Dream Man (Executive Women in Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

shoots, I don’t see the harm in making a few guest appearances.”
    “Still, I’d insist you’d be on the payroll.”
    He snorted but caught himself and said, “I’m well compensated, don’t you worry.”
    He needed to get in control of his rampant emotions. Felicity was obviously dedicated to her work and her sister. The last thing she needed was some almost over-the-hill Class A commitment-phobe to make a pass at her.
    He promised himself he wouldn’t make his relationship with her personal. He truly wanted to help her.
    But why did she have to tempt him so damned much?
    Felicity wondered why Max had asked so many personal questions. Maybe he wanted to get better acquainted or make her comfortable. She was the furthest thing from being comfortable. He’d made her anxious.
    Did he want to be her friend? Or business acquaintance?
    What’s worse , he was so incredibly attractive. He’d been Felicity’s secret crush—for years. Being so close to him physically and seeing him in the flesh disconcerted her.
    Felice wanted so badly to get her project off to a start. Although it was to her advantage that Max was a part owner at Sharpen, she feared he’d want to get too involved with the project and possibly not let her run things the way she wanted.
    Yet she’d reached a dead end with Applaud! television. They made so many excuses. She was too young, didn’t have the experience, others had been around longer. Right . She knew Applaud! held her back because of her gender and her age. She never complained when Applaud! took credit for her show Teen View and let her run it without the title and the pay of director. Her pay as production lead barely sustained her and Jenny. Especially living in LA.
    Felicity would be forever grateful for what Max was doing. “I can’t thank you enough for reaching out to your friend. What is his name?”
    “Douglas Perry. He runs programming for the network.”
    “I’m excited.” Felicity hoped he didn’t hear the ring of uncertainty in her voice.
    The waiter served their meals and checked to see if everything was okay. Not that she had any appetite.
    “Do you think Doug will appreciate this information I pulled together?”
    “Most certainly. I’d like to schedule a meeting and we can go over it with him.”
    “Really? Together?”
    “Of course. We may be onto something very good.”
    We? Felicity loved the way it sounded. The way he said it.
    “. . . but, we’ll have to let the professionals decide.” Max observed her untouched plate as he finished half his own meal. “Are you going to eat that or stare at it?”
    She laughed. Really, she needed to relax. He genuinely wanted to help her. It was a business proposition for him as well.
    “I’ll set this up for next week.” A shadow glazed over his eyes, and she couldn’t read his mood for a moment. She’d realized he knew so much about her, but she didn’t know anything about him. Except what she’d read.
    “I think it’d be best to make it on a Friday afternoon. It’s the slowest time for Doug. Then I’ll take you out to dinner to celebrate.”
    So Max thought they’d get a deal with the network that fast? And dinner? As in a “date?”
    If she didn’t know better, based on all his prodding questions, he had an interest in her, other than professionally.
    Could he possibly be attracted to me?
    Nonsense.
    Max paid the bill for their dinner and offered to walk Felicity to her car into the parking lot. She didn’t valet. At first she resisted, but when they arrived to her beat up, appeared-to-be-on-its-last-wheel Honda he knew why. She’d probably felt embarrassed to be driving it. He opened the car door to let her in, and she smiled as she sat and jammed the key into ignition. Only the car wouldn’t start.
    “Don’t worry about it, I have AAA,” Felicity offered.
    “I’ll give you a jump.”
    Felicity raised her hand in protest. “Really, it won’t be necessary.”
    “Now what kind of guy would I