With a little more practice, she would become an excellent negotiator, he thought with a smile.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“No, you’ll do it.” She swallowed hard again, her eyes just a little too wide. He didn’t want to torment her, so he didn’t do his usual bargaining tactics. He wanted to give her everything, not destroy her. It was a strange feeling.
“Okay. It’ll be done.” He smiled. “Anything else?”
“One last thing,” she said. Her voice quavered slightly. “I want something else. I want a house outside of the city once we have kids. And I want you to be there most of the time.”
“You want me to commute to the city?” he asked, not liking this last amendment.
She nodded. “I want you to be important in your child’s life. But a kid needs room to run. They need parks and play space, and while there are some in the city, it’s nothing like having a house with a yard. And a dog.”
“You want a dog, too?” he asked, raising one eyebrow. “Is that one of the changes?”
“Eventually.” She licked her lips before biting the lower one.
She didn’t know it, but doing that would get her just about anything. When she bit her lower lip, his mind went south. He instinctively knew it was the kind of thing she would do when she was going to orgasm and his brain couldn’t focus on anything else.
“I’ll talk to my lawyer,” he said, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from her mouth. “It wouldn’t be a problem until the child is at least a year old, right? So, there’s time.”
She chewed her cheek and then nodded. “So, you agree to my amendments?”
He looked her over, taking in her professional suit and the quiet femininity to her. She really was going to be perfect for this.
“Yes,” he told her after a moment. “I’ll have the lawyers draw up the final agreement and we’ll get signatures on it.”
She let out a nervous breath as she smiled. “But, we get another date. I want to make sure that we really do get along well. I’m not expecting us to fall madly in love or anything, but I would like to make sure that we can be friends.”
He smiled. “That’s better than a lot of marriages I’ve seen,” he agreed.
She nodded. “So, I guess that’s it? I’m not really used to negotiations. What am I supposed to do now?”
“I would advise a hearty handshake and something about setting up another meeting with my secretary,” he advised.
“Okay.” She stood up and offered him her hand. “Thank you, Mr. Weathers. I’ll have my attorney set up another meeting to make sure everything is finalized.”
“That’s perfect,” he told her, taking her hand in his. She was small and delicate in his hand and so warm. She flushed, her cheeks and throat turning red. Her chest started to color as well and he wondered just how far south the coloring went.
He realized he was still holding her hand and quickly released her. She smiled and glanced around his office.
“Oh, I have a question for you,” he said, not wanting her to leave. “Do you like to sail?”
“I’ve never actually ever gone sailing. It looks like fun, though.”
“Okay. I think I have an idea for our date,” he replied. “I’ll pick you up tonight.” He loved that she grinned.
“I’ll see you then. Thank you for your time,” she said, obviously trying to keep her professional image going. She managed to hold it for a second longer, then bolted for the door.
He stared at the empty room, feeling a little pang of loss from her leaving and yet smiling at the same time. She was adorable, sweet, and had no idea the exciting effect she had on his libido. He was already excited for their next date.
Chapter 9
Emma
* * *
Emma had everything ready to go, but she did one last final mental check just to be sure. She wanted to make sure this date was perfect. She needed it to be perfect, or she wasn’t sure she could go through with this.