He glanced away, studying his house from this angle as if he’d never seen it before. From the aha expression on his face, it appeared he was having an epiphany of his own. I wanted desperately to ask what was happening in that big brain of his, but I didn’t want to scare him off. I went for just looking cool, and asked, “Depends upon what?”

He turned back and smiled at me, a real smile full of warmth and affection, and a deep dimple appeared in his right cheek. I was charmed all the way down to my socks.

“Is it working?” he asked.

“Huh,” I grunted. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that it was working and that I did feel motivated to kick some Carson tail. I didn’t want Nick to think he could roll me with a pretty speech and a dimple—a dimple, for Pete’s sake! “I feel like my situation is more complex than that.”

“Human behavior is complex,” he said. “That’s why you break it down to its simplest construct. What do you need? How do you get it? In your case, it seems pretty basic. You need to prove yourself, and you do that by bringing in a huge client.”

“Did you miss the part about how I don’t know anyone in Phoenix?” I asked. I flopped my head back, resting it on the top of my chair. “I’m doomed.”

“Not necessarily,” he said. “Again, if you break it down, you really only need to know one person.”

I lifted my head and stared at him. “And who would that one person be?”

He tipped his head to the side, and the smile he sent me was one of pure undiluted hotness. “Me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Soph said Nick had retired from Daire Industries, the business that afforded him these luxury digs. Why the heck was he willing to help me?

“Are you offering to help me to make up for yelling at me?” I asked. I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, partly for warmth and partly to curb the intense longing I had to crawl right into his lap. His fault. Muscled arms like his were made for snuggling.

“Is it a problem if I am?”

“Not for me.”

“Good, but I’m not. As it turns out, I need your help, too,” he said.

I knew it! He was the quintessential businessman, and the only way Nick would be willing to assist me was if there was something in it for him. Okay, then.

I tipped my chin up and said, “I’m listening.”

Nick

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