Free Surrender to Love by J. C. Valentine Page A

mistaken, the new girl in their entourage, Poppy, also worked there. Didn’t she recall something about Poppy’s boyfriend working there too? Jesus, was this man trying to take over all of Chicago, beginning with her group of friends? Sometimes the world was just too small for her taste. “I think I might’ve heard of it before,” she said flippantly.
    A knowing smirk tugged at the corners of his full lips. “Maybe in passing. It’s a growing business and overall pretty successful. What do you do, Patricia?” he asked, turning the tables on her.
    Patti fidgeted. It was embarrassing to know she was fired from her job, worse still to have to tell her date that she was fired. She had to let the cat out of the bag sometime. She figured now was as good a time as any. At least she’d get some practice before spilling the news to her mother, who was bound to flip out. She was not looking forward to that conversation one bit.
    Sucking in a deep breath, Patti let the words spill out before she could consider burying them in her alcoholic slushy. “I’m unemployed at the moment.” She looked at him then, studying his face for signs of acceptance, or maybe disgust. All she found was understanding.
    “Layoff?”
    “More like selfish business tactics,” she corrected him. It was a bitt er pill to swallow, knowing she’d been cut loose in favor of a bigger profit margin.
    “I’m sorry to hear that. What did you do?”
    As Patti explained the details of her former job, she couldn’t help feeling bolstered by his interest and understanding. Not many men she’d dated bothered to learn about who she was, and what she was all about, but Jon was listening to her, and that was something so new to her. She was more tempted than ever to lay him out on the floor and strip him naked right there in the middle of the restaurant to show her gratitude.
    “It’s funny,” Jon said as he filled out the receipt and signed off on it. “It just so happens that I’m in the market for a new accountant.”
    Patti shook her head and polished off the last of her drink. She stood, slipping her hand into his outstretched one as though it were habit. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
    “What? You thought I was offering you the job?” Jon asked with feigned shock. “What kind of business person do you think I am, Patricia?”
    She grinned at his playfulness. “I don’t know you well enough to speak on your business habits, but I think I should tell you now, I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
    Jon pushed open the first set of doors and stopped in the enclosed space that separated the outside from in. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “Am I to take that as an invitation to give you pleasure?”
    Patti’s chest heaved with her shortened breaths. She became increasingly aware of how close they were, of the heat emanating from everywhere their bodies touched. “You can give me anything you want,” she whispered.
    His eyes flared with desire. Cupping her face in his hand, Jon tilted her head back and leaned down. Patti’s stomach tumbled and need thrummed through her veins with white-hot intensity.
    Before their lips could meet, a roll of thunder crashed outside and a bolt of lightning split t he night sky. Patti nearly leaped out of her skin.
    “Looks like rain,” Jon chuckled at the exact moment the skies opened up to unleash a torrential downpour. Patti, still a little shaky from her unexpected shock from the heavens, shuddered. “Easy, baby, it’s just a little thunderstorm.”
    Patti released a stilted laugh, her cheeks heating in humiliation. “I’m not afraid of thunderstorms. That was just a little unexpected is all.”
    Looking out across the rain-soaked parking lot, Jon considered what to do next. A wicked smile crossed his face. “Wanna make a run for it?”
    Patti peered through the glass doors. “I don’t mind getting wet,” she said, biting her lip when he tugged her