“That’s sweet of you.”
She pushed up the large frames that had slid down to the tip of her nose. When she pushed them up higher, London knew he was a goner.
He didn’t want anyone but her.
“I guess that means tomorrow, dinner will be on me?” Her perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose at the question.
“I look forward to what you come up with.”
Resting the box against his waist, he closed the gap between them and tilted her chin up so their eyes could meet. Unable to resist, he swooped down and captured her lips with his. He’d been waiting to feel her soft, plump lips against his all day.
It had taken all his control that morning to keep from having his way with her in the shower. Had he slid inside of her, they would have either been late for work, or taken the entire day off.
“Pepperoni pizza?” He nodded. “Good. That’s my favorite. It’ll go well with the wine I put in the fridge before I went to work this morning.”
Unlocking the door, he followed her inside.
14
It had been six weeks since that first weekend she’d spent with London. It was late, and tonight they were staying in London’s apartment. He was working on some major deal, and was preoccupied with work.
She was relaxing on the couch while he talked on the phone at the dining room table, running his fingers through his hair for the millionth time. His thick strands stood on end, and she smiled at how cute he looked.
Taking in his apartment, she remembered the first time he’d invited her to spend the night.
She’d refused, of course. She wasn’t going to step one foot into his bedroom until he disinfected it. The memory of his face when she’d put in her request still made her smile. But she had been dead serious.
The number of women he’d had in there before her had her damn near throwing out the mattress.
But he’d done as she wished. He had a company come out to steam clean it, and had purchased all new bedding.
“If it takes all night, I’ll close this,” London growled into the phone.
Checking her watch, she saw it was close to ten. She was trying to stay awake, but her body was in the process of shutting down.
Pushing off the couch, she walked over to him just as he hung up the phone. Inhaling deeply, he cradled his head in his hands and blew it out slowly.
Rubbing his shoulders, she kissed the top of his head.
“Gonna be a long night?”
“God, yes.” Turning, he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head against her chest. “Why don’t you head to bed? I saw you yawn at least five times in the last two minutes.”
“It wasn’t five times,” she chuckled.
“Okay, maybe ten,” he joked.
When he looked up at her, she took notice of his bloodshot eyes and his five o’clock shadow.
“You sure you don’t want to join me?”
“As tempting as that sounds, I can’t.”
Sitting back in his chair, he stared at his laptop. Taking advantage of the move, she slid onto his lap. Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around her.
“What could you possibly be getting done at this time of night?”
“Right now, I’m negotiating a contract for Khalil. If I can get him to sign with me, I’ll get him the biggest deal ever made.”
His eyes grew wide with excitement.
“What kind of money are we talking?” she inquired, running her fingers through his thick strands.
“Two hundred and seventy million dollars over five years.”
Alana’s hand froze. She knew he dealt with professional sports stars, and she’d heard of Khalil Roads. It wasn’t like she lived under a rock.
But if Khalil signed a contract worth that amount, how much did London get?
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “He’d be a fool not to sign with you.”
Self-doubt really began to set in. What was he doing with a woman like her? Yes, she could afford her very expensive apartment, but that was thanks to the inheritance she received from her parents’ deaths. She was just a regular woman who worked a day job, loved wine, board games, and hanging with her bestie.
“What’s wrong? Where did you go?” London squeezed her side, gaining her attention.
“That’s a shit ton of money.”
“I know, and it’ll look good for my agency. It’ll show how hard we work for our clients, and everyone will want to sign. Khalil would be my focus. Some smaller athletes can work with one of the other agents, but I charge the big bucks.”
She mustered up a smile, trying to push down the thoughts and emotions swirling around inside of her.
“That’s amazing, London.”
She knew their relationship would come to an end eventually. She wasn’t the type of woman he had paraded around before. She wasn’t the type to go out and party until the wee hours of the morning.
That wasn’t her.
Alana had to face the reality that soon, what they had would be over. He would tire of the short, thick, geeky girl. They were complete opposites.
She was just going to have to enjoy the moment. When she first slept with him, she had already decided it was what it was.
But she never would’ve guessed they would be still seeing each other.
She didn’t even know if they had a name for what was happening between them.
Did she want to build more with him? Of course she did, but she didn’t know if he felt the same.
What could she bring to the table? Here he was, swinging multimillion dollar deals, and she was just a financial analyst for an insurance company.
Pulling her close, he kissed her lips. “I have an idea.”
“What’s that?”
“Why don’t you come with me to meet Khalil?”
Alana’s eyes widened.
Go with him to meet a major NBA star?
“Me? Go with you?”
“Yes. Why are you surprised that I would ask you to be my date?”
She shrugged. They hadn’t really gone out on official dates. They’d grabbed something to eat here and there, hit up her favorite bookstore and record shop.
She was content with what they had.
Deciding to just ask the question that had been burning inside of her for a while now, she blurted out, “Why me?”
“Why you what?”
London was confused. What was Alana asking him?
She bit her lip in that sexy way that drove him crazy.
“Why me? We’ve been together for a little bit now. I’m nothing like the women you were dating before—”
“I’m going to stop you now. I wasn’t dating any of those women.”
“You know what I mean.” She motioned to her body. “I don’t look like any of them.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
He was growing angry at what she was insinuating. Did she not know how beautiful she was? How much he loved her curves?
Getting up off his lap, she folded her arms over her chest.
“London, what are we doing, because I don’t even know? Are we friends with benefits? Neighbors who have a little fun?”
London knew he was to blame for her confusion. Standing in front of her, he tilted her chin up so she could meet his gaze.