Page 14 of Deacon

"White wine. Thanks, Miguel."

With a bow, he was gone.

"Now that we are settled, we get to talk, yes?" His English was precise, and there was barely a trace of the Russian accent.

"Of course."

"First, I would like to say that you are looking rather lovely."

"Thank you." She smiled slightly and reached for her glass.

"And now that we have- " He waved a hand and reached for his glass of water. "We have, shall we say - dispensed with the business part of our relationship; I would like to take you out to dinner and then to my place for some hot sex.

I can show you what your sappy American men cannot. I assure you that I am an excellent lover and can make you weep with pleasure."

She was not shocked or offended by his words because he had been saying them since he was signed to the publishing house. She had had to meet with him several times, in the office and at various restaurants, to go over the necessary changes, and it was the same play.

He would ask her to go out with him and offer to pleasure her body until she was too weak even to think. He had suggested some very lurid scenarios and promised that she would not regret it, and she had always been able to keep him at arms' length.

"As lovely as that sounds, I will have to pass." She told him mildly. "We should have the pasta; they make a delicious pasta salad here."

"You are worried that I am not - what you say? Competent in bed? I can assure you that I am more than capable of giving you pleasure."

His swarthy face was intense, his eyes glowing with interest as they wandered over her face. "You are such a beautiful woman that I would like to see all of you. And now that I am going to be a famous writer, I will get the chance to keep you in a manner befitting a woman like you."

"I am flattered, really I am, but the answer is still no." She paused when their drinks were brought over and gave Miguel their orders. "I have half an hour before I have to get back."

"Your time is valuable, but I am not giving up."

"Let's talk about your ridiculous demands. I don't have to remind you that you signed a binding contract, and threatening us by saying that you can always go to another publishing house will not play. You were given an advance several months ago, money I believe you already spent.

And our lawyers are fierce when it comes to protecting the house. The minute I told them about your demands and threats, they got busy preparing for a lawsuit." She gave him a bland stare as she sipped her wine. "It would be a pity for our lovely relationship to end up in court."

"I was, how you say? Just blowing hot air." He gave her a charming smile as he sipped his vodka. "I wanted to see if I could get something more for my work. I spent years working on that book; a lot of blood, sweat, and tears were put into it. You said yourself that it is brilliant-"

"Hence the hefty advance we paid you."

"You do not understand, Liebchen, I have families in Russia who are dependent on me-"

"You keep forgetting that I have a folder on you as we tend to do with our authors, and I know that you have a sister in Russia who works for the government, and her husband is an engineer. There is also your mother, a painter, a decent one at that. You are bullshitting me and wasting my precious time."

"You are right." He had the grace to look ashamed as he stared at her. "I am a con man, trying to get more money out of you, and you have been so very good to me. But you are not a pushover."

"Far from it. I-" Her voice trailed off as she stared at the man striding towards their table. He had gotten rid of the tie he had worn for the meeting and was talking to the woman clinging to his arm.

Delores saw when he gave her a cynical look as they made their way toward their table, with Mignon fluttering before them. Of course, he would be getting the royal treatment.

"Delores?" She was jerked back from her reverie to the man sitting across from her.

"I am sorry. Oh, here is our meal."

*****

"I am exhausted," Delores admitted as she curled her feet beneath her and accepted the glass of wine David had poured her. "Thank you for bringing dinner."

He had a glass of brandy and brought it over to sit next to her on the burgundy sofa. Tugging at her feet, he stretched them across his lap and massaged her instep. "You need a guy," He murmured, a smile creasing his lips.

"Why, when I have you." She wriggled her toes in pleasure as his long fingers eased the kinks. "I would have you know that I got an offer this afternoon at lunch. The man promised to rock my world in bed."