Page 23 of The Merger

The sound races up my arms, leaving a wake of goose bumps behind.

We sit quietly, eating our breakfast and pausing here and there for idle chitchat. The longer we sit together, the easier I can breathe. Gannon’s shoulders relax, too, and he chews slower.

I have so many questions I’d love to ask him, but every time I venture in any semi-personal direction, he changes topics.

“Does Tate know you joined me for breakfast?” Gannon asks, picking up his coffee mug.

“No.” I pat the corners of my mouth with my napkin. “I haven’t talked to him since just before I texted you last night.”

He smirks. “Did you have to get his permission to text me?”

I lay my napkin down gently, holding his gaze. “I don’t ask permission from anyone to do anything. I’m a big girl, Mr. Brewer.”

“What do you think Tate would say if he knew we were here together?”

“It’s just a business breakfast. What could he say?”

Gannon chuckles quietly. A grin crosses my lips. Tate would have a lot to say about it, and we both know it.

“You and Tate have always been just friends? Never anything more?”

“Tate is my best friend in the world. I love him, I think he’s great, but …” I laugh. “He’s not my type. At all. And I think he’d rather die than be with me.”

He nods, amused. “What is your type, exactly?”

You.

“I want what every woman wants,” I say.

“Money?”

“Respect. What about you? What do you want?”

His eyes bore into mine as the air between us grows hotter. Thicker. I hold my breath, wondering if this is the moment he gives me more than the superficial.

“What do I want?” The corner of his lip lifts as he nods to someone off to the side. “Currently, the check.”

The check.I exhale a long breath, watching humor dance in his eyes.Fucker.

Does he do this just to remind me he’s an asshole?

“Here you go,” Joseph says, laying the bill face-down on the table.

Gannon reaches into his pocket. “I’ll save you a few steps and give you my card now.”

“Oh no,” I say, dashing for my wallet. “It’s my treat.”

Gannon fires me a dirty look.

“I begged you for this meeting,” I say. “Breakfast is on me.”

He hands Joseph his card moments before I get my hand extended with mine.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll be back in a moment,” Joseph says.

“I wanted to pay,” I say as soon as we’re alone. “This was a business meeting, Gannon. I was prepared to cover the bill.”

My protest falls on its face. He doesn’t listen, or if he does, he pays no attention to me. It’s irritating. So I do the only thing I know I can do to get some kind of a reaction from the bastard.