Marry Me for Money (17 page)

I knew he enjoyed my uneasiness.

“No.”

“No? That’s disappointing. Well, I guess he didn’t know what he was doing then,” Kent said.

“I mean, no, I’m not telling you,” I said, giving him a look.

“Why not? Yes or no?” He got up and sat on the couch to face me. “Yes or no, Beth? It’s an easy answer.” His eyes lit in mischief. “Yes or no?” he enunciated each and every word.

Annoyed he wouldn’t relent, it just slipped out. “We haven’t had sex yet, and I’ve never had one. I’ve never had an orgasm before, okay?”

Kent’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. I’d never seen him shocked, and he was shocked beyond belief.

“Never?” he whispered, stunned. He blinked a couple of times in my direction.

“No, never. Okay? Drop it,” I commanded.

He plucked the pillow from my hands and inched closer. “Never?” he repeated, his eyes still wide. You would have thought I just told him there were aliens that were planning to seize the planet by the look on his face.

I seized the pillow back. “Never, ever…okay? This is weird. Stop it.”

I turned my head to watch TV, my face burning, but he moved in my direct line of sight.

“I don’t understand. You had a boyfriend before. You’ve never orgasmed with a guy or never even given yourself one?” he continued.

“Seriously, Kent. Never, okay? Never, ever, ever, ever has any man given me an orgasm, and neither have I, for that matter,” I said, exasperated.

“That’s crazy. I mean, why have sex then? What’s the point?”

“I like sex. For your information, it still feels good.” I covered my face and shook my head from discomfort. “Weird. Weird. Weird. I’m not comfortable with this conversation. Please drop it.” I felt the deep flush across my cheeks spread throughout my body. My palms began to sweat at this uncomfortable conversation.

The shock on his face changed to amusement. “Yes, it might feel good, but it’s like running a race and having no medal at the end or going to dinner and not having dessert. What’s the point? And that’s why you just like it. You’d love it if you’d had an orgasm before,” he said. “Even with my one-night stands, I always leave the girls satisfied every time,” he boasted.

“Yeah right, unless they are faking it,” I said incredulously.

“They’re not, trust me. I just know what I’m doing, unlike the men you have been with,” he uttered with confidence.

“Man. Singular.” I looked at him, annoyed. “My boyfriend from high school was inexperienced. Plus, he was only concerned about getting himself off. Maybe he didn’t know what he was looking for or how to find it,” I said even though I wasn’t sure what
it
was.

“It’s not rocket science,” Kent said, smiling.

He scanned my body, and I pulled the pillow closer to myself.

“I’m sure I can find it for you,” he said, giving me the most devilish look.

“Gross! This is not some sort of challenge, weirdo.” I got up, grabbed his arm, and dragged him toward the door. “This conversation has ended, and so has this night. Thanks for hanging out with me.”

“I’m kidding, Beth,” he said, laughing as I pushed him out the door. “I’m just kidding. I’m teasing,” he continued.

“I don’t care. I’m tired, and I want you out. Out. Out. Out.” I pushed at his back with both hands.

As I started to shut my door, he caught it with his hand and peered in.

“You know, I can find it.” He winked.

“Ew,” I said, scrunching my nose. A look of repulsion crossed my face.

As I closed the door, I heard laughter emanating down the hallway.

It was six thirty in the evening when I looked up from my computer. The office was silent as everyone else had left for the day. My brain was fried, working on the same proposal for the last four hours, and I still had so much more to do before tomorrow’s meeting.

I couldn’t work anymore in the office, so I packed up my laptop and headed out the door. For a change of scenery, I decided to go to the local bookstore and finish my proposal. Walking down the street, I felt my bag vibrate. I rested the laptop bag against my hip and searched for my phone, which was annoyingly at the bottom of my bag.

“Hey, it’s me. What are you doing?” Kent asked.

“I’m on my way home to change and go to the bookstore. I have tons of work to do,” I huffed. “I have a meeting tomorrow, and I need to get this proposal done.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes. Barnes and Nobles?” Kent asked. “Where’s Mr. Perfect?”

“Mr. Perfect is out tonight with clients—again,” I sighed.

One of the things I adored about Brian was his motivation, his drive for greatness at work. But his hardworking self, was putting a damper on our dating life.

“I’ll see you in a bit,” he said before dropping the line.

“Alright, see you soon,” I replied.

Thirty minutes later, sitting at the coffee shop of the bookstore in jeans and my Bowlesville High School T-shirt, my eyes were glued to the computer screen when I felt a tug on my high ponytail.

“Sandwich?” Kent offered, plopping down on the chair in front of me and dropping it on the table.

I gave him my biggest smile. “And that, sir, is why we’re friends,” I said, pointing to the sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap.

“From the beginning, I knew this was the key to your friendship. You ate that pancake at that diner as if you hadn’t eaten for days.”

“Shut up, and give me my food,” I sassed.

“You’re welcome.” He pushed the sandwich toward me and took another one out of the brown paper bag. “I hope they are paying you overtime.”

I made a face. “Yeah, right. I’m salary, not hourly, and boy, they’ve been working me to the bone.” I took a bite of my sandwich and sighed. “What?” I asked, noticing his expression as I took an overly large bite of my sandwich.

“You know, you make strange sounds when you eat,” he said, a dimple emerging on his cheek.

“Because it’s mmm-mmm good.” A piece of turkey almost fell out of my mouth, but I saved it with my tongue. “So, Mr. I Don’t Have a Job But I Have All the Money in the World to Do What I Want, what did you do today?”

He held up one finger as he finished chewing his food. “Well, I got up whenever I wanted, which was ten thirty, and then I went out for breakfast, went shopping, talked to my mother, went to the gym for a couple of hours, got a massage, and relaxed a little at home before I came here.”

“Must be nice.”

“It is,” he said without reservation.

“Well, sorry, some of us have to work for a living,” I said before taking another overly large bite of my sandwich. “And now, I have to get some work done. Do you want to grab a book or a magazine or something?” I asked, dropping my food and adjusting my laptop in front of me.

He positioned his chair to sit right beside me. “I’m interested. What are you working on?” His eyes observed my screen as I began to type on my computer.

“We have this new client. They want us to fund a buyout of their competitor,” I said, looking at the numbers on my computer.

“Well, what’s the cash flow of the company? And how much debt can the company handle?” he asked, scanning my screen in front of us.

I shot him a shocked look. “I thought your major was business management?”

“It was. I minored in finance. Beth, I went to Princeton. You know that, right? I’m not dumb,” he said, sounding offended.

“No, I never said that. It’s just that you surprise me,” I said, turning toward him. “Tell me again why you don’t want to run Plack Industries. You’re a smart guy. It’s already a successful business. It would take a dummy to run it into the ground, and you just said you’re not dumb.”

“Let’s not start now, Dad,” Kent said, slightly moving away.

I didn’t know why I’d pushed him, why I’d wanted to motivate him to run his father’s company, to take over. Maybe a big part of me knew his potential for greatness.

I rested my hand on his arm. “I’m not your dad, Kent, but I see you surprising him, too.”

“I’m content just the way I am.”

“I know, but why be content when you can be happy? And why be mediocre when you can be great?” I said, raising my voice. “Don’t you want to be like me and conquer the world?” I said, exaggerating with my hands, making that dimple reappear again.

He shrugged. “Why change something that is working just fine? Like I said, I’m fine just the way I am.”

My phone started ringing, which broke up our conversation. I glanced at the number on my phone and a radiant smile crossed my face “Hi,” I said. “You got out early from your client call? I’m at Barnes and Nobles. Kent is here with me. He came earlier.”

“Oh. So, he just wanted to hang out?” Brian asked.

I furrowed my brow at his tone.

“I don’t know. He wanted to come. He even brought me food. Okay, so you’re coming here soon?”

“Yeah. It won’t be soon enough. I’ll be there.”

Kent looked at me as I hung up.

My cheeks were hurting from the smile on my face. “You’re finally going to meet him! I talk about you all the time.”

“Do you now?” he asked, raising one eyebrow. “So, what do you tell him about me?”

“I tell him that you are a spoiled brat who doesn’t like to work.” I took out my makeup bag and started applying mascara.

He watched me as I started on my makeup routine.

“What?” I asked, noting the amused look on his face. “It’s still the beginning. I want to look cute.”

“Women,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Ten minutes later, I felt strong hands on both of my shoulders. I glanced up at a blond-haired looker in a navy suit and blue shirt that brought out his eyes.

“Hey,” I said, smiling up at Brian.

He leaned down to give me a kiss on the lips. It lingered longer than normal, sending the butterflies in my belly in a frenzy. I was the first to break away.

Kent smiled up from his
Time
magazine, and then he stood and offered his hand. “Kent Plack. You must be Brian.”

“Hey, buddy,” Brian said, taking his hand with a firm grip. “Yeah, Beth talks about you all the time.”

“And you, too. The perfect guy,” Kent said, making my face flush.

I gave Kent the evil eye as he sat down, before turning to Brian. “So, how was your client call?”

Brian pulled out a chair and sat with his elbows on his knees. “It’s a tough sell. There are a lot of other banks calling on Taper Corp,” he said, cranking his neck from side to side. “But if I win this one, that will make my quota for the year, and my year-end bonus will be nice and fat. And the perfect guy might get the perfect girl something nice for Christmas,” he said.

“Taper Corp?” Kent asked.

“Yeah. Do you know about the company?” Brian asked.

“Somewhat. I’ve heard of them.”

“They’re expanding internationally, and they are outgrowing their current bank,” Brian said, holding my hand atop the table. “I’m going to have to work hard to win this deal. I want this one,” he said, looking at me.

“You’ll win it.” I said, confident that my man would land the deal. I rubbed the top of his hand with my thumb as our eyes locked.

I glanced at Kent when he moved to stand and crumpled the sandwich paper bag in his hands. “I should go. I have another engagement tonight.”