[Invitation to Eden 24.0] How to Tempt a Tycoon by Daire StDenis Page B

you’re crazy for not running your own enterprise.”
    “I do run my own enterprise. Savage Business Solutions.”
    “But you’re a sole proprietor. You have no staff.”
    I eat my cheese, wondering what Noelle really wants from this interview. As far as the business world is concerned, I’m really not that interesting. “I have an assistant in New York and a long list of professionals I contract work out to when needed.”
    “Why don’t you expand?”
    “I do perfectly well on my own. Expanding isn’t necessary.”
    “Where’s your home base, then? New York?”
    I tap my chest. “It’s right here.”
    She tilts her head to one side, studying me. “I don’t understand.”
    “I travel all over the world for work, so my home is wherever I am.”
    “But,” she squints at me. “Where do you keep your things?”
    “I don’t really keep things.”
    She sits back in her chair. By now, I’m used to the response. In a world focused on material possessions, having none makes me a bit of an anomaly. Or, as one friend put it, a freak.
    “So you just travel from place to place? No home, no commitments?” She chews the side of her lip and doesn’t meet my eyes.
    Aha. So, this is what the interview is about. She doesn’t care about what I do for a living, she wants to write about my personal life. The proof is in her next question.
    “What about friends? Lovers?”
    “Relationships. That’s a completely different thing. I’d much rather get attached to people than to things.”
    Noelle looks at me strangely. “How do you maintain relationships if you’re always moving?”
    “I’ve learned how to form friendships quickly and to keep them from a distance. It’s easy to keep in touch these days. When you don’t have a lot of things to worry about, it’s much easier to focus on relationships.”
    “Do you have a special relationship at the moment?” She chews on the end of her pen and the glint of steel in her gaze is back.
    “I thought this interview was supposed to be about being a modern business woman. Not my personal life.”
    “Oh, come on, Ms. Savage. Our readers are women. They want to know about how you balance it all. Work, lovers, relationships, travel.” Noelle taps her pen against her lips. “So...are you? In a relationship, that is?”
    Wow. Nice segue. She is good.
    “I don’t care to discuss my personal life.”
    "Look, I know our readers. I know what they want."
    "What do they want?"
    "They want something different. They want to read about women who call the shots. Who know what they want and aren't ashamed to ask for it. Whether it's in business or...relationships."
    "Why me?"
    She smiles and there is no innocence in it whatsoever. "How many lovers do you have?” Her smile tells me I’ve been conned.
    “None of your business.”
    Narrowing her gaze, she asks, “So, would it be correct to say you’ve got a lover in every port?”
    I roll my eyes. “No.” I laugh at how gullible I am to be taken in by her innocent pretense. The girl wants details. Instead, I say, “Believe me, there are times when choosing to be with no one is the best option.”
    “Really?” She taps her fingers on the tabletop. “Interesting you say that because—”
    “Mademoiselle Savage?”
    “Yes.” I look up eagerly at the man standing beside the table wearing a dark suit jacket and black shirt. I do not care who he is but I am so thankful for him interrupting us. I am not liking the way this conversations is going.
    “This is for you.”
    “Excuse me?"
    The man hands me an envelope. It’s beautiful with the texture of heavy silk. It’s got a wax seal like some medieval correspondence. I'm so curious I want to open it right away but not in front of Noelle.
    I go to put it away and Noelle says, “You’re not going to open it?”
    “I’ll open it later.”
    “You receive a mysterious envelope while dining out in Paris and you’re not going to open it? Are you kidding me?”
    “This is