Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(39)
Tenderness flickered to life in her chest as she gently said, “That sounds great; I know you must be tired.”
“You have no idea; I love nothing better than putting a deal together, but this particular one has come close to consuming my life. I look forward to a much-needed break after this closes.”
“When do you think that will be?” asked Claire.
“Within the next few months barring any other last minute issues,” replied Jason.
“That reminds me,” began Claire awkwardly, “I asked Suzy about this weekend and she… already has plans.”
Jason smiled as he picked up on the hesitation in her voice and said, “Told you no way, huh?”
A laugh sputtered out of Claire as she said, “You really do know Suzy well don’t you?”
“Yes and I’m betting her answer was a bit more graphic than you’re letting on.”
“After her recent breakup, I don’t think she’s ready to get back out there again yet,” said Claire. Plus she thinks Grayson is a tight ass and not in a good way.
“Grayson does seem very interested in her,” said Jason. “He’s a good guy and will be in the office quite a lot after the merger.”
With a smile, Claire said, “He seems a little… normal for her so I’m not sure anything would ever come of it.”
“Well stranger things have happened so let’s leave it to fate, shall we?” The waiter delivered their lasagna and a basket of fresh bread, and soon they were both enjoying their meal and Claire was finding it harder to remember this wasn’t a date.
~~~
Jason looked across the table at Claire as she laughed and picked the fork up from her lap. Mishaps did seem to follow her wherever she went. First, she’d arrived for dinner with her toe bandaged and was painfully hobbling towards the door when he reached her in the parking lot and now when gesturing with her fork while talking, she’d somehow flipped it from her hands and up in the air, finally landing it in her lap.
She called it bad fortune; he called it endearing. It was obvious she was quite used to the frequent mishaps and had learned how to handle them with grace through the years. God, she looks so beautiful and sexy tonight. He had seldom seen her wear anything with color in it and the blue dress she was wearing seemed to make her sparkle; her eyes were luminous. Her tanned shoulders had felt smooth and soft when he had put his arm around them to help her inside earlier. Her scent was intoxicating, and he was again grateful for a tablecloth covering his groin.
This whole dinner thing was probably a mistake. The idea had just popped into his head this morning when he had seen her sitting there at her desk, smiling up at him with those beautiful soft lips. Before he knew it, the invitation had been issued. He was damn lucky he hadn’t already blown this merger by now. If they could just get the sex out of the way, he would be able to breathe again, to focus. They were both adults so when whatever was between them burned out, life could return to normal. He could be in public without having a constant erection, and business would again be foremost in his mind.
He was so damn angry when she’d thrown his offer of financial assistance back in his face with the insulting accusation that he needed to buy sex. Someone willing had never been an issue for him. He kept his affairs out of the office and off the front page. The women he had been involved with through the years knew exactly where they stood with him. They enjoyed each other while it lasted, but they always came in second to the company.
His mother was constantly harping on him to settle down no doubt because she felt it was expected, and his answer to that was why? When he came to the point in his life where he was content and no longer felt driven to complete the next big deal then he might entertain the thought. Something in his chest tightened when he looked at Claire and thought of her settling down with someone else in the future.
At least he found a way to help her without offending her again. If she ever found out there would probably be hell to pay, but right now it seemed worth it to see the happy, relaxed expression on her face. Hopefully not having to worry about finances or her neighbor for awhile would make her life easier. Soon, he would get her out of his system, and his life would be his own again, and he would insist that she benefit enough to do away with the weekend job permanently.
~~~
Claire ruefully pulled the fork from her lap and laughed, “At least I didn’t stab myself with it.” Dinner had been wonderful, full of laughter and shared stories. Jason seemed interested in every boring detail of her life up until the present. Claire carefully avoided any mention of her father and mainly talked about her mother and Chrissie. He in turn told of his summers growing up around the beach with an often absent mother who tended to drink too much and needed to be taken care of and a workaholic father.
He said he probably didn’t have any siblings because they simply forgot to take care of it as they did most everything other than Danvers. Luckily, his mother’s sister Ella had lived with them and tried to provide him with some type of maternal figure. It was obvious from the warm tone of his voice that he loved her very much. Ella had since moved to Florida and lived in a retirement community there that Claire suspected he paid for.
His parents lived in Charleston where his mother chaired several charities to keep up appearances. His father golfed most every day and still attended the occasional board meeting at Danvers. His childhood that she thought would be so vastly different from her own held many similarities. She could tell that, for the most part, he had never been a child. He seemed to always be taking care of either his mother or Ella. The neglect of his childhood still seemed preferable to the abuse of hers.