“So we can go back to playing.”
She sucked in a breath and tried to close the distance between their mouths, but Elliot pulled away, winking at her as he went to his side of the table.
She pouted a little, but a shiver of anticipation ran through her. It was her rule, after all, so she couldn’t be upset with him for following it. Or trying to get a little payback by teasing her. It did, however, motivate her to get the job done.
Forty-five minutes later, they had drawn up a solid plan for Elliot to present to his parents, complete with marketing and fundraising ideas and detailed to-do lists for getting everything in motion. They only thing they needed was the okay from the people who held the purse strings.
Elliot rubbed a hand down his face and looked at the papers spread around them. “Well, thanks to you, I think this foundation is going to be amazing.”
“I’m happy to help, but it’s not thanks to me. This,” she said, gesturing at the table strewn with papers, “this is all you. I just pitched in an idea or two.”
“You did more than that,” he insisted. “And if we can get my parents to go for it, I think it will be a huge success.”
“Then it’s going to be a huge success. Because I have no doubt your parents will be eating out of your hands by the time you’re done.”
Those smiling eyes of his burned into hers. It was the kind of look that made her want to vault the table and jump him so she could do dirty, dirty things to him.
“A few days ago this seemed impossible. Thank you for your help.”
He gave her that look again, and the parts of her she’d been trying to ignore for the better part of the night roared back to life.
He gathered up one of the sheets from her idea file—notes detailing the gift basket company she’d wanted to start once upon a time. “You know, this is a really good idea. It’s low overhead with the potential of making really good money. And there’s a huge market for this kind of thing. Especially, if you’ve got somebody who can help spread the word among his well-connected contacts.”
Lena tried to keep her face neutral while she processed all that. What he said was true. Not only true, but a good idea. And she knew her irritation was completely illogical. But…
“What are you thinking, Lena?”
She met his gaze, startled. “What? Nothing.”
He leaned forward and traced the line of her frown. “That’s not nothing. What did I say that you didn’t like?”
She sighed. “It really is nothing. I’m being completely stupid. It’s… Well, I’ve always tried to make it on my own. Nobody ever thought I’d amount to anything. I’m the ditz with all the weird ideas that never pan out.” She looked down at the papers in front of her, knowing she was being unreasonable and ungrateful. “I just want to succeed on my own.”
Elliot gave her that same exasperated look Lena had seen countless teachers give their students who couldn’t get a concept through their heads. “Lena, no one succeeds on their own. Everyone needs a little help sometimes. And just because someone along the line pitches in an idea, or a referral, or even some start-up money—”
Her mouth dropped open to argue but he held up a finger to keep her from protesting and continued speaking.
“That doesn’t mean that you didn’t do it on your own. The work is yours, the business is yours, hell, most of these ideas are yours,” he said, gesturing to all the papers in front of them. “Trust me, it’s coming from your brain. You’ll be the one doing 99 percent of the work… The success will be yours.”
She took a deep breath. He was right. He was totally right. She’d been trying to do it on her own for years and had never been able to get too far. Accepting help didn’t mean she couldn’t hack it. It meant she was smart enough to utilize a good asset when it came along.
Lena gave him the grateful smile he deserved. “You’re right. And I’m grateful for your help. Do you really think I could make this one work?” she asked, picking up her gift basket file.
“Are you kidding? Gift baskets make amazing gifts. People are always buying them, and not only for holidays. They are great for employees and clients.”
“True.”
“I think it’s something that could really take off. Especially if you let me help.”
Excitement sparked through her. “You’d want to help with my business?”
“What I really want is for us to be partners with both companies. These ideas are more yours than mine, anyway. I just have a little extra background to help get them off the ground.”
“So what are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” he said, leaning toward her, “that I want us to partner up. We merge all these ideas we’ve been tossing around. You help me get this foundation off the ground. And I help you get your gift basket business going. We team up, work together, and make both these dreams come true.”
Lena let out a long, slow breath.
“You think about it for a minute,” he said, his tone reassuring like he knew how badly he’d just freaked her out.
She leaned back against the couch and watched while he straightened up their paperwork, making piles to go back into their folders and a smaller stack to take to the media center in the morning to get some graphs printed out. It took Lena a minute to identify the feeling coursing through her, since it wasn’t one that she felt often.
Contentment. Relaxing, happy, contentment.
Sitting here in the living room, quietly working on projects she was passionate about with a man she was definitely passionate about, with her son sleeping happily in the next room… It was the future she’d always dreamed of. That thought terrified her. Because for the first time, the dream felt like something that could become a reality. And not sometime in the distant future.
Their business plans were similar. She would love to be a part of his foundation, and he was interested in her ideas. They were enough alike that they could work together easily. Agreeing to merge their business ideas would tie them together in some ways even more firmly than a personal relationship. Personal relationships could end. Someone could always walk away. It wasn’t so easy when it came to business.
But what if? What if she could have the whole package? She could have her own business, finally be successful enough to get her own place, support her own child without Oz’s help. Spend her days with the amazing and incredibly gorgeous man in front of her, working on their dream businesses by day and spending their nights…well…doing whatever the hell they wanted to each other.
Her heart rate kicked up a notch. The day she’d spent with him was a great example of how the future with Elliot could be. And she liked it. A lot.
“Okay,” she said, glad that her voice came out strong and sure. “Let’s do it. Let’s get your foundation built and maybe toss in some gift baskets while we’re at it.”
The smile that lit Elliot’s face warmed her entire being. He stood and stepped around the coffee table, then dropped back to his knees beside her.
“We’re a team?” he asked.
Lena nodded, her blood racing so furiously through her body she could hear her pulse in her ears.
He cupped her face in both hands and gently drew her up onto her knees. “You,” he kissed one side of her mouth, “and me?” He kissed the other, and she trembled in his arms.
“Yes,” she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed.
He gently pressed a kiss to her mouth and then sat back. Her eyes popped open in surprise to find him smiling down at her.
“Sealed with a kiss?” she asked.
He shook his head. “That was just the preliminaries. This is how you seal something with a kiss.”
He pulled her to him, devouring her, his mouth moving over hers like he was trying to memorize every minute curve of her lips. His tongue darted between her lips, and he wrapped his arms around her tight enough to squeeze a gasp out of her.