Wrong (Breaking the Rules) (5 page)

I nearly punched that guy in the teeth. He was being an arrogant prick, assuming I’d rather have dinner with him than the beautiful woman in the room. Someone needed to knock him down a few pegs. When he snatched hold of her arm, I nearly lost it. Thankfully he let her go when he did because I had been two seconds away from decking him.

“Are you okay?” I asked after we both got in the car and I put it in drive.

She sighed but nodded her head. “Yeah. I just hate that he treats me like I’m ignorant. Believe me, I am far from it.” And I did believe her. She had the sexy librarian, teacher, professor look down to an art, and I had no doubt she could back it up.

“If it makes you feel any better, I was about to give him a bloody nose.” She giggled, and the tinkling noise was adorable—so unexpected from her usual cool demeanor.

“Do you handle all your business deals with your fists?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Only the ones worth fighting for.” That shut her up.

We pulled up to the restaurant and I climbed out of the car, handing the valet my keys. I came around to her side, and she held on to my arm as I led her into the building.

The restaurant was nice but not over the top. We were seated at a corner table in a more private area. Pepper sat quietly, not meeting my eyes.

Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer. “That guy is a prick. If he ever touches you again, call me. I’ll be up there in no time flat and I’ll pummel him. Tough guys like me do macho stuff like that.” She laughed when she realized my sarcastic tone.

“So, Jordan, tell me what it is exactly that you wanted to talk about over dinner. I’m still wondering why we couldn’t have handled this over the phone.” The tough Pepper we all knew and loved was back.

“Well, Pepper. Quite frankly, I just wanted an excuse for you to have dinner with me. All I want is to get to know you. My brother is dating your best friend. Wouldn’t hurt for us to learn a little more about one another. Plus, you’re fine as hell, and I needed a reason to stare at you for an hour.”

Her eyes narrowed at me, which made me laugh. Those plump lips were pressed into a thin line. The eyes behind her glasses blazed with fury. She was so hot when she was mad.

“Don’t patronize me. I know what I look like. People like you find something that’s different than the norm, claim it, and then kick it to the side. Not interested, Playboy.” Shit, she was something else.

I reached over and seized her hand. She tried pulling away but I held it firmly. If looks could kill, I’d have been dead in that moment. When I rubbed my thumb across the top of her hand, she shuddered and dropped her hateful look.

“Pepper, I don’t know what you have me pegged for, but I’m not that guy. When I see something I want, I go for it and claim it. End of story. There is never any tossing it aside when I’m done. You’re amazingly beautiful, and I think you’re insane for not realizing it.” I let go of her hand as the server came over.

We quickly told the server our drink orders and what we wanted for dinner. Pepper’s face was expressive as something warred within her.

“In addition to my sponsorship, I would like to make a $200,000 dollar donation. Is there a way it could be made in memory of my father?” I asked seriously.

Her eyes flew to mine, and I knew she could see the heartbreak on my face. My dad had left us in tatters when he decided that ending his life was the way to go. Our mother seemed to have handled it the best. Jackson, the worst. But then again, had I watched him do it, I’d be pretty fucked up too.

The tenderness in her eyes was not an expression I’d seen from her yet. This time, she was the one who took my hand.

“Jordan, of course. We’ll even have a plaque made to hang in the main hall.” She squeezed my hand and smiled beautifully at me. Good. I needed her happy, because this next part was probably going to piss her off.

“The other requirement to my donation is that you attend the gala as my date.” The scowl returned and she jerked her hand away.

“No. I told you I had to work. There will be no time for socializing. You saw what a jackass Stan is. He wouldn’t allow it anyway.”

I smiled at her. There was something behind that frosty exterior, and I planned on discovering it with or without her help.

“Too bad. You want the money, you get me.”

She huffed but nodded, conceding.

The server arrived and poured wine into each of our glasses, leaving the bottle on our table.

“Jordan, I’ll go as your date, but you need to know I won’t be any fun. I don’t do fun. Besides, I’ll be working. You’d be better off finding someone else.”

“I don’t want anyone else. I want you.” I stared her down with those words, letting her realize the double meaning.

She picked up her glass and quickly drained it. Not taking my eyes from hers, I refilled her glass.

Changing the subject, I asked her about her family. “So, Pepper, tell me about your family. Do you have any siblings? Are you from around here?”

She smiled and it actually reached her eyes. “Actually, I have wonderful parents who live less than fifteen minutes from my apartment. I have a brother, Will, but he lives in Paris with his fiancée. He’s several years older than I am so we never really were close. I always feel like an only child until the holidays. My daddy is a partner at a law firm and my mother is heavily involved with her various social groups.”

“So you’re a New Yorker like me? I knew I liked you,” I teased, winking at her. She giggled again and sipped her wine.

“Jordan, what were your plans before you were thrust into running your dad’s company? I’m assuming that’s right considering you mentioned your father passed on.”

“You’re right about that part. Actually, I always looked up to my dad. Jackson and I wanted to be just like him. Both of us went to college wanting to help him with his company. Jackson is the true architect at heart, and I’m more of a businessman. Even though I majored in architectural design, I took all of my electives in business.”

“Did you go to Columbia?”

“No, I didn’t,” I said shyly.

She smiled at me. “CUNY is a good school too. No need to be embarrassed.” Now I really was embarrassed because I certainly didn’t go to The City University of New York.

“I didn’t go there either. I went to school out of state,” I muttered, trying to drop the subject. Pepper was used to being the smarter one of her peers. She already had me pegged as a dumb tough guy who’d inherited Daddy’s company. Why change the stereotype now?

“Jordan, you’re killing me. Tell me where you went.”

“Princeton.”

“Get the fuck out of here. No really, tell me where you went.”

I just stared at her while she let it sink in. Her mouth hung open but she was smiling a really goofy smile, which made me laugh. So she had a thing for smart guys? Oh, I could be smart.

“Top five of my class.” Now she was laughing.

“Jordan, you continually surprise me. I’ll give you that.”

When our dinner arrived, we chatted easily about college life. I discovered that she hadn’t done the whole sorority scene—no surprise there—and that she’d met Andi her freshman year. She told me about the recent drama she’d been through trying to keep Andi on the right path after her breakup with Bray. I’d learned a little bit about that this afternoon when Jackson and Bray almost beat the shit out of each other over Andi. Pepper also said that Andi and their roommate Olive were her only friends. She seemed embarrassed about that.
More time for me,
I thought selfishly.

After a bottle and a half of wine between us, conversation was flowing effortlessly. Pepper was incredibly intelligent, and it was nice talking with a woman who actually understood everything I had to say. She seemed equally pleased.

When the server brought us our check, she tried unsuccessfully to take it from me.

“Jordan, let me pay. It’s the least I can do since you stepped up to do the sponsorship.” I smiled at her and shook my head.

“Pepper, this is a date. The man always pays on a real date.”

She huffed at my macho attitude. After leaving a wad of cash on the table, I led her out of the restaurant and back to the valet area. We were quiet while we waited for them to retrieve the car.

Once back in the car, she spoke. “Thanks for dinner, Jordan. I actually had a nice time.” She said it like she was surprised.

“Not all of your dates are that fun?” I joked, chuckling. She was silent and just shook her head, looking out the window. I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it.

Finally, she decided to elaborate. “Would you believe I’ve never been on a date before?”

I nearly crashed the car as I looked over at her in shock.

“What? You’re kidding, right? Pepper, you’re a freaking knockout. Don’t tell me you don’t have the guys falling at your feet.”

“No. There were a few suitors, but I always declined their offers. I would have declined yours too, but you tricked me into it.”

I laughed, proud that I had done the impossible. “Pepper, let me take you on a real date. Tonight was mostly business. I want to have a night that’s mostly pleasure.”

She started to pull her hand from my grasp but I just gripped her tighter.

“I’ll think about it, Jordan.”

I’ll take it, Pepper. I’ll take it.

When we pulled up to my building and surprisingly found a parking spot, Jordan turned off the car. He seemed as reluctant as I was about ending the evening. His eyes lit up as he thought of something.

“Pepper, I just realized we never went over the documents. Do you think I could come up and take a look at those real quick?”

I knew it was just a ploy to spend more time with me. All he had done was come up with reasons to do just that. Nobody had ever pursued me this hard before. It was actually kind of nice, even if I would never admit it.

“Jordan, I think that’s probably a good idea. I’ll have to report back to Stan tomorrow, so I need to be able to prove to him that I can successfully do my job.”

His eyes darkened at the mention of Stan’s name, but he nodded.

We climbed out of the car and Jordan hurried around, grabbing my hand. For some reason, this felt comfortable. Maybe he was growing on me. Maybe it was the wine.