Reyona and Maxwell soon left the office after she was done with the meeting with the lawyers.
He offered to be her chauffeur, so Reyona left her car at the company.
They had already started working on their game plan and Reyona was pleased with what they presented.
At this rate, those rumour-mongers hiding behind the facades of being a media house would rue the day they decided to take her life as their personal project.
It also didn't hurt that the result would rake in some money into the ReyDexter account too.
If they can unscrupulously tread on her just to gain more subscriptions and make more money, why can't she make some while taking charge of her life back?
So she firmly refused when he offered to pay for all it would take until the case came to a close.
"Let me do it."
"No, it is not necessary."
"Because it would kill you to accept help from your husband?"
She rolled her eyes "Because it is not needed. They are my in-house legal counsel, and if there are any expenses accrued in the process, my account department would deal with them. So, thank you" she said emphatically.
"Spoken like a boss lady" he grumbled.
"Which I am. You will do well not to forget it, mister."
He smiled and asked, "Can I at least take this boss lady out to eat?"
Reyona laughed softly "It seemed you have a fetish for feeding me."
He gave her a heated look as he said "Oh, baby. You have no idea how much I want to feed you every time. Every day. Everywhere."
The way his gaze lingered on her lips before caressing her body down to the part of Reyona that clenched automatically, was enough for even the most clueless to know what he was talking about.
"Maxwell" Reyona called his name in exasperation.
He chuckled and said "What can I say? I am addicted. To you. Now, if you would only accept my help now and then, things would be perfect."
Reyona turned her face towards the window to hide her smile as she said "Drop it."
"Dropped. Now about that meal?"
"We can eat when we get back. I am sure your chef can whisk something up soon enough."
"Our chef, baby. You need to start getting the statements right."
Reyona shook her head and kept silent. Whatever had gotten into seemed not to be letting go anytime soon.
Well, she wouldn't acknowledge it.
"And now she won't talk to me again," he said with a forlorn tone. "God, I love being married."
"Just shut up," Reyona said with abrupt laughter.
"Yes, ma'am," he said cheekily. "So, about that meal?"
"We can eat when we get back."
"I wouldn't get to have you to myself then. Where is the fun in that?"
"And you will have me to yourself in a restaurant full of people?" Reyona asked with an upraised brow.
"That is why I love restaurants with private rooms." his eyes lit up with mischief as he turned towards her. "Have you ever tried to…"
"Don't say it." Reyona gritted out as her face heated when she guessed what he was about to say.
He wiggled his brows at her and said "So, where would you like to go?"
Reyona sighed in resignation and said "Your pick. I just want to eat. Also, no place with…"
"... seafood. I got you, babe. Your husband is very observant."
Reyona ignored him as she laid her head against the headrest and closed her eyes.
Unbidden, the image she had seen earlier popped up in her mind again.
How can two people have such a resemblance? She wondered in amazement.
And what a coincidence too.
Yet even before the thought formed in her mind, she knew it couldn't be.
That was not Thomas, she was sure of it.
***********
He took her to an upper-class modern tavern, where they not only have private rooms but also have the choicest of hearty meals on their menus.
They enjoyed their succulent roasted prime rib served with au jus, horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables with light-hearted conversations that surprisingly took Reyona's mind off the niggling thoughts at the edge of her mind.
At first, she had thought he would want to get up to something, and she had been on guard, but as the meal proceeded, she realised that she had only got her defence ready for nothing.
He was toying with her.
He had got her all hot and bothered by those talks and looks of his on their way to the restaurant where she had certainly expected that he would want to try something.
She couldn't even get angry at him for it.
She blamed her overripe imagination that had her seeing graphic images and pictures of different styles the moment the door shut behind them in the private room.
Damn!
He was on her case until she shared some anecdotes about her childhood with him.
She didn't realise how difficult it was to talk about the time before and after her parents separated.
She had not realised it because she hadn't shared it with anyone before.
Grams had been there with her all along, and she had somehow understood without being told.
Thomas had never asked, and she had never felt the need to share that part of her with him before.
When Maxwell realised how difficult it was for her to talk about her childhood, he simply changed the conversation by saying "Tell me about Victoria then? How much of a pain in the ass was she? I never had the privilege of having a younger sibling getting on my nerves, you know."
The tension had been diffused as Reyona laughed, and she went on to talk about the first time she realised she was about to have a sister. Of course, she was still angry with her parents then and thought she wouldn't like the baby either.
Then the baby had been a beautiful, finger-grabbing and gum-showing Toria, and she had felt the greatest love that her seven-year-old heart could encompass.
Reyona marvelled at the fact that she was exactly the age that Allysyn was now when she met her sister for the first time.
The conversation had moved on from that, and they easily talked about many things that Reyona would have felt awkward talking about with someone who was not family.
She should have known, of course, that he would pull a fast one on her again.
Just as they were leaving the private room, he caught her hand, turned her around, pressed her against the door and proceeded to steal her breath as he thoroughly kissed her.
His hands were all over her as he moved his lips from hers and kissed his way down her neck to the small cleavage in her v-necked silk blouse.
Reyona's head was thrown back in abandon as an uncontrollable soft moan escaped her throat when he pushed her blazer aside to fondle her breasts through the layer of silk.
She could have easily been naked with the way his hands branded her skin.
"Fuck, do you know how badly I am tempted to take you right here though I know those attendants are right outside this door?" he gritted out as he reluctantly separated from her.
Reyona doubted she would mind at the moment. Her body was on fire, and she knew just what she needed for that fire to be quenched.
They were both breathing harshly as they stared at each other like two gladiators at a stalemate.
"Stop looking at me like that" he swore under his breath.
"Like how?" Reyona managed to ask through her racing heart as she bit hard at her lips to stop its tingling.
"Fuck me," he said as he smashed his lips on hers again.