He inhaled as he shrugged. “I suppose some see it as greed, but that’s not how I see it.” His eyes moved from me to the beautiful scene beyond the windows. “I’m also not unsatisfied. I believe that the quest for more and better is because there is always something more, something newer, a fresh challenge. I think that living a life without the need for the next step would be uninspired. What would be the point of waking without a goal for each day?”

“Some people set satisfaction as their end goal. Once they achieve it, they enjoy it.”

Van shook his head as he turned to me. “It’s the pursuit I enjoy.”

“So if I had agreed to marry you, I’d no longer be enjoyable? You’d want to move on to another?”

“No, Julia, that isn’t what I said. You see, having you agree to marry me would be the first step in our relationship. I would pursue you to have more, better, the unknown, and even the unobtainable.” He started to reach for my cheeks; before he did, Van pulled his hands back and straightened his lips. “Let me show you around more.”

I reached for his hand; the warmth radiated from him to me. “What were you going to say?”

He squeezed my hand and let our connection sever. “It’s irrelevant.”

“Tell me anyway.”

The ends of Van’s lips curled. “One day, Miss McGrath. Currently, you agreed to an employer-employee relationship. It would be highly inappropriate for me to tell you what I was thinking while under those titles.”

My grin blossomed on my face. “Perhaps you should share your human resource officer’s name with me. I may need to make a complaint.”

“If you take this position, you won’t be employed by Sherman and Madison Corporation or any of its subsidiaries. I’m afraid the agreement will be strictly between you and me.”

“If I have a complaint?”

“Bring it to me,” he said.

“And if you are unsatisfied with my work?”

The golden flecks in his green eyes became more apparent. “If it’s your inexperience you’re concerned about, I don’t find that a problem. While it was surprising, I’ve given it some thought, and I find myself attracted to it.”

Why did I tell him I was a virgin?

It was because I thought I’d never see him again.

I feigned the professionalism I’d thought we were discussing. However, as warmth crept from my chest, up my neck, and to my cheeks, I doubted I was pulling off the facade. “I wasn’t talking about that.”

Van’s eyes opened wider. “Your résumé states you’re unpublished and the only writing you’ve completed was for your minor at Northwestern. Do you have more experience in writing memoirs than you mentioned?”