Guarding His Heart

“You eat dessert?” I looked at her in surprise. I didn’t know many women in Los Angeles- asides from Lucky- that ate desert.

“Of course I eat dessert.” She laughed. “I’m not a wannabe actress or model. I don’t need to watch my figure.”

“No, you sure don’t.” I surveyed her curves and licked my lips.

“Leo, that’s so inappropriate.” She shifted and gazed at me.

“What is?” I replied innocently and licked my lips again. “I’m thinking about dinner and dessert. I got hungry and so I licked my lips. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head at me as we exited the elevator. “Nothing at all.” We walked down the corridor in silence and reached her room first. I waited for her to walk into the room and then continued onto my room. “I can’t help it if I’m hoping you’re the desert.” I whispered to myself as I opened my door and chuckled.

***

“Hey,” I opened the door to let in a freshly showered Hannah. “You look refreshed.” I stared at her still wet hair and makeup free face. She was wearing a baggy grey t-shirt and a pair of black sweats.

“Sorry, I had a quick nap and didn’t have time to dry my hair.” She shook her head and sprinkles of water fell onto my skin.

“No worries.” I stepped back into the room and guided her to the desk and two chairs. “I’m glad you were able to take a nap, it might be a late night.”

“I figured.” She nodded and sat down. “What do you want to do first?”

“Let’s go over the financials from this year.” I opened a file and handed her some paperwork. “I want to make sure that we’re able to articulate why this is the best offer for them in the current market.”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Hopefully they can see that and don’t try to play hardball.”

“It looks like Rob Martin has a gambling problem.” I sighed. “I’m not sure he’s going to be levelheaded. If he’s losing millions in Vegas, I’ve a feeling he’s willing to gamble with billions.” I shook my head. “He’s going to hope for a higher offer.”

“And that’s off the table right?”

“Yeah, that’s off the table.” I sighed. “Though I think I can convince him the money’s good because it is. The problem I foresee is agreeing for him to leave the company.”

“It’s his family's company, he’s not going to want to leave.”

“Yeah, but we don’t want to buy a company with a CEO that has a penchant for using company funds to take trips to Vegas and Dubai.”

“Yeah.” She bit her lower lip. “We have to make the offer so attractive that he thinks leaving is his idea.”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “But he has no family so we can’t tell him that spending more time with them is the answer.”

“Yeah, he seems like a ladies man.” Hannah agreed. “I guess much like most men who inherit companies from their fathers.”

“Are you talking about me?” I stood up and grinned down at her as someone knocked on the door.

“Well, you’re a ladies man, aren’t you?” She called out softly as I opened the door.

“You can bring the food inside.” I nodded at the room service guy. “Come Hannah, the food is here.”

“I’m coming.” She stood up and walked over to the tray. “What did you get?”

“Sushi, steak, salad, soup.” I laughed. “I couldn’t decide so I got a couple of different dishes.”

“Well they all smell amazing.” She sniffed and smiled. “I’m so hungry.”

“Mr. Maxwell, would you like me to pour the wine for you?”

“That would be great, thanks.” I nodded and I could feel Hannah’s eyes on me as I turned to face her. “I thought some red wine could help us relax. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” She nodded slowly as she chewed on a piece of bread. “One glass won’t hurt.”

“Exactly.” Though I was planning on drinking a lot more than one glass. “Here you go, thanks.” I signed the receipt and handed the guy another twenty as he left the room. “Let’s eat and then we can go back to working.”

“I thought you wanted to work and eat at the same time?”

“I think we can relax for a few minutes before that.” I handed her a glass. “We’ve prepared pretty well for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I won’t say no to that.” She took the glass of wine and drank it slowly, her face already looking more relaxed. “So how are we going to split this food?”

“Take what you want and I’ll eat the rest.” I laughed as I watched her pulling some fries off of the plate. “And if you need more food, we’ll order it.”

“I think this will be fine.” She laughed. “I mean, I’m hungry, but not that hungry.”

“Not hungry enough to eat a horse?” I raised an eyebrow at her and watched as she blushed at my innuendo. I knew that I was playing with fire, but I didn’t care.

“I’d never be hungry enough to eat a horse.”

“Never?” I stilled and looked at her face. Was she seriously saying what I thought she was saying?

“I only eat stallions.” She stared me in the eyes unblinking. I felt a flip of excitement in my stomach at her words. If only she knew just how much of a stallion I really was.