Lou's rules...

Iram watched Lou with a mixture of shock and awe as he nonchalantly ate his noodles. She wanted to say something, but every time she opened her mouth to speak, Lou would hold his hand up and smile.

"No business while eating sweetheart. plenty of time for that. The night is still young."

She gulped when he said that. It was a business meeting not a night out in town and she had to get to work tomorrow.

As if reading her mind, he said, "Listen, tomorrow I want you to come on a chopper ride with me. We aren't going to start early so you can get your beauty sleep. I've got this real pretty space up at Long Island that I want to turn into this new kind of nightclub, dedicated to music artists across the world. I wanted your expert opinion on the possibility of a resort there as well."

Iram looked at him in shock and snapped, "I have work to do. I'm not sitting around doing nothing."

"Careful pretty, don't let me change my mind before dessert arrives."

Iram wanted to kill him, literally just box his pretty head down and kick him his ripped abs. Ripped abs, why was she thinking of his ripped abs? Why was she looking at his firm jawline? She was a happily engaged woman, then why was she looking at this man as if he was a delectable meal in itself.

"Focus...Iram....focus.....you need to focus on the work at hand. Six million dollars was a lot. It would give her the time extension she needed as well as the ability to expand to newer markets. Long Island seemed exciting as well."

"You barely eat Iram, I don't like that. How are you going to have the energy to bounce around with me?"

"Pardon me?" she asked in shock.

"I mean in the helicopter, sweetheart. Now don't get your panties in a twist. If I were to guess, they would be black lace thongs. You look like just the kinda chick who could rock a pair of those."

Iram was shocked. One, she was horrified a the liberties Lou was taking with her in their first meeting. The man truly lived up to his playboy reputation. Two, his words were making her feel all sorts of things inside. A part of her wanted to slap him and the other part.....well...the other part wanted to kiss him silly. What the hell was wrong with her? Three, the most damning part was, she was indeed wearing black lace thongs. Did this man know everything about her?

Before she could say another word, Richard arrived with two delectable-looking cheesecakes. One blueberry and one mango. They were perfectly shaped in tiny round platters with slices of the real fruit were placed artfully on them. Her mouth watered looking at the real slices of mango, it had been ages since she had eaten one. Her father always ordered her crates of alphonso mangoes from Mumbai, in mango season. It was her favourite fruit.

Lou smiled at her and cut a generous slice of the cheesecake for her and offered it to her. He scooped up a bit in a spoon, and held it towards her, "Close your eyes Iram, and let me know how it tastes."

Was he planning to feed her? No man had ever done something like that with her. This was definitely crossing her boundaries.

"Live a little,Iram, it's just a slice of cheesecake."

Then why did it feel like he was crossing a line?

She found herself obediently opening her mouth as Lou gently fed her the first bite of the cheesecake. The flavour burst in her mouth and she moaned with the pleasure of the taste. Her eyes were shut as she enjoyed the dessert. When she opened her eyes, Lou was looking at her intently. His face was flushed and his eyes were dark. His lips were pursed and a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

He recovered fast enough and patted his forehead with a napkin.

"I guess the air conditioner genuinely does not work here. Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we? Like I said, six million, all yours but well, I have some rules and observations."

"Here it comes," thought Iram, "He is gonna go for the jugular. She sat straight, waiting for it to his her. Lou wasn't going to just part with six million and let her sail off into the sunset. He probably would want a piece of her liver and her kidney as well.

"How do you like the Manhattan?" he asked suddenly.

"It's fabulous," she said with all sincerity. The Manhattan bar had truly taken them all by storm when it had launched just three months ago. In fact, tables were on waiting and even someone like her needed to book two days in advance. She was surprised the tony establishment had got Lou a table just like that.

"Good to know! So the thing is, it's mine. My brainchild, my baby and I want to take this baby and more babies like it out there into the world. I think Azure Hotels will be a perfect partner in terms of location for me. What do you think?"

"I,....well..to begin with I'm surprised. I mean, it's fabulous and I didn't even know it's yours? It's so well done...well, yes, I would be happy to collaborate on this. It will be great for business for everyone."

"Good, so then that's out of the way then," he smiled looking relieved. "Now my other request is that we go and tour your properties in a couple of interesting places. I'd like to stay there, audit them, look around, see possibilities. I mean I'm dropping six million on them and I think I deserve to know more about them don't I?"

"Wait, hang on ...you want us to go and tour all the properties across different places. I have work. I have to save my company, I have much to do."

Lou shook his hand and said, "Hang on...chill....once you have the money in, you can put things in the process. My lawyers and CFO will be happy to make a presentation to your board. I won't come for that one," he grinned, "I've got a lot of dope on some of your board members and some of them may have a heart attack when they see me sitting there in the boardroom, which might also be kind of fun."

Iram sat there looking at him in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Come to think of it, a tour may not be so bad. It would give her a chance to revive things all across, especially in the places that were badly hit and morale was low.

"I'm enjoying doing business with you Iram," there was a sincerity in his eyes and then he dropped the bomb, "Third and last....we need to share a room across the tour."

"Share a room?......Well, I never...you are a..."

"Wait....it can be a suite also, I never said share a bed, I said, share a room Iram. I'm not a rapist or an asshole. I just want to get to know you better."

"I'm engaged, to be wed in six months."

"I'd give this engagement three months, Iram, where is the man? Why isn't he by your side fighting with you for your business? Why did you come to meet me alone?"

"Param had a family thing and I...., " Iram looked at her plate unable to meet Lou's eyes, "I haven't told anyone I've come to meet you, Lou. I mean what am I supposed to tell the board, that we are rebuilding our business with drug money?"

"Money is money, Iram, it has no colour, no race, no antecedent. It's now really upto you. I'm giving you a fair deal, perhaps the only deal, and you know it. I'm not really asking for much. It's very straight and simple. If you aren't comfortable, then don't come tomorrow for the recce. I'll take that as a no."

"That;s not fair, Lou, give me a day to think about it."

"I might change my mind by tomorrow evening Iram, I'm not a patient man and I usually get what I want. It's your call now."

She was silent and chewed her bottom lip and said, "Fine I'll meet you at noon tomorrow and give you an answer."

"Now Iram, let me drop you home. No gentleman lets a lady go home alone at this time of the night."

"I have a driver," she protested.

He grinned and said, "Great, send him home back to his family then."

When they stepped out of the Manhattan Bar, a sleek Buggati was waiting for them. It was inky black with plush leather seats. He opened the door for her and strapped her in, before taking the wheel himself.

"You drive yourself?"

"Yes, sometimes I do....it clears my mind."

Lou was pretty chatty on the drive back, as if they were business associates who had met for a meal. Maybe it was the late hour or all the whiskey, but Iram found herself beginning to relax for the first time in the evening. She leaned back into her seat, as Lou zipped across the city to her little brownstone on the Upper East Side. Lou stopped at the curb in front of her house and said, "Safe and sound, Ms. Mirza, not a hair out of place."

She smiled at him and said, "Thank you Lou, I'll let you know tomorrow by 11 am if I am on board or not."

He grinned and said, "I'll see you at noon. I'm chilling a really nice wine for you for tomorrow."

She looked at him in consternation, but he was already unbuckling her, leaning towards her dangerously close in the car. She caught a whiff of his scent, a mixture of an exotic aftershave and his unique male scent. He smelt of the ocean and spice and something else...she could not put her finger on it.

He looked deep into her eyes and said, "I'm looking forward to getting to know you better red hot chilli."

Before she knew it, he had caught her hand and had kissed it again, a hard kiss this time, full of promise and meaning.

Her heart was still thumping when she went to bed that night. Lou Grant was a rollercoaster ride and she had never been a rollercoaster kind of girl.