her lips twitched. “You’ve got a point.”

The fingers that had woven such a sensual spell over her skin stopped their tender stroking and he extended his hand. “We keep this neat and clean, like a business contract. We determine the mutually agreeable parameters and satisfactory out clauses that either party can initiate at any time.”

Once again, Camryn couldn’t quite shake the coldness that lay underneath her attitude. Was this really what her life had come to, negotiating her personal relationships as if she were putting a bid on a piece of real estate?

She pulled her hand from beneath his and pushed open the taxi door. “I don’t negotiate.”

Chapter Two

“You left awfully quickly last night.” Keira’s cheeky smile greeted Camryn the following morning from where she was leaning in the doorway of the executive conference room. The early meeting Camryn had come in for ran exactly as she’d expected.

Unfortunately, the meeting had come to an end and now she had to pay the piper.

Camryn was still turning over the previous night’s event in her mind. She still regretted leaving Booth. Regretted not seeing where his tempting offer might go.

A fling.

The very idea had played through her mind as she lay restless and wide-awake in bed.

Pros and cons, pluses and minuses, debits and credits. All neat and orderly, just like plain old Camryn McBride. Yes, they could explore what was between them, but the raging feelings that had filled her as she’d tossed and turned throughout the night had ensured that acting on those feelings would be anything but clean and simple.

“Did you miss the tension in your apartment? I love you and I love your intention for the evening but I was counting the minutes until I could break free.”

“Tension, schmension.” Keira waved a hand, clearly unconvinced by Camryn’s breezy, casual tone. “I’m talking about you and Booth.”

“And here I thought your subtle interrogation technique was aimed at getting me to give you my recipe for that veggie dip.”

“Cam—”

“What?”

“Come on. Talk to me.”

Camryn fought back a sigh and walked to the coffee service on the room’s sideboard for a refill and a few moments to gather her thoughts. “Do you want any coffee?”

“No. I want details.”

“We shared a cab. He made sure I got home. It’s no big deal.”

“But what about drinks? I thought—” Keira broke off. “I just assumed you stopped for drinks.”

“Nope. He solicitously took me home. He
is
family, as you were so eager to prove with last night’s dinner party.”

“I think I’d have been more successful performing an appendectomy on a random stranger than last night’s attempt at family bonding.”

Camryn couldn’t hold back the giggle. “It was pretty bad.”

“So you can understand why I’d like to live vicariously through my sister’s far more enticing evening.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

“Nothing happened?”

“Define nothing. He made a pass and I deflected it.”

“Oh!” Keira’s eyes widened. “I knew he was interested.”

“Then you and I have a different opinion of
interested
.” Camryn took a sip of her coffee and attempted to marshal her arguments behind a voice full of careful indifference. “I’m a challenge to him, nothing more. He’s shown his interest several times over the last few months. Apparently he thought he’d make his move last night.”

“A little challenge is good for a man. Makes him work for what he wants.”

Camryn lifted an eyebrow and sought to change the mood. This was exactly what she didn’t want. Discussions about Booth at the office. “You’ve been reading all that advice we spew in our women’s magazines again, haven’t you?”

“It’s part of the dating game.”

“Or maybe it’s just a battle to win the trophy, then move on to the next thing.”

Keira’s gentle smile faded. “I know Booth’s had a reputation around town as a ladies’ man, but I’ve seen no evidence of that. In fact, I got the sense he was sick of the dating scene and looking for something more substantial.”

“And I’m quite sure I don’t fit the bill.”

The words were out before she could stop them, and Camryn could hardly claim surprise when Keira gestured her to the line of chairs along the conference table. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said. Look, K. I’m not the sort of woman Booth Harrison is going to be interested in. He dates models and sexy, adventuring doctors who treat kids in foreign countries. I’m an accountant.”

“You’re a well-respected, accomplished businesswoman. And you’re gorgeous. And you’re fun and smart. Booth Harrison would be a fool not to go after you.”

Camryn sighed. How did she explain this?

She’d spent her life around the sort of women Booth was meant to end up with. Bright, vivid women who commanded a room when they walked into it. People called her when they needed their spreadsheets corrected.

“I’m not the one.”

Her older sister hadn’t reached her professional position—nor had she spent thirty-plus years as the oldest sister—for nothing. “The urge to sit here and shake you until you wake up from this dumb line of thought is strong. But since you’re more stubborn than me, I’ll appeal to that brilliant brain of yours and let you chew on this. I can see the way the two of you look at each other. It’s electric.”

Shock had her nearly sloshing her coffee as her hand shook and Camryn set the mug quickly on the table. “It is not.”