Scandalous: Scandalized!. Lori Foster

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      TONY WAS ALREADY SEATED when she arrived. He’d chosen an isolated table at the back of the restaurant, away from prying eyes and ears. Olivia silently approved his choice, and forced herself to greet him in a normal, businesslike manner. Tony stood until she was seated, his eyes never leaving her, then waited while the waitress handed them menus. Very few things, including excitement, ever dampened her appetite so she ordered a lunch of rich soup and a salad.

      Tony surveyed her a moment longer, then asked, “You have a problem with the agreement I sent you?”

      Olivia waved away his concern. “We only made a few minor alterations.”

      “You always have alterations, Olivia, but I’d rarely call them minor.”

      She grinned. He was right, after all. She was a shark, but proud of it. “You can’t expect me to blindly accept rules of your making, now can you, Tony? The revised contract will suit my purpose much better, as you’ll see.”

      He gave her a small smile. “I don’t doubt I’ll approve it. I seldom win with you.”

      The way he said that, with a touch of pride, confused her. Could he have been telling the complete truth, not just trying to gain her acceptance of his plan? Did he truly admire her business skills? She felt warmed by the very idea, especially since most of her other male associates either seemed intimidated by her or resentful of her confidence.

      She sent Tony a cheeky grin and said, “You win all too often, anyway. Losing on occasion is good for your character.”

      “But winning’s more fun.” Then he held up a hand. “In this case, though, you didn’t have to bother your lawyer. I already told you I’d give you whatever you wanted.”

      “No.”

      “Beg your pardon?”

      Olivia wanted to make her point perfectly clear. Her conscience was nagging her enough about manipulating him emotionally. She certainly couldn’t do so professionally, too. “I want this latest agreement to stand on its own, Tony. It doesn’t have anything to do with…the other. Look over the agreement, judge it the same way you would any other, then get back to me.”

      “And you’ll relent if I don’t approve of your changes?”

      “Absolutely not.” She gave him another grin. “But I fully expect to have to work for them if they’re not to your liking.”

      He looked amused, his chin propped in his palm, his elbow on the table. Then his gaze dropped to his napkin and he said, “Do you have anything else to discuss with me, Olivia?”

      It was more than obvious what he was asking. She set down her salad fork and then pushed her plate to the side. After hefting her briefcase into her lap, she pulled out a slim volume on fertility and flipped the book open to the page she had marked.

      Tony merely stared, his slouched position not so slouched now.

      “I’ve been reading up on our latest subject, and it seems this weekend will be my most promising time. According to this book, I should be ovulating on Saturday, give or take a day.”

      “So you’re due in two weeks? Right at the end of the deadline you set?”

      Her two week time limit. Get her pregnant by then, or the deal was off. She almost groaned at her own audacity.

      “That’s right. Two weeks exactly.” Actually she’d pulled that ridiculous number out of the air, just as she’d done with the deadline. She wouldn’t conceive, not with only one ovary. And her periods were irregular, often nonexistent, so there was no true time frame. You couldn’t get pregnant if you didn’t ovulate, which was a fact she’d been living with for a very long time.

      It was pure coincidence that she’d set up her most fertile time to fall precisely within her deadline. She glanced up and wished she wore reading glasses, just to provide her with a bit of camouflage. But despite her embarrassment, she was determined to follow through. Tony had been more than a little reluctant to agree to her terms, and if this was to be her one big romantic rendezvous, she wanted his wholehearted involvement. She needed his wholehearted involvement. As with any deal, success required planning. And Olivia had formulated her plan well. By the time she was finished with him, Tony would be beyond ready; he’d be anxious.

      She braced herself and said, “I think I can get a few days away. How about you?”

      “A few days?”

      “Well of course.” Olivia frowned at him. “According to the book, an extended amount of time might be necessary. Listen to this. The couple should have intercourse at least twice with an interval of six hours between. You see? There’s no reason to do it if we aren’t going to do it with proper enthusiasm. Things like this can’t be rushed.”

      “I, ah…”

      “There’s something else, too.”

      Tony raised his brows, not deigning and frankly not able to verbalize at this point.

      Olivia forged on. “It also mentions you should do without sex until then to allow your sperm count to build to a higher level.” She paused, taking a small sip of her tea, then pinning him with her gaze. She felt horribly deceptive, but determined just the same. This was to be her time, and hers alone. “You should be celibate until we’re together. Will that be a problem?”

      “Olivia…”

      She hurried to explain, wanting him to understand the supposed reasoning behind her request. It wouldn’t do for him to know her remarks were prompted by a possessive attitude, rather than a legitimate concern. “You don’t want to deplete СКАЧАТЬ