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across from him. Trying to put distance between us so he can control the situation. Control me. That’s not going to happen.
    “What are you thinking coming back here?” he asks.
    “I wanted to see you, okay? Why haven’t you called me?”
    “I’ve had my hands full with other things,” he says as he leans forward in his chair.
    I don’t think he meant for that to hurt, but it does. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.
    “You haven’t thought of me at all? That’s bullshit,” I say as I blink back tears. “Or you really do have ice running through your veins.”
    He hesitates and then throws his hands up in surrender and raises his voice. “You’re right. It’s bullshit.” He lowers his hands back to his desk, adjusts his suit coat, and continues in a hushed tone. “I’ll give it to you straight. I’m ashamed of myself. Of my behavior the other night. I took advantage of you in a most ungentlemanly way.”
    My mouth lands open, and my eyes practically pop out of my head. What the hell is he talking about?
    “You took advantage of me? I literally asked for it! And now all I want is to see you again.” I can’t explain how much I need to be close to him again. To feel those strong arms wrapped around me and those tender lips caressing mine.
    “That can’t happen.”
    “Why the hell not? We got on like a house on fire the other night. Or have you already forgotten about that?” Color rises in his cheeks, and I know he hasn’t forgotten.
    “Of course I haven’t. It’s all I think about.”
    “Then why are you pushing me away?” I reach across the desk for him, but he pulls away.
    “Because I run a multimillion-dollar business. People depend on me, and I have a reputation to uphold. It’s not becoming for me to chase after a young woman I was once paid to protect and -”
    “So I was good enough for you when I was untouched, but now you’re done with me? I knew you had issues, but I never pegged you for one of those creepy guys with a Madonna-whore complex.”
    “Would you let me finish?” He raises his voice. He has to for me to hear him over my hysterical ranting. He lifts his hand to his brow and closes his eyes as he exhales slowly. “I was going to say I’m like a horny high school boy chasing after someone so clearly out of my league.”
    The wind goes out of my sails quickly.
    “Why would you say that?” I walk around the massive desk and sink into his lap. “We’d be good together. Balance each other out and all that.”
    “I don’t fit in the life that’s been laid out for you. I don’t come from money. I grew up on food stamps, for Christ’s sake. I didn’t go to Harvard. I don’t have social connections. Your family wouldn’t accept me. And I can’t spend my life apologizing for who I am and for things I couldn’t control.”
    “I don’t want the life that’s been laid out for me. I want you.” I lay my head against his neck. “Besides, my father would love you. Anyone else with a different opinion can go to hell.”
    “You’re still such a kid, Caroline. That’s not how the world works. You can’t just snap your fingers and have everything work out the way you want it to.” He strokes my hair.
    “I know the only way you really fail is if you never even give it a shot. That’s all I want, an honest chance with you. I’ll turn in my membership to the club, you can take me out to dinner, and we’ll start fresh. What do you say?” I punctuate my plea with gentle kisses along his jaw and near his lips, but when I move for his mouth he pulls away.
    “I say no.” He lifts me off his lap as he rises to his feet. He’s all business now, and I know better than to press my case. He walks to the door and holds it open for me. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back upstairs.”

I wish to God I’d never seen her that night at the club. I pretended her father’s reputation was my concern, but it was the thought of another man’s hands all