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“Jenna, I want you to stay for a bit.”

A shiver ran down my spine, but I tamped it down and tried to keep my voice level when I turned around to speak. His eyes smoldered like a supernova, melting my knees into slurry.

“You mean you wanted to ask me to stay,” I said firmly as I could.

“I mean what I said.”

His eyes traveled up my body, and I suddenly felt vulnerable under his gaze. I wore a simple black pencil skirt with a charcoal blazer over an ivory cami top. Not the most revealing outfit in the world, yet it seemed like I might as well have worn nothing at all.

Michael’s gaze spoke volumes. It didn’t just tell me he knew what I looked like naked. It said he was intimately familiar with my body, and knew just how to make me twist and writhe like a puppet on his strings. I remembered the old days when I used to help him ‘come down’ after a meeting. Come indeed.

The door to the meeting room clicked shut. Now we were alone.

“I know there’s a mole on my side.”

I flinched, and took a step toward him.

“And do you have any idea of who it could be?”

“That’s a complicated query to answer,” he said, eyes darting toward the door. “The main thing we need to remember is that we need to be extra careful sharing any kind of information. Now, how much you want to trust your underlings is up to you.”

His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

“But as for my team, there is only one member who I trust and you’re looking at him. I don’t want to discuss the report in front of my team. I want to do it somewhere more private, just you and I.”

My heart skipped a beat and I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat.

“Okay. Did you have any place in mind for this private, ah, debriefing?”

“I was thinking my penthouse would be a good fit.”

His voice was a rich velvet whisper, seducing my mind with timbre and pitch as much as the carnivorous look in his eyes. I wanted to give in, I really did. I remembered the great sex we’d had at the convention hall. It came to me in flashes of sensation. The smell of his cologne mixed with sweat, the warmth of his mouth on my body, the way he heaved into me while sating his desire…

I had to resist.

“I don’t know that now is the best time to mix business with pleasure,” I said, proud of myself for keeping my voice steady.

Disappointment flashed in his gaze, but he hid it well for the most part.

“Very well, then perhaps we can meet at my restaurant?”

“I think you own a couple hundred restaurants, Michael. You’re going to have to be more specific.”

My tone was cheeky and sarcastic, but he played right along.

“I only own about sixty restaurants in the United States, don’t be ridiculous. And I think you know the one, don’t you?”

Viviani’s. The place where I’d had the awful date with… what the hell was his name? Ted or something? I couldn’t even remember. I just remembered that he’d been a big jerk and Michael had stepped in to kick the guy to the curb.

Now he wanted to go there.

“Oh, so youdidrecognize me, then?” I snapped. “You looked at me like I was a total stranger, you know.”

All the pain of that moment washed over me and came out in my voice. My heart thudded as much from anger as the effect Michael had on me.

“I didn’t recognize you at first,” he said, sighing. “I’m sorry for that, but I did not recognize you. It had been so long…”

He took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder.