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chair at the table for her? And she’d thought . . .
    Heat rushed into Gillian’s face, but she tried to pretend it hadn’t. Her voice trembled, ruining her crisp tone when she said, “Thank you.”
    “My pleasure.” He circled around to a fancy bar situated in the corner of the dining room. “Drink?”
    “No, thank you.” Obviously she needed her wits about her to deal with him.
    “I ordered dinner. It’ll be here in an hour. If you’re hungry now, I could grab something to snack on.”
    She shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you.” In fact, given her overboard reaction to him, she’d do well to get this done and skip dinner completely. She tried a smile. “Maybe we can get started?”
    “I’d love to.”
    Now why did that sound so sexual? Maybe it was that expression of his that accompanied the words.
    She started to speak, and he said, “Fran told me they’re paying you well.”
    Sensing a trap, Gillian went still. Cautiously, she masked her expression and took the time to consider her response. She did make a ton of money, and she had no reason to be embarrassed about it.
    She put her shoulders back. “With my record of success, I now earn a top-of-the-line wage.” Without modesty, she added, “That’s because I’m the very best at what I do.”
    Ignoring what she said, Drew slouched in the hard seat and studied her. “ Outrageous , I think is how Fran described it. She said she’s paying you an outrageous amount of money.”
    Unwilling to let him bully her, Gillian got out her paperwork, set it neatly aside, and folded her hands on the tabletop. “Your point?”
    “You don’t want to lose this job.”
    “Ha!” An understatement, but surely he had more at stake than she did. “ You can’t afford the repercussions if I should quit.”
    “Touché.” His gaze warmed. “So we both want this . . . arrangement to work, agreed?”
    Bantering with Drew Black was like playing with fire—tricky, and she could get burned so easily. Warily, Gillian said, “I suppose that’s a fair statement.”
    So much satisfaction showed in his expression, Gillian felt like running. I will not let him get to me.
    The corners of his mouth curled up. “The thing is, if you quit, or if you can’t handle the heat, Fran will just find herself another broad to harass me. But she won’t shit-can me, Gillian. She and Loren might not want to admit it, but they need me.”
    Gillian feared he was right. Even while ranting about his less-than-sterling qualities, Fran Ferrari had extolled his business virtues. “I can see that you believe it.” His conceit knew no boundaries.
    “I know it. They might have funded this venture, but I’m the one who made it worthwhile. I’m the one who took a floundering organization and turned it into a multimillion-dollar enterprise.”
    Very true. She gave a blasé shrug. “So?”
    “So when it’s all said and done, I’d prefer to work with you.”
    She would not be flattered by that. Raising a brow, she asked, “The devil you know?”
    “The devil I’ve already met.” His gaze dipped to her mouth, then her breasts. “A sexy devil.”
    She started to remonstrate with him, and he cut her off. “But if you hightail it out of here, I’ll still be around, make no mistake about that. Fran and Loren might want me reformed, but they still want me.”
    Gillian gritted her teeth. “Again I ask—what’s your point?”
    “I have a deal for you.” He sat forward, hands flat on the tabletop. “You can take it or leave it, and to hell with consequences. But make your decision knowing the consequences will be worse on you than on me. I might get stuck with a woman less appealing than you. But you”—he rose from his seat—“won’t be able to meet your financial goals.”
    What did he know of her financial goals? Damn Fran for broadcasting her private business. What she wanted, how long she might have wanted it, was not his business.
    Rather than let him know that he’d