“And friends of friends,” he prompted.
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Only spouses and partners.”
His eyes lit up. My stomach dropped as soon as I realized the direction of his thoughts.
“No,” I said again.
“You and I are partners. Of a kind.”
“We’re not.”
“I’ve had my tongue in your mouth,” he said silkily. Those eyes pinned me in place until I felt like I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. “And other things of yours. It could be said that you owe me.”
Oh god.
“No, but—”
“We’re going,” he said in his low, commanding voice, the one that had a history of literally bringing me to my knees.
I needed to get some power back. I needed to remember my goal.
“If I do this for you, introduce you to them as a stand-up guy and reputable businessman, you have to agree to give me back York Capital.”
Grey almost laughed. “Not happening.”
“I don’t mean the full value of the company. I just mean the name, history, and any investment holdings that predate my father’s tenure. You can transfer the remaining investment assets to another holding company.” I thought this was excessively fair.
“I can succeed with Duckworth on my own,” Grey said, exposing the newly annoying ego he had.
“No, you can’t. Not if I warn him off you.”
Grey eyed me with suspicion. “You can’t work against me while under contract at York.”
“That’s correct. But I’m only under contract for two more weeks, and I happen to know Ian won’t be signing any legal paperwork on a deal that big before he returns from vacation in a few weeks. I will have time to stop him.”
“You would risk your parents’ home?”
“Our agreement was my working as your PA for the remainder of my term. I am doing an excellent job of it. Unless you truly are a dishonorable businessman, I don’t believe you’ll renege on our deal.”
I could tell he’d like to, but I also knew he didn’t want to be known as a thief or a liar. There was one thing he held tightly to since that night at the club, and it was the fact he’d been honest and true. Unlike with my father, honor meant something to Grey. It wasn’t easy to accuse my father and me of being dishonorable if he was as well.
He took a moment to think about it, and damn if the man didn’t always look so calm and steady. Finally, he met my eyes again. “If Duckworth agrees to sell to me at a fair price, I will agree to your terms.”
“That’s ridiculous. I don’t have any control over whether or not he’ll sell.”
The very edge of Grey’s lip curled up. “Then you’d better help me find a way to convince him.”
“If I do this, and he doesn’t sell, we still get the company back, but you strip all the assets, including the historical ones,” I counteroffered.
“Ellison, you’re not in a position of strength in this negotiation.”
My name spoken in Grey Blackwood’s deep voice made my stomach tighten. I was beginning to think he was right. Part of me wanted to do whatever he said.
“It’s my personal reputation on the line. The only way this works is if I actually take you as my boyfriend. Do you have any idea how that’s going to look?”
The more I thought about it, the more my stomach revolted, but I didn’t miss the flare of… something… in his eyes when I said he’d have to be my boyfriend.
“It’s going to look like you’re gay,” he said in that annoying-as-fuck calm voice.
“I’m not gay.”
We stared at each other. I didn’t bother adding that I was obviously at least bi. Surely that had been obvious when I’d been willing to suck him off in the closet.
“Sure you’re not. You just like dick.” He muttered something else that sounded like “Typical.”
I hated him thinking I was homophobic. “I don’t like dick,” I snapped. Grey’s eyes narrowed in anger, so I did my best to press on. “I just like… uh…” I couldn’t exactly say your dick since I’d never actually seen it. “I was attracted to you, not to men in general. So, yes, it would be quite a surprise to my family if I brought a man along as my plus-one.”
I’d deliberately used past tense when mentioning my attraction to him. His ego was big enough without me letting on that I still wanted him, still craved him to the point of embarrassing, emergency-jerk-in-the-washroom levels of need.
“But you’d do it,” he said.
“If the price was right.” I sat up straight.
“Gay for pay?” he asked slowly, as if tasting the words. “How very mercenary.”
“No. I don’t mind them seeing me with a man. I mind them seeing me with the man who betrayed my family.”
Grey shifted in his seat. His long legs moved under the thin drape of his suit pants. I noticed a flash of bright yellow on his socks, but his pants quickly lowered again to hide it before I could see what the design was.
Lucky fucking socks.
“But you would do it?”
“To save York? I can’t say I’m immune to some pride in my family legacy. York Capital has been in my family for a very long time. I’d hate to see it lost because of my uncle’s stupidity.”
“Can’t you tell them I’m just a friend?” Grey asked.
I shook my head. “Me being friends with the man who took over York Capital would be nearly as bad. Besides, he’s paranoid. I told you. As it is, Ian will suspect us because you’re trying to purchase his building.”
Grey cocked his head at me as if trying to figure me out. “Suspect? Won’t he see right through you?”
My face heated. How was I supposed to admit that Ian was the only person I’d ever told about my attraction to Grey? “He, ah… he…” I swallowed. “Let’s just say, he knows the truth about that night in the closet. He knows I went willingly.”
Again, Grey’s eyes flashed with an intensity that unsettled me. “Is that right? And he believes you?”
I nodded. “I told him I’d been watching you in Calculus class that semester. He knew it wasn’t… wasn’t really about the dare.”
A barely perceptible change in Grey’s chest rising and falling clued me in to the changes in his breathing. He went instantly silent. Watchful. Predatory. “Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure if he believed me, and I could hardly blame him for not trusting me. But it was the truth. I’d confessed to Ian Duckworth that I’d had a crush on a kid in my class and had fucked it up. Terribly.
Ian had been the one to lead me through my feelings and everything that came after.
“Anyway,” I said, quickly, before things could get even more awkward between us. “Ian is the one person who might actually believe me if I tell him something’s going on between us.” I swallowed. “And, um, he’s not super close to my father. It’s my mom who’s close to Binnie and Ian. They were her parents’ good friends for years and became like an aunt and uncle to her. Ian thinks my father is… not great.”