He’d gotten halfway down his shirt when he realized he’d buttoned it wrong. “I know. It’s my fault—I was planning on taking Schlittler there myself and personally trying to convince him they were suitable locations.”
“Ah, I see. That explains why Ms. Mantovani seemed so surprised to see us today.”
Adam froze, his hammering pulse threatening to choke him. Shit, shit, shit! “Please tell me you didn’t take Schlittler to La Arietta today.”
“Since you were not available this morning, I decided to show Mr. Schlittler the property before he became more, um, impatient.”
He sank down onto the bed, his mind paralyzed. He’d been in bad situations before but nothing of this magnitude. If he’d had any hope of having a relationship with Lia, he could pretty much kiss it goodbye now. She’d probably never want to speak to him again, much less trust him.
“Mr. Kelly, are you still there?”
“Yes, Bates, I’m just trying to figure out the best way to smooth this all out.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s my fault for not showing up this morning. I was up late taking care of some personal business, and I must have slept through my alarm.”
“A pity, sir.”
He stood up and walked the length of his bed, his hands clasped behind his back. “Schlittler is still in town?”
“Until tomorrow morning, sir. He’s staying at the Waldorf Astoria. I made reservations for him to dine at Alinea tonight at eight.”
Adam thanked his lucky stars to have an assistant like Bates. “Please call Alinea and make sure they have room for me to join him. I’ll try to sell him on some of the highlights of the other properties and convince him to take a look at them next week.”
“Very good, sir. As for Ms. Mantovani?”
He jerked to a stop. Lia was a far trickier situation. “I’ll deal with her later tonight after I’ve spoken to Schlittler.” Because if I can’t convince him to look at other places, then I’ll have to deliver the bad news to her in person.
“Thank you, sir.” The relief on Bates’s voice only added to his unease. Whatever had happened this morning between Lia and Schlittler was probably much worse than he’d first let on. “I’ll call Alinea now.”
Adam sat back down on the edge of the bed, his tie looped through his fingers. In less than twenty-four hours, everything that had been going well in his life had suddenly come crashing down around him. He stood at a crossroads. Last night had cemented his feelings for Lia, but would he be able to tell her no when it came to business?
Chapter Nine
The numbers on the screen blurred together. No matter how hard Lia tried to focus on them, her tears kept threatening to spill over. Somehow, she’d managed to get her shit together long enough to get through the work day. But now that she was alone in her office, the anguish of Adam’s betrayal seized control of her thoughts over and over again.
You should have just used sex as a bargaining chip.
She shook that renegade thought from her mind and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. As much as she wanted to keep her restaurant, she refused to lose her integrity. She’d slept with Adam last night because she was attracted to him. Too bad he was planning to screw her over in more than one way.
And yet, he’d seemed so sincere when it came to trying to get his brother out of whatever trouble he’d gotten into.
Lia stopped typing and rested her face in her hands. No matter how much she wanted to paint him as a villain, she couldn’t. Too many little details like that gave her a glimpse of the complicated mess that was Adam Kelly. Ruthless businessman, yet caring brother and son.
And let’s not forget damn good lover. Trey had never made her come that hard in all the years they were together.
A whimper of defeat rose into her throat. She should’ve never accepted his invitation for dinner as long as the future of her career hung in the balance.
“Hello, Lia?” a man called from the dining room.
Speak of the devil. She eyed the baseball bat under her desk. Could she get away with pretending she didn’t hear him?
A loud crash filled the darkened kitchen, preventing her from using that excuse. She reached along the wall outside her office and turned on the lights. “Just for your future reference, the light switch is right by the door. You know, in case you want to come and harass Schlittler in the middle of the night like you do me.”
Then she slammed her office door closed. If he wanted to pester her, she’d given him more than enough warning.
Of course, Adam always got what he wanted, and tonight was no exception. He didn’t even bother to knock before opening the door. “Lia, we need to talk.”
She continued to punch in the numbers from the receipts in her hand, albeit a bit harder than required. “Schlittler already came by this morning to dictate his plans for the décor, so you can spare yourself that conversation.”
“So I heard, and I apologize for that.”
“Apologize?” She turned to face him, her earlier tears replaced by barely contained fury. “I think it might be a little late for that.”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, blocking her escape. “An apology is never too late, especially when there’s a big misunderstanding.”
“Yes, there was a big misunderstanding.” She shoved him out of her way and started picking up the stack of metal bowls he’d scattered on the floor when he came in. “I misunderstood you when you said you’d be trying to convince Schlittler to open his restaurant elsewhere.”
He took the bowls from her hand and held her in front of him, his warm hands on her upper arms. He didn’t need to use force—his touch alone weakened her defenses and turned her legs into goo. His lips pressed into a thin line “So all you care about is your restaurant? Is that it?”
The accusation in his voice stung. “You can call me whatever you want, Adam, but I’m not a whore. I meant what I said last night. I just didn’t expect you to pull this so quickly after getting what you wanted from me.” She shrugged free from him and continued cleaning the kitchen.
“If you think I just made you some glib promises to get you in my bed, then explain to me why I felt the need to spend the last four hours trying to convince Schlittler to look at other properties next week.”
She froze, unsure if she should trust her ears. “Guilt?” she squeaked.
“Damn it, Lia, you have me so wound up, I feel like I’m stuck on one of those hamster wheels—always running, but getting nowhere.” He loosened his tie and slipped it out from his collar. “I overslept this morning, and I forgot to tell Bates about my plan. He should have never brought Schlittler here.”
“But he did.” Her chin quivered at the memory of the chef’s harsh words.
“And that’s why I came here to apologize. Bates informed me that he was beyond rude.” Adam leaned over a container left out on the dessert station, peeling back the plastic wrap and sniffing. “Is this the same raspberry sauce you made last week?”
Lia cursed under her breath. “I can’t trust anyone here to put things away properly.” She took the container from him, the cool metal easing her worries that it had been left out too long.
Adam halted her and took it back. “I was just going to use this.”
“To do what?”
“This.” He stuck his finger into the sauce.
Her heart hammered at how he’d just ruined the entire batch, but her reprimand never left her mouth once Adam smeared the sauce along the fullest part of her bottom lip. He leaned forward and kissed her, gently sucking the sauce off before he pulled away.
“Delicious,” he murmured before repeating the actions again. “Of course, you’re sweet enough without the raspberry sauce.”