Corporate Seduction by A.C. Arthur Read Free Book Online Page B

you to be heading off to bed.” She walked closer to the couch, aware that Khalil was staring at her as she moved.
    She’d taken her shoes off but still wore her stockings. Her scarf was gone, long since thrown into her purse, and the top three buttons of her blouse were undone so that she was now showing a considerable amount of cleavage. But she was tired and mentally exhausted. Fighting with her conscience all day over whether or not she should be feeling what she was feeling for this man had been an exhausting battle. Now all she wanted to do was climb into her bed and fall into a deep sleep, hopefully free from thoughts of Khalil.
    “I ain’t ready for bed. It’s still early,” Grammy protested.
    Khalil stood, noting how Reka’s steps had begun to drag. She was tired; it was written all over her face. He’d have to spend time with her lively grandmother another evening. “Mrs. Grant, I really must be going.”
    Grammy hustled to her feet. “Nonsense, you stay here and get to know my grandbaby better. I’m going to go on in the other room and watch some cable. You know they don’t have cable at that damn psych ward her mother put me in.” Grammy had already begun walking towards the curving stairs that would lead to Reka’s loft bedroom.
    Reka groaned. “No HBO and no Cinemax After Dark, Grammy.”
    Grammy waved her hand but didn’t turn back. “Chile, I’m old enough to show them people a thing or two,” she chuckled. “You come back and visit me, handsome.”
    Khalil was flattered, even though he’d told Mrs. Grant his name more than five times since he’d met her. “Yes, ma’am, I sure will.”
    Reka raised a brow in his direction and he shrugged helplessly.
    “These steps are enough to make a person woozy,” Grammy complained as she finally made it to the top and disappeared.
    “Either that or all the whiskey you put in your tea,” Reka said almost to herself as she removed her grandmother’s teacup from the coffee table.
    “You saw that, huh?” Khalil picked up his cup and followed her to the kitchen.
    Reka laughed as she padded across the kitchen floor to the sink. “Yeah, but she does it all the time, so it’s to be expected.”
    Khalil put his cup down in the sink and took a step away from her. Closeness was not good right now. He’d gotten a glimpse of the bronze-colored skin leading to her breasts and wasn’t sure he could keep his hands to himself if he stood too close. “So she lives in a psych ward?” he joked.
    Reka took down a glass from the cabinet and poured herself some water. She hadn’t eaten yet, and those martinis had begun to rumble around in her empty stomach. She thought maybe water would help until she had a chance to eat something. “Sunny Days Retirement Center. Which is a far cry from a psych ward. Besides, the psych ward’s free; Sunny Days definitely is not.”
    “She doesn’t like it there, I take it.” He watched as she took slow, steady sips of the water, holding the glass with one hand and massaging her neck with the other. A few of her curls had fallen loose and now brushed her shoulders. Her hair shone beneath the light and framed her face softly. He realized he liked looking at her, just watching her move, doing normal things. He didn’t think he’d ever noticed that about a person before.
    “Grammy doesn’t like being told what to do.”
    “So that’s where you get it from?”
    Reka stopped rubbing her neck and stared at him. She couldn’t deny the obvious. “I guess so.”
    He laughed. “I’m glad you didn’t try to argue that observation with me.”
    She shrugged. “What would be the point? It’s true.” She emptied her glass and set it in the sink, then turned back to stare at him pointedly.
    “What?” Something was going through her mind. She had a question, he could tell. “What are you thinking?”
    “I’m still trying to figure out why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
    His insides warmed. So she’d been thinking of