The Risks we take

Six

Sloane

I made Stan stay close by. Telling him I didn't trust Reed and there was a chance I'd need a quick getaway so couldn't risk him getting stuck in traffic. He didn't like the fact I was going through with the whole thing but it wasn't worth the drama. Plus, I wasn't supposed to know him. Me pulling out would be a sign something was wrong and I didn't want to earn a reputation of pulling out of deals. It was a few hours. Small talk. Food. I'd be climbing back into Stan's car before I knew it and calling Logan to tell him I was fine before going home to a bubble bath and a glass of fake wine. Easy.

He was waiting on the sidewalk as I approached. Wearing a dress like he'd demanded purely because I couldn't find something suitable that wasn't a dress. So, I opted for this one. It was longer. Knee length with a slit coming up the front of my thigh. Understated and simple but a tiny bit dangerous. Just enough to keep him interested.

"Mr Lawson." His eyes moved down me slowly before he nodded and walked forward, pulling the door of the restaurant open and gesturing for me to walk inside. Reed's hand gripped my hip as I passed him. A gentle tug the landed my back flat against his chest and stopping us between the 2 sets of doors.

"You can keep up this whole you not knowing me thing Sloane. If it helps you get through tonight. But don't you dare keep doing it to try and undermine me." I tipped my head up at him. "Which is it going to be?"

"So, I should know you then? I'm really sorry Mr. Lawson but whatever time we apparently spent together has yet to have had any impact on my memory. I'm not playing a game. I just genuinely don't remember you." He raised an eyebrow and I crossed my heart, holding up and incorrect Brownie salute. "Girl guides promise."

"You will after tonight Princess."

"If you say so." I turned back to the door, letting him pull it open.

Empty. The place was completely deserted. Something he'd pulled before. Booking out a full restaurant so we had complete privacy. It was a statement. An 'I have money, here's the proof', kind of thing. It might be impressive if I didn't know he did it for dozens of other girls on a daily basis. I wasn't special to him and I'd be smart to bare that in mind whenever I was around him. It kept any remaining feelings I had for Reed firmly in the bin on the curb side. We small talked for the full meal. Unimportant work and the weather, what we did over summer. Generic conversations with no weight other than filling the awkward silence.

"You booked the whole place?"

"You keep the rest of your life locked up tight Sloane. I didn't think you'd want this plastered all over social media either. Something tells me you only agreed to the auction in the hopes your boyfriend would win."

"Logan's not my boyfriend." I sipped on my wine as he stared at me. "A family friend that owed me a favour."

"He plays the role pretty well. He had his hands all over you."

"I could say the same about your little act with Paige Hawthorne, Mr. Lawson."

"Why do you call me that?"

"Your name?" I said with a small laugh.

"My surname."

"I've found first names are a very personal thing. Surnames are the way we identify people in the business world. My parents, yours, the Hawthrone's, The Reye's. It's a status symbol more than anything. First names are you. Your personality, your identity. I prefer to only use the first names of people I know and trust."

"You don't trust me?"

"I don't know you Mr Lawson. You can't trust someone you don't know."

"You knew me pretty well a few years ago."

"I am not the same person I was last year, let alone 5 or even 10 years ago. I'll remind you, again, that I don't remember our time together."

"Why are you talking like we're in a business meeting? Remember our time together. I think you're either making this whole thing up Sloane or you're a hell of a lot dumber than I thought you were."

"Was that an insult?" I gently put my spoon back down onto the half-finished desert plate, sitting back in the chair with a raised eyebrow. "You know, Mr Lawson. A date is supposed to be a pleasurable experience but all you seem to be able to crack out is accusations about my dating life, insults about my intelligence and a spade to dig for information."

"I'm not digging for information Sloane, I'm looking for a reason you don't remember me because it doesn't add up."

"We can't have spent that long tog-"

"A week."

"I've spent longer in countries where I don't speak a word of the language."

"You sat in my car and told me you loved me."

"I've said that to a lot of men."

"So, I meant nothing to you?"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying I don't remember it." He stood up, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and dropping a bundle of cash onto the table.

"Up."

"I'm sorry?"

"Get up."

"I'm not-" Reed pressed one hand into the table, the other into the chair back, bringing his head down to within an inch of mine, filling my nose with his cologne and my heart with memories I'd blocked out for years.

"You don't remember screaming my name for a solid week Sloane, I'm going to make you. My office is around the corner. Stand up, take my hand and walk out of here before I throw you over this table and have you right here with their eyes on you whilst you take my cock like the little devil I know you are." A flush of red jumped across my skin before I could settle myself down. I wasn't expecting this. He was going off script. I was expecting him to charm me a little longer. Ask for another date. Demand to drive me home and talk his way into my apartment. Yet I put my hand in his and rose.

I guess we're thinking on our toes tonight.