Page 12 of The Owner

I’m standing here in disbelief that I have the taste of an angel on my tongue.

CHAPTER FOUR

Riley

“My father would be upset if he saw me sitting here with you,” I say as I take a sip of wine.

Brantley VanMorgan is sitting across the table from me, looking so handsome in the candlelight. He’s wearing a tailored black suit, white shirt, no tie. He’s older at fifty-two, but he’s hotter than any man my age. He’s fit and in shape with a nice hard body. My fingertips keep tingling with the memory of touching those strong arms and broad shoulders.

But it’s his smile that really does it for me. It gets me all shaken up every time he unleashes it on my unsuspecting self.

“What wouldn’t he have approved of?” he asks, focusing on my answer.

I love how helistensto me. Like he’s hanging off every word I say.

“He would have liked you,” I tell him. “But since we’re both in the Stoney Cup finals, he would have thought this was a mistake. He would have told me I’m letting my guard down. He would have told me to stop fraternizing with the enemy.”

“Is that so?”

“Frankly, he would have told me to get my head out of my ass.”

He lets out a deep laugh and it fills me with excitement. He’s so hot when he laughs. His light blue eyes light up and he lets out the widest smile imaginable. I could stare at him laughing all day.

I keep thinking about that kiss in my office. The way his hands felt on me, the passion I felt. The desire… It was unreal.

I look at his wavy dark hair with wisps of gray and can’t believe that I had my hands in it. It was even softer and thicker than it looks.

I don’t know what came over me back there. Actually, I do. I’m crushing hard on this man. There’s something about him I can’t resist.

After that kiss, the dirty thoughts kept coming. I kept fantasizing about this man bending me over my desk and pulling up my dress. I would have let him if he had tried. There’s no limit to what I would have let him do to me.

Even now, in a public restaurant, my desire isburning. I want to slip off my shoe and slide my foot into his lap to see if he’s as turned on as I am. I want to buy the restaurant, kick everyone out, and get railed on this table. I want to feel him inside me.Deepinside me.

“I think we’re both professional enough to put work aside,” he says as the waitress comes over and drops off a basket of bread. She’s young and pretty, but he doesn’t even glance at her. Those intense blue eyes never leave my face.

“Didn’t you say you’d dismantle the Hyenas if I let you kiss me?” I say with a teasing grin. “I let you, so…”

He grins back at me. “You have no idea the lengths I would go for you.”

“You can keep the team intact,” I say, wondering what those lengths are, wondering about another length of his… “My Vipers can’t achieve greatness without a challenge. We’ll just have to beat you fair and square.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he says.

We connect and chat as we eat our dinner. I love speaking with him. I’ve never met anyone like him.

He’s had so much life experience crammed into his fifty years on the planet, that it would take most peoplehundredsof years to do even a fraction of what he’s done.

This man is incredible. He’s created two fortune five hundred companies with his bare hands, dined with world leaders, given away hundreds of millions of dollars to charity, and still has tons of plans and dreams to conquer.

I ask him a million questions and he answers them all thoughtfully from career advice to leadership questions to where the best place to vacation in Europe is. I can’t get enough of this fountain of knowledge.

I’ve always been attracted to smart, wise, accomplished men, and you can’t get more of those traits in anyone than Brantley. The fact that he’s smoking hot on top of it all… How can I not be falling in love?

“You’re doing amazing,” he says as he gazes into my eyes. “Just don’t hold yourself back, Riley. I see a fire in you and it’s a disservice to everyone around you to hold it back. Even if it doesn’t seem that way.”

“I know,” I say as I pick at the remaining food on my plate. “It’s just hard sometimes.”

“Of course,” he says, nodding in an understanding way. “You’re a beautiful young woman in a male-dominated fieldandyou have the added pressure of stepping into your father’s impactful legacy while trying to make it your own.”