An hour later, they were finally packing up and Laci could barely think anymore, much less want to run around town with friends. She was stuffing papers into her briefcase when Sal strolled into the conference room, sleeves rolled up, hands in his pockets. “How are things going?” he asked Matt and Jim.
“Slow,” Jim responded grimly without hesitation.
Sal nodded slowly. He reviewed the list and the details sketched out about each. Then let the paper float back to the conference table. He looked up suddenly and caught Laci’s eyes. “Could I talk to you for a few minutes?” he asked.
Laci tried to hide the surprise from showing on her face. He seemed serious. “Sure,” she said, picking up her purse and briefcase and followed him to the conference room doorway. “I’ll talk to you Monday, Jim” she said, leaving the conference room in Sal’s wake.
She followed him into his office, placing her briefcase beside a chair. She then stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her stomach, waiting for him to start.
He walked over to a wall beautifully paneled in dark wood. He pressed a hidden button and the panels opened up to reveal a fully stocked bar, complete with refrigerator and all kinds of glasses. “Can I get you a drink?”
“No thank you. I really….”
“Scared?” he challenged, raising one eyebrow.
“No!” she said. Too late, she saw the curve of his lips. She’d fallen into his trap.
“Good. Then have a drink with me and fill me in on the negotiations.”
“Fine,” she said, her chin taking on a challenging angle. She was not going to be intimidated by this man any longer. She could meet him on his own turf. “How about a sour apple martini?” she threw right back at him, challenging him right back. “But only if you have the maraschino cherry. Not really worth the effort without the cherry,” she said, not caring that she sounded punchy. She was tired and frustrated. And since it was his company that was frustrating her, he could bear the brunt of her mood. She then pulled off her jacket and laid it on the back of a chair, not caring anymore about etiquette. “If you don’t have the cherry, I’ll just have a shot of tequila.” Laci strolled about, not caring that he probably didn’t have the ingredients for a sour apple martini – if he even knew what they were. And most private bars didn’t have tequila either. “What a great view. How do you get any work done?” she asked.
“My back is usually to the window so it isn’t an issue,” he said as he mixed some ingredients behind the bar.
She could hear the laughter in his voice but ignored it. “Have you ever thought of sky diving off the building? You’d probably get a really good lift from the roof,” she said, leaning against the window in an attempt to see the top ledge.
“Honestly, that has never occurred to me,” he said from right behind her, smothering a chuckle.
Laci jumped about a foot, thinking he was still over by the bar trying to figure out what kind of drink to make her. But instead he was standing right behind her, holding out a martini glass filled with a golden liquid complete with a maraschino cherry gracing the bottom. Her eyes slashed to his in a frustrated glare but she took the drink, careful not to touch his fingers.
Laci turned away and walked several steps towards the sitting area before she took a sip. Perfect! Dammit! “How in the world do you know how to make a sour apple martini?” she demanded, throwing her free hand up in the air in exasperation. Was there anything this man couldn’t do?
Sal laughed at her anger. “Did you know that your nostrils flare when you’re angry like that?” he said quietly, smothering another chuckle.
He took a sip of his martini – a gin martini she suspected, then looked at her features. “You’re tired. Why?”
“Because I’ve been working hard. Why aren’t you tired?” she asked, taking another sip of her martini, loving the sweet and sour taste of the liquor. “And you didn’t answer my question. So stop changing the subject. My nose is not very interesting.”
“Well that’s debatable,” he said. “But I’m afraid I can’t reveal my secret to bar tending,” he said, moving slightly closer. “Why did you ask for it if you thought I didn’t know how to make it?”
“Because I didn’t think you’d know how to make it,” she said as if that explained everything. Laci stepped around him and carefully moved towards the comfortable sofa and chairs set up near the now revealed bar. She chose a chair, thinking it would be the safest place. He wouldn’t be able to sit down next to her.
“What do you want to know about the progress? We haven’t really made any so I don’t think I can fill you in on many details.” She hated the quiver in her voice. She was trying to appear confident, but she was terrified and overwhelmed by his good looks and some characteristic about him that just made her want to lean in to him and kiss his sexy lips.
She took another sip of her martini, looking back at him as if she’d just won a major victory over her seating choice. But he took in her victorious expressions and smiled mysteriously. He casually followed her, then sat down on the coffee table, inches from her crossed legs. Setting his martini glass on the table beside his thigh, he gently picked up her foot, his fingers sliding down the calf as he lifted her leg and rested it on his knee.
“Why are you working so hard at avoiding me?” he asked.
Thankfully her martini glass was sitting on the table beside the chair. At his first touch, both her hands grasped the arms of the chair while her body instantly started tingling. “What are you doing?” she asked nervously, trying to pull her foot away, her victorious expression turning to panic as his strong hands held her ankle.
“Making you more comfortable,” he said, then slipped her shoe off her foot and started massaging the arch of her foot. Laci couldn’t help it. At the first touch of his hands on her feet, her shoulders relaxed, her head fell back on the cushions and she let out a moan of pleasure, the pain instantly leaving her foot. “That feels wonderful.”
“Now answer my question,” he said.
Laci didn’t bother lifting her head up. Her eyes were closed and all she could feel was the alcohol easing the stress from her body and his strong fingers massaging the pain from her foot. “Mmmm….Because you’re using our acquaintance to get your way on the negotiations. So I’m trying to stay away from you,” she said. Then her head popped up and she grinned elfishly. “I’m not doing a very good job, am I?”