Read The Pitch: City Love 2 for Free Online

failure of my last long term relationship flared inside me while I attempted to maintain an impassive expression. This, right here, was the reason I rarely dated, I thought. “I imagine motherhood is exhausting,” I managed.
    Dillon sat back slightly and swirled his red wine in his glass. “I’ve offended you.”
    “No.” I set my own glass back down and looked at him. I was upset, yes, but not offended. “I can see your opinion is based on concern for your sister. I can’t speak for her, but for me, Grounded Marketing is a big part of my life.”
    The shrill ring of my mobile phone cut him off. I winced and offered him an apologetic look. I generally kept my phone set to fire alarm volume, so I never missed a call.
    I grabbed the mobile from my handbag, secretly thankful for the well-timed distraction. I paused in surprise when I saw the caller ID. “I’m sorry, I need to take this.”
    I gave Dillon another apologetic look and stood. I waited until I was on the street to answer. “Hi Paul.” I had no idea why he was calling on a Friday night. I figured whatever it was, it must be important.
    “Madeleine.”
    Goosebumps made the skin on my arms tingle. That man had a way of saying my name.
    “Is everything alright?” I asked.
    “Fine. Except I’ve just realized I left one of my folders in your office.”
    “Oh, right.” I hadn’t even noticed. “I’ll have someone courier it over to you on Monday, if you like. Will that be okay?”
    He paused. “Actually, no. I need it this weekend so I can prepare something for Monday.”
    “Oh.” My mind calculated the options. “I’m still in the city at the moment, but I won’t be finished for another hour or two. I could drop by the office and pick it up. Then I can grab a taxi to your place after that, assuming you don’t live miles away.”
    “I don’t, but that’s far too much trouble for you. How about I pick you up after you’ve finished your date? I’ll drive you to the office and drop you home after. It’s the least I can do.”
    I opened my mouth, then closed it again. He remembered I was on my date. It struck me as odd, or at least, overly observant. Then again, Cate’s email had been particularly memorable.
    “That was presumptuous of me. I hope I’m not ruining anything,” he said after my long pause.
    “No. Dillon is just as my friends described.”
    It was his turn to pause. “I could be wrong, but you’re not sounding convinced?”
    I bit my lip then figured to hell with it. “We might have a difference of opinion when it comes to children.” I had no idea why I was confiding in him.
    “Children? Who brings that up on a first date?” I could sense he was smiling into the phone.
    “Not me.”
    “He brought it up?”
    “Unfortunately.”
    “And what did you say?”
    “I simply informed him that Grounded Marketing was my focus right now.”
    “Ah. A modern woman. Gets them every time.”
    Was he baiting me? I didn’t care and bit anyway. “Damn right. He suggested I wouldn’t be able to work full-time if I had children.” There was a hell of a lot more to it than he could possibly know, but for some reason it felt good to be telling him about it.
    I could hear him chuckling down the phone and found myself smiling.
    “Would you like me to come and rescue you sooner?” he asked.
    While the thought of Paul rescuing me sounded tempting, I hadn’t quite given up on Dillon yet. Nor did I want to entertain any further inappropriate thoughts of my business advisor.
    “No, that’s alright. If I write off every man on the basis of a little difference of opinion, then I probably stand to be single for a long time to come.”
    “I doubt that. But I’ll let you decide which difference of opinion is worth fighting for. Shall we say a ten o’clock pick up then?”
    I looked at my watch. It was eight thirty now, which sounded like an acceptable amount of time.
    “Fine. Now let me go and salvage my blind date.”
    “You do