She nodded slowly and looked warily around the office, her gaze landing on a stack of beer crates and some metal barrels. “Your dreams included a lot of beer.”
“A lot of beer, a lot of brewhouses, and a lot of bars. I was working undercover as a barman last week, researching new outlets in Sanibel. It’s the best way to gauge the market. I have real estate investments, too–dull, but it’s good to have a backup plan. I don’t ever want a boss over me again.”
“Nice.”
“Better than that.”
Piper adjusted herself in her seat and stretched her spine, which pushed her breasts forward. Her icy glare indicated she’d noticed him glancing at them. “Better than sex?” Her tone was sharp, but the edge in it made a zap of excitement hit him between the legs.
He paused before answering, locking her gaze with his until it felt like his blood was beginning to simmer. “Sometimes, depends on the quality of the sex.”
Piper sighed deeply and looked away. “You’re not low enough to insist I have sex with you as part of being your companion, are you?”
“Of course not,” he said slowly, “but it might not be all that bad considering what you said you’d like to do to me in Florida.”
“I was drunk, so were you, and I never expected to see you again.”
Matt made a tutting sound and stood up from behind his desk. “Are you saying you used me, Miss Reilly? Used me for your own sexual gratification, no strings, and no questions asked?”
She frowned at him and then shrugged. “I guess I did, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to have sex with you again, understand?”
“I’m not expecting you to sleep with me as part of this deal, Piper. I’m not that much of a jerk and, for the record, I don’t sleep with my employees.” He still hadn’t figured out how to deal with the not mixing business with pleasure rule that had been such a big part of his life until now. Sleeping with your staff was a Bad Thing. “But you can’t deny we were on fire in Florida. Chemistry like that doesn’t just disappear because you want it to.”
She swallowed. “You’re different than the guy I met in Sanibel. He was laid back, a drifter with tattoos who knew when to stop asking questions. He wasn’t wearing a suit, he wasn’t my boss, and he wasn’t blackmailing me.”
“I can lose the suit any time you like,” he said and shucked off his jacket.
She paused for a second and swallowed. “You know exactly what I mean. We were equals in Sanibel and now we’re—”
“We’re still equals. Look at this as a business deal if that helps.” Yes, they were equals and she was more of a contractor than an employee. So maybe the fine print of his moral dilemma could be amended to permit some consensual adult fun. “You came here to work and I’m still letting you do that with many added benefits you didn’t have this morning.”
“Like unfettered access to your underpants? No way.”
She was fixated by the potential sexual implications of his proposal, which was good. The fact that it was at the forefront of her mind meant she felt something, and there was no reason to think it was in any way bad. He’d never had sex like it. They were more than compatible. And he really wanted Piper as his gorgeous poster girl as well. She could take his spring launch to another level entirely. So was he insane hoping he could have both those things when Piper didn’t want to give him either of them?
He jabbed his toe against the leg of his desk. “Okay, I admit I wanted to see you again, to finish what we started in Florida, but things have moved on beyond wild sex and cocktails.”
“How so?”
“The upside of this deal is that we can help each other.”
“Deal?” She shook her head and the cold beams of light filtering through the window turned to rubies as they landed on her hair. “Blackmail is what it is. You admitted it yourself. I should walk out right now and call your bluff.”
He was a champion bluffer. “So long, then.”
Piper frowned but didn’t move, and he caught her gaze flicker momentarily over his torso. “The terms, DeLeo. Let’s get on with it.”
“I’m launching a new product and I need a pretty woman on my arm for all the promotional stuff.”
“Talk about sexist. Can’t you be a big boy and do it on your own?”
“Nope. I’m promoting a new beer for the spring into summer season. I want to create a buzz for it while pushing my existing products. I also need a face—your face—as a promotional tool to put on beer coasters, billboards, that kind of thing.”
“I guess I should be flattered you think I’m up to it.” Her eyes then flared with suspicion. “Unless I’m being ridiculed. It’s not a before and after, is it? This is the ugly duckling before she drinks the magic beer and turns into a beautiful swan who looks just like Angelina Jolie?”
His head tipped to one side and he smirked. “So not my style. You look good, and your colors complement all the branding I have in place. It’s aesthetics, not gimmicks. I want simple, but evocative, maybe just a little bit vintage to be on trend. I knew you were the woman I’d been looking for the moment you came within three feet of me.”
“Oh.”
That seemed to have shocked her. “The brand name of the beer is PCB No. 68, and I want it to be successful so I can move on to my next project.”
“Sounds like a tractor.”
“Stands for Passion Creek Brewery.”
“And the significance of the number? One bottle short of a sixty-nine?”
She was sharp. “Good thinking, but no, even I’m not that juvenile. The brewhouse address number is sixty-eight. I was going to call it Passion Creek Pink until I remembered PCP is a recreational drug.”
“Pink…this beer is pink?”
“Yep.”
“I can’t think of anything worse.”
Her face did say it all, but he chose to ignore her disgust. “This is Passion Creek, the town that has love and romance at its heart. I want to exploit that. After all, 50 percent of our visitors are female and I think they’re going to like this brew a lot.”
“I hope you’re not expecting me to join them in the experience.”
“Having your face promoting this is all part of attracting the female demographic. I want ladies drinking beer to become more cool and sophisticated. Elegant. Refined. Drinking cold white wine is getting boring, and cocktails are sugary and expensive.” He ran his hand across his jaw and watched her apple-green eyes follow the movement. “You might have to pretend a little, but why not try something new? It might surprise you.”