A small laugh left him as he watched me. “I’m having fun seeing you invested in a woman. In all the years I’ve known you, there has been interest but only enough for a night or two.”
“You were the same, once upon a time.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “She’s under my skin.”
“I’m very familiar with that feeling. The worst thing you can do for your case is to push her away. You want her to open up to you so you can be there for her.”
Great—the one thing I’d done for the past week was push her away. I was completely fucked. Would she even trust me now? She probably thought I was only being nice to her so I could fuck her, and then I went back to being an asshole.
Shit. My goal was even further away now, and by my own damn doing. The woman had me a complete and utter mess.
“I fucking hate this secretive shit.”
“Just remember it’s not to torture you. Trust is hard earned, and you’re going to need hers to get any further.”
She didn’t trust me? Or she didn’t trust me with something specific?
“I need to prove myself,” I said, finally understanding. Though that didn’t make it any easier to take.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks, man. Totally off the topic you came in for, I’m sure.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t change that you’re my friend, Thane.”
“She’s your friend as well, which is weird, by the way.”
He ignored me. “Roe is a much better match than your last real relationship. What was her name? Liz?”
“Liv.”
“That’s right.”
He was completely right there. Liv was all about status and money, neither of which I had at the time only a year out of college. She was gorgeous and made great arm candy, but she was otherwise a boring, materialistic socialite—the complete opposite of Roe.
“How can one woman flip my life upside down so quickly?” I asked.
“That’s what happens when you meet a good one. Now, sort yourself out. Get the girl. And tell me what you think about that email Worthington just sent.”
My eyes widened and I turned my attention back to my computer, pulling up my email. I skimmed over the letter and cursed.
“We had this ironed out.”
James sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “They know how much we want the company,” he grumbled.
We needed the company. They were a major lynchpin in the ten-year expansion plan we’d laid out.
“We are already the majority shareholder. This is asking for a hostile takeover.” I ran my hand through my hair.
Fuck.
“Which it may become. I didn’t want to do it that way.”
I nodded. “I’ll get on it, see what sense I can talk into them.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Give me a call if we need to press them harder.”
“Will do.”
After he walked out, I tilted my head, a loud crack emanating from my neck. It seemed there were two things I was going to be on the warpath for if the people involved didn’t change their minds.
A few hours later, I was sitting at the bar with Jace wanting to bang my head on the counter until I bled. Worthington wasn’t budging, and it would be a fight on Monday when their CEO was back in office. It seemed some of his senior management was trying to stage a coup, and I’d need his help getting everyone back on track.
That matter was on hold. However, the matter of the female variety had me at a standstill.
“How do you get a woman’s trust?” I asked Jace as I stared at the bank of televisions in front of me.
A cold beer sat in my hand as I stared off. I needed help. Guidance. I didn’t even know where to begin. I wasn’t sure that Jace was the right person to be asking, either, but I was desperate for any insight.
“You’re asking me?”
My lips formed a thin line. Yeah, Jace wasn’t the best person, especially not after his last relationship, the one where he got caught fucking his girlfriend’s best friend.
Ass.
I never understood how he, or how any man, could do that. If I was in a relationship, I would only sleep with my girl, fuck my girl, and not even consider another.
You’re thinking about Roe.
A sigh left me. How could I want someone so much? Or was it just the memory of how good she felt around me driving me for more?
“I just… fuck, I don’t even know what I need, but I need something.”
“How about that blonde on your dick tonight?” he asked, nodding to the blonde at the end of the bar.
I gave him a side-eyed glance. “That’s not going to help my issue.” Bars weren’t really my thing, but after a long week, I didn’t really care where Jace wanted to go. I was just desperate for a drink. Or ten.
“Come on, man. The last year I’ve barely seen you show any interest in getting your dick wet.”
“That’s not my problem,” I grumbled, trying not to remember the fucking perfection of Roe’s body.
His eyes widened. “Oh, I see.” He grinned and leaned in. “She hot?”
“Very.” Natural beauty, curvy, petite body, and suckable pink lips.
“More than once?”
I groaned and let my head drop back before returning to look at him. “Yes, but now she’s shut me out. She doesn’t trust me, and I don’t know how to fucking change that.”
He shrugged. “Just play with her. Tell her whatever she wants to hear.”
I narrowed my gaze on him. “When the fuck did you get so slimy?” Jace was never the devoted type, but I thought he had more integrity than that, and more respect for women.
“What? You’re not looking for anything serious.” His expression fell as he stared at me. “Holy shit, you are. This is the chick working for you, isn’t it? The girl that hates you.”
He was animated, excited, and it both amped me up to talk about her but also made me reserved. At least with Jace. The problem with talking to James was that he was also close to Roe.
“She has some secret, some hang-up. I know she’s attracted to me.”
“Yeah, otherwise why is she playing with your meat stick?”
I rolled my eyes. “My first impression isn’t doing me any favors, and she seems stuck on that version of me.”
“For starters, stop being this mopey ass with a chip on your shoulder. She turned you down? Hurt your little feelings? Be a fucking attack dog and keep going after her until she submits.”
“While that is a graphic analogy I didn’t really need, I understand its intent.” I’d been called that before in business deals, which was why James entrusted me with his company’s acquisitions, but I’d never applied that mentality to a woman. Never before had I wanted to, but Roe had me wanting so many things.
“And that is?”
“Don’t give up, keep asking until she says yes.”
He tilted his head from side to side as he thought over my interpretation. “Yeah, I suppose that works.”
I quirked a brow at him. “What were you thinking?”
“Edge her until she says yes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Dude, is pussy ever not on your mind?”