Free PeakExperience by Rachel Kenley Page A

don’t need to indulge my fantasies. I need a cold shower. We need
someone other than me on this account.” Even as she suggested it, she knew it
wasn’t an option.
    “No can do. This account needs our absolute best—which is
you—and it was Daniel’s art that opened the door. It’s the two of you or
nothing.”
    Lena nodded. She needed to make this situation work. “What
should I do? You’re the one who’s good with men. Help me.” Lena watched as her
friend thought before answering and was grateful she didn’t offer a glib
response. She had no tolerance for humor over this situation.
    “There has to be a reason you were attracted to him, before
you went to bed with him. What was it?”
    Lena thought back. “He was easy to talk to. He listened to
my opinions and comments and shared his own. And when he looked at me, it was
as if I was the only woman in the room. He was that way in bed too. I can’t
remember a man getting me that excited. He was so unselfish. I melted.”
    “I love that feeling,” Michelle said with a sigh. Lena
frowned. “But that’s not what you want to hear. Okay, let’s focus on the first
part. You were comfortable talking with him. When you see him next, try to
concentrate on talking. Remember, you’re having a simple conversation, nothing
more. Open with a safe topic. You talk, he listens. He talks, you listen.”
    “That’s it?” It sounded too simple to help the turmoil in
her thoughts.
    “It’s a start, right?”
    “I guess so. Thanks.” Lena stood to go then stopped at the
door. “You’ll be here if I need a pep talk, right?”
    “Pep talks, shoulder to lean on, alcohol to drink. Anything
you need. Keep me posted.”
    When Lena got back to her office, she found Daniel waiting
for her. She would have preferred not to see him again at least until the
morning, but she wasn’t that lucky. Over his shoulder she could see him sketching
something with wings and a woman’s body. “I thought you would have headed home
by now,” she said, trying to adopt Michelle’s advice and keep her tone light.
    “Gary gave me a tour around the space, showed me some of
your past accounts and helped me get settled in my office. Never expected to
have one of those. Besides, I wanted to talk to you.”
    “About what?”
    “About why you left that morning without managing a simple
goodbye.”
    So much for a safe topic. “It was awkward, Daniel. Staying
for breakfast would have been too weird.”
    “Nothing was weird until you found out who I was and how old
I was.”
    “Are.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “How old you are. Or should I say how young. You’re
twenty-eight.”
    “Rumor has it I’ll grow out of it.”
    “Yes, while I grow old. Of course, I don’t care about
getting older.” She wanted out of this conversation.
    “What does age have to do with how great we were together?”
    “It probably shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I guess I
don’t have the Demi Moore gene. I was nervous enough indulging in a one-night
stand with a man I just met, only to learn I hadn’t ‘just’ met him, but I knew
him when he was fifteen. It felt all wrong.”
    He sat back in the chair, his long legs crossed. She wished
she didn’t notice how broad his chest looked in the plain oxford shirt he wore.
“Well there we completely disagree. I thought everything during our night felt
very wonderful.”
    She saw the hurt in his eyes and hated herself for being the
one to cause it. “Daniel, you know I had a terrific time, but…” She took a deep
breath. She wanted to be honest and tell him it was one of the hottest
nights—and the best sex—she ever experienced, but what good would it do either
of them? She needed a business relationship with him, not a personal one. “It
was one night and it wasn’t meant to be more.”
    “I bet I can prove you wrong.” Because of his long legs, he
was in front of her in two steps. Before she had a chance to wish she’d stepped
behind her desk, he