His Desire (Billionaire Blind Date Book 5) Read Online Free

told me that I had never been an easy man to work for, because I was driven and knew exactly what I wanted. I would accept no less than the best. He could appreciate that, and respected it. But I had gone from a challenging employer to a tyrannical one, and nobody was going to put up with that for long.
    I fired him. How dare he? But I rehired him before he reached the door, because that took guts, and he was right. And that was a case in point—indecision. Something that had never plagued me before. I was tempted to really fire him when he said I was as moody as a schoolgirl, whatever that meant, but deep down I knew I’d been acting like an ass. More than usual.
    And I knew exactly why. I said so, without revealing it. I suspect he knew, or had some inkling.
    “Then may I ask, rhetorically, what are you going to do about it?” He’d raised his eyebrows and walked away, and I bit back the urge to fire him twice in the same morning.
    There was only one thing I could do about it. Admit defeat and give in. I wanted Sophie back in my life.
    And I’d do what it took to make that happen.
     
    ***
     
    I sat across the table from Aten Hollis, who had been surprised that I invited him to dinner so soon after our last meeting.
    “Our signing is over a week away, Grant. The lawyers are drawing everything up as fast as they can,” he’d said on the phone.
    “I know, Aten. This is social, not business. I want to talk to you about something I think you’ll be happy about.”
    He’d started to ask what, but I stopped him. “If you want to know what it is, you’ll just have to meet me for dinner.”
    And so we sat there, chatting over drinks, but I knew he was about to come out of his skin with curiosity. I hadn’t told him Sophie was coming, though I knew he suspected that. After I’d had dinner with him and we’d set the date for the signing, I knew I couldn’t stand feeling that way anymore. I didn’t know what the hell to do about it, but I knew that at least being near Sophie was better than not, so I’d invited her to dinner.
    The night would be a surprise for her, too. I hadn’t told her Hollis would be here, or what I’d planned.
    Hollis faced the front of the restaurant, so I knew the moment Sophie walked in. He lit up and stood long before she reached the table. I stood and turned to see her covering her surprise that Hollis was here by greeting him first. He took her hand and kissed her cheek. “What a wonderful surprise. Grant didn’t tell me you were coming.”
    “Didn’t he?” She glared at me, but smiled quickly to hide it from Hollis.
    I kissed her cheek, then pulled her chair out.
    Once we were seated, Sophie looked at her menu. Hollis was practically popping. “I was hoping you two would work through your differences.” He toasted us. Sophie didn’t have a drink yet, but she nodded at him.
    “It seems we have,” she said, cutting her eyes at me.
    “I’d have been a fool to let you get away. Aten said so himself.”
    They complimented each other for a moment, so I focused on my own menu. And for once, I kept my hands to myself.
    I could wait until after dinner.
    While Hollis tried to turn the conversation to mine and Sophie’s relationship, she and I both skillfully maneuvered it away, almost working in tandem to push the topic back to Holliscorp, her work there, future projects, how many projects she’d lined up from the companies he’d introduced her to. The time flew, and we were all too full of food and wine for dessert.
    “Now that we’re done, I have a surprise.” I cleared my throat. “And I’ll have you know, Aten, I waited until we were done, so that it wouldn’t be rude to expect to be alone with Sophie after I spring it.”
    “Oh,” he said, his eyebrows shooting up.
    I turned to her. “I figured now that we’ve patched things up, I was going to have to work hard to keep you from getting away again. And you’ve gone our entire engagement without a ring. Even Aten