“The night it all began,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as she finally ate the ice cream on the spoon she was holding, then set the spoon on the table.
“No, seriously. What was I doing beforehand?”
“Do we really need to go there?” he muttered, as he took a bite. “Grant, obviously.” He didn’t want to admit that there was a Grant. In his world, Grant had ceased to exist. It seemed that way for her too. She hadn’t brought him up once in the last week. She hadn’t brought up anyone else, come to think of it. She had barely breathed the word lessons.
“I meant, why I was even meeting with Grant in the first place? A partnership,” she said, answering her own question.
“The deal for the LolaRing. You practiced the pitch in the car, and that toy sounded pretty fucking awesome if you ask me,” he said, covering Cara’s ears, even though the baby was sound asleep.
“Yeah, it is pretty awesome,” she said. “And why should Joy Delivered limit itself to only striking partnerships with lingerie companies and retail boutiques?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Go on.”
She sat up straighter, her arms still wrapped around the baby as he took another spoonful of gelato. “What if the LolaRing was carried in a classy, unmarked black box with our silvery J on the top? Or perhaps a silvery L for The Luxe?”
“And why would it say The Luxe?” He knew what she was getting at. His business instincts had kicked in too, but he wanted to hear the proposal from her.
“Let’s be honest here. Your hotel is very high-end. And while you serve a lot of business clients, you also serve lovers. The top floor has fully-stocked bars, the walls have mirrors, and there’s mood lighting in each room because your hotels are absolutely designed for making love,” she said, locking eyes with him as she spoke.
He shifted the baby higher on his chest, away from his lap. He couldn’t help it—hearing those words fall from her lips turned him on. “I’ll admit that many hotels, especially mine, are known for being a great backdrop for great sex.”
“They are,” she said enthusiastically. “That’s why I could see The Luxe offering a very discreet pleasure box in some rooms. Imagine walking into the room you reserve for your lover and finding an inviting box on the bed. A velvet lined box, perhaps. If you use it, you pay for it. If you don’t open it, you don’t pay. It’s no different than a bottle of champagne chilling in the mini bar. Think of this as the minibar for sexual pleasure. Inside, you would find the classier toys. A blindfold, a red feather tickler, perhaps even a small silver bullet vibrator. But maybe in certain locations, perhaps the hotel that catered to the newly married in Vegas or in the Maldives, you would carry The LolaRing.”
“Tell me, why would we want to carry the LolaRing?”
“Because it is the ultimate couple’s pleasure device. Nothing even comes close to it. I even have the perfect slogan for it. You’ve given her a diamond ring, now give her the LolaRing,” Casey said, layering suggestiveness into her tone. My God, this woman couldn’t be anything but the CEO of a sex toy company.
He had to be careful, though. He had to think with his brain, not with his dick. Because his dick had a very specific agenda when it came to Casey: get inside her. He put on his business brain and ignored all that he was feeling below the belt. Because the reality was, her idea rocked. “I have one question for you, Casey.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“Actually, I have a couple of questions. One. How long have we been friends?”
“A few years. Why?”
“Two, then why on earth have we never done a partnership before? Because this is an awesome idea.”
She clapped, and smiled so broadly, he swore he’d never seen her that happy before. He always wanted to see her this happy.
“You really like it?”
He nodded several times. “I really do love it. I think it needs to be done well, like everything. We run a luxury hotel; you run a high-end premium sex toy company. There are natural alignments. The key is pulling it off in a way that is classy and sexy. But that’s exactly what Joy Delivered is known for. You are the classy and sexy toy company.”
“It can be great for both of us,” she said, beaming.
“I have to agree. However,” he said, taking his time on that last word. However. It was the kind of word that was known for derailing business ideas. It was the kind of word that set off alarms in the person you were negotiating with. He had chosen it purposefully. He wanted to throw her off, or perhaps just to surprise her. “I would personally feel better if I were able to vouch for this product. We’re going to need to use it.”
The look in her eyes was priceless. They blazed with sexuality and desire. He was willing to bet she was turned on something fierce. “Do you have one packed and ready to take to London on our flight tonight?”
She shook her head. “But can we swing by my office? I’ll grab one there,” she said, the most eager tone to her voice. He loved her willingness to go the extra mile for pleasure, and for business.
“Absolutely. By the way, how would you feel about babysitting again, because you seem to come up with really amazing sex ideas when you’re surrounded by my wet T-shirt and two small children.”
As she laughed, he heard the sound of a key in the lock. Kat and Bryan were home and they took in the scene—Nate and Casey lounging on the couch, a carton of ice cream between them, two babies fast asleep on their chests.
“Looks like you two had a good night,” Bryan said, and he was spot on. They’d had a fantastic night. They always did.
* * *
On the way out, Kat hugged Casey. “We had a great time just getting out of the house to see a movie. I can’t even tell you how much it means to me that you helped out,” Kat said, placing her hand on her heart. “Two little babies are a handful.”
“It was truly a pleasure. They are sweet as sweet can be and they love their uncle big time,” Casey said.
Nate stood by the town car idling at the curb. He leaned against the gleaming black door, scrolling through his phone as he waited for her. No rushing, no pressure. Her suitcase was already in the car; she’d remembered to bring it along since they were taking off in a few hours.
“One more thing,” Kat said in a low voice as she grasped Casey’s arm, wrapping her fingers around it. “I always hoped it would be you.”