“As your friend, I don’t want to hurt you. As your employer, I don’t want to lose you. As the man whose bed you adorned last night, I’d very much like you back there, but not at the expense of the rest. So tell me what you want, and I will do my best to do right by you, which includes taking your ‘no’ with all the grace I can muster.” Luke’s dark eyes looked huge. “I believe that you would hear my ‘no’. Could I persuade you to hear my ‘yes’?” “I would take that with pleasure.” Rufus’s chest felt rather tight. “A lot of pleasure.” “Promise?”
