She nodded hesitantly. “I appreciate the ideas. It’s definitely something I’d like to do. Eventually. I’ve already done some of the base work to get things started. I purchased a domain name for it a couple years ago. I just haven’t had time to really work on it,” she said, her tone civil but defensive.
“That’s great.” He’d known it might be a bit of a tough sale since she seemed so unwavering in her desire to do everything on her own. But he was just as determined to do what he could to help. He’d just have to persuade her to accept his help. A pleasant prospect, since his favorite means of persuasion involved their lips and hopefully a few other body parts.
Elliot pushed on. “So you’ve already got a start on it. I was thinking, some of the ideas you came up with for getting the word out about the children’s charity might also work as marketing ideas for your business. We have the same goal. Getting the word out to as many potential donors, or customers, as possible. We could revamp some of the foundation marketing to work for selling a product.”
She thought for a minute, her brow crinkling. But Elliot hadn’t missed the excitement that had shone from her eyes before the frown had taken over. She liked his ideas. A lot.
“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” she said, her voice softening a bit. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He drew her closer for the final bars of the waltz.
He was mildly surprised that he was enjoying offering up ideas to help her out, even though he’d only brought up the conversation to avoid thinking about sex. Her response might not have been the rousing excitement-filled celebration that he’d hoped for, but she hadn’t totally been able to hide her interest or her enthusiasm. That little spark in her eyes gave him a serious case of the warm fuzzies. And he liked it. And her reaction to his other more recreational ideas was everything he could have hoped for, so all in all, it was a pretty good dance lesson.
The song switched to one with a slightly faster tempo, and Elliot grasped her hand. “Let’s kick this up a notch.”
Before she could respond, he spun her out, then pulled her back in. She twirled around with a little “eep!” and ended up back against his chest, surprised and laughing.
“What are you doing?”
“Having some fun. Let’s dance.”
Lena laughed again, holding on tight while he spun her, twirled her, and wrapped his arms about her. By the time the song had ended, Lena was breathless in his arms.
“You’re crazy, you know that?” she said.
He laughed. “Yeah, but it makes life a lot more fun.”
“I’ll bet.”
The instructor, apparently deciding they knew what they were doing, left them alone to dance through the next few songs while she focused most of her attention on the bride and groom. Elliot had never had so much fun in his life. He’d been to every hot club in major cities across the world. Yet, somehow, swaying to cheesy music in a hotel ballroom was easily topping his best nights on the dance floor. Because of the woman he held in his arms. Because of the happiness shining from her face as they twirled across the floor. Happiness that hadn’t been there a few moments before. Happiness she’d sorely needed and that he’d help create for her. Not that she hadn’t been happy before.
She was delightful. Always. But this was different. This wasn’t tied up with Tyler or with their business ideas or family. It was just the two of them, enjoying each other. Hearing her laugh and seeing her eyes twinkling with happiness because of him sent a streak of joy through him so intense it was completely alien. For the first time, he felt really needed. Not for his wallet or his connections. But just for him, for who he was. He’d made her happy. And that made him…elated. He liked the feeling. Very much.
If any one of his buddies had said something even remotely resembling the cheese-fest tumbling around in his head, Elliot would have given him a good swift kick in the balls to bring him back to earth. But he couldn’t help himself. The disappointment that filled him when their hour was over was almost laughable. He didn’t want to let Lena go. He wanted to pull her closer and kiss those smiling lips. Taste every inch of her until she was gasping his name.
He looked down at her. The music was over, the instructor giving last minute instructions. But Lena’s gaze was firmly fixed on him, her arm still around his waist. And unless he was very much mistaken, a perfect echo of what he was feeling was reflected in her eyes. She wanted him, too.
Her hand tightened on his waist, and for just a moment she snuggled into him. Then she stepped away, letting her arm slide along his back until she couldn’t touch him anymore. He grabbed her hand before it dropped and pulled her back to him.
“Meet me in my room tonight,” he said.
Her eyes flared wide, panic flashing through them. “What? No. Why? No. I can’t.”
She tried to pull away from him, but he wasn’t letting her go that easily. Smooth. He’d been way too blunt. And after their little dance-a-thon, she probably thought he was only thinking one thing. Which, honestly, he was. But that wasn’t really why he wanted her to come over. Well, not entirely.
He wouldn’t push her to do anything she didn’t want to do, but he really did want to spend more time with her. Hell, he’d be thrilled to sit on opposite sides of the room, as long as they could talk. Anything else they might do together, well, he was more than willing to take that as slow as she needed to.
“Just to talk,” he assured her. “My parents are going on their yearly European vacation as soon as the wedding is over, so I want to pitch them my ideas for the foundation this week. I really could use your help getting everything organized.”
She frowned but didn’t say no, so he pressed on.
“I spoke with the concierge, and he said the hotel has a great media center. I can even get charts and stuff printed out so I can do a full-blown professional presentation. But I need to get it all worked out first. If I don’t do it now, I’ll have to wait until after Christmas, and I’d love to get this moving before that. Our annual fundraiser is in January, so I need everything in place by then. Come on. I promise I’ll behave, if you want me to,” he said playfully.
Lena gazed up at him, a myriad of emotions flashing across her face so fast he had no clue where she’d end up. Her forehead creased, and he was sure she was going to turn him down.
“I’ll need to see if my cousin can watch Tyler for the night so I won’t have to worry about him if we work late.”
Elliot pulled her into him for a quick hug, afraid to let her see the sheer exhilaration that he knew must be shining from his face.
She pulled away and smiled at him. “I’ll see you later then.”
“Can’t wait.”
His body nearly vibrated with the excitement pulsing through him. He was happy about getting the foundation stuff in order. He’d never been so excited about a project in his life. Thanks to Lena. He’d paid lip service to the charity for years. And despite his desire to do more, he hadn’t done much about it. Until now. Until he’d met her. She was the one who’d lit the fire under him. Finally, he had a chance to really do something amazing to help others and do something meaningful with his life.
But more importantly, he’d gotten Lena to agree to spend several hours alone with him.
Life was fucking awesome.
Chapter Six
Lena collapsed onto the couch and pulled out her phone. Tyler had had his lunch and was tucked up in bed fast asleep. He’d outgrown naps a few years ago, but it had been a long couple days already and when he’d curled up on the bed and passed out, Lena wasn’t about to wake him up. A few quiet minutes to collect her thoughts was exactly what she needed.
She had a missed call from Iris, so she dialed her back. A little advice from her BFF would be good. She had no idea what the hell to do about Elliot.