there a moment ago … andshe froze, which was odd since she felt so, so hot. ‘It’s strictly business—you said so yourself.’ Her words were crisp, cool and PA efficient to counteract the heat emanating between their bodies. ‘You laid out the terms very clearly.’
‘That’s true.’ Leaning down, he traced the neckline of her dress with a finger. ‘Just because we have a business arrangement, doesn’t mean it has to be all work. We can still keep it professional—’ he removed his finger from the top of her dress and placed his palm flat on the wall beside her head ‘—but there’s no reason we can’t make it a bit of a holiday as well.’
She stared up at him, hair burnished teak by the suspended old-gold light in the foyer, not trusting herself to argue with his thought process. But a holiday fling? With one’s business partner?
And
keep it professional? Wasn’t going to happen.
She lifted her chin. ‘You said our arrangement had nothing to do with the fact that you were attracted to me.’
‘It doesn’t.’ He grinned, revealing even white teeth. ‘We’ll keep business and personal separate.’
‘So what’s this evening about, then? The
now
part of this evening.’
‘Getting better acquainted.’ His gaze slid to her lips. ‘Isn’t that what you said earlier?’
‘I … Yes.’ Didn’t have to mean anything sexual, right? Of course they needed to get to know each other better. She could feel her legs giving way, her back sliding down the wall. ‘But I don’t think kissing’s a good idea …’
‘Why not? We really need to practise if we’re to pull off the newlyweds charade.’
‘No PDA’s in Dubai, remember, so it’s
really
not necessary. Since we won’t be kissing in public. Or anywhere else …’
‘But it’ll give us that aura of implied intimacy. You know that look you see between two people that signals to the rest of the world that they’re lovers?’
Her head bobbed once. ‘Uh-huh …’ Just as she recognised the look he was giving her now signalled
Danger: Intimacy Ahead
.
‘Whisky eyes.’ His breath feathered over her lips as he looked at her, his cobalt eyes dark with desire. ‘I could get intoxicated just looking at them.’
‘Seductive words.’ And she refused to be seduced so easily. ‘So were you intoxicated the last time you kissed me?’
‘Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact. And it was hardly a kiss.’
And she’d have agreed with him no matter how devastatingly intimate the kiss had seemed at the time, but before she could get a word out his mouth pounced on hers. Bold, predatory and without warning.
Reacting on instinct, her hands rushed up to push at his chest—to push him away—but her fingers had a mind of their own; they clutched at his jacket lapels and held on tight. Forget keeping her distance—how could she push him away when right now she wanted his mouth on hers more than air? Her eyes slid shut.
He deepened the kiss and she answered, her lips parting willingly beneath his demanding tongue. His taste was dark and rich, smooth and velvety—a moan rose up her throat—those
after-dinner delights
she’d been thinking of earlier and then some.
He dragged his hands down her sides, over her waist, the flare of her hips. Lower. Big hands spreading across her buttocks, tucking her in close, so that she could feel the hot, hard length of him.
Heat and sizzle and danger. It was like being swept up in a forest fire and her entire body was turning to flame. She might have tried again to stop him and to make some sense of … whatever this was, but her brain was frazzled from all the heat and the message wasn’t getting through to her limbs.
He lifted his lips a fraction. ‘Now
that’s
a kiss,’ he murmured. She felt his hands lift away from her body, coolness drifting in to take their place. She pried her heavy-lidded eyes open to see him staring down at her, a gleam in his gaze that had nothing to do with the hall
‘That’s true.’ Leaning down, he traced the neckline of her dress with a finger. ‘Just because we have a business arrangement, doesn’t mean it has to be all work. We can still keep it professional—’ he removed his finger from the top of her dress and placed his palm flat on the wall beside her head ‘—but there’s no reason we can’t make it a bit of a holiday as well.’
She stared up at him, hair burnished teak by the suspended old-gold light in the foyer, not trusting herself to argue with his thought process. But a holiday fling? With one’s business partner?
And
keep it professional? Wasn’t going to happen.
She lifted her chin. ‘You said our arrangement had nothing to do with the fact that you were attracted to me.’
‘It doesn’t.’ He grinned, revealing even white teeth. ‘We’ll keep business and personal separate.’
‘So what’s this evening about, then? The
now
part of this evening.’
‘Getting better acquainted.’ His gaze slid to her lips. ‘Isn’t that what you said earlier?’
‘I … Yes.’ Didn’t have to mean anything sexual, right? Of course they needed to get to know each other better. She could feel her legs giving way, her back sliding down the wall. ‘But I don’t think kissing’s a good idea …’
‘Why not? We really need to practise if we’re to pull off the newlyweds charade.’
‘No PDA’s in Dubai, remember, so it’s
really
not necessary. Since we won’t be kissing in public. Or anywhere else …’
‘But it’ll give us that aura of implied intimacy. You know that look you see between two people that signals to the rest of the world that they’re lovers?’
Her head bobbed once. ‘Uh-huh …’ Just as she recognised the look he was giving her now signalled
Danger: Intimacy Ahead
.
‘Whisky eyes.’ His breath feathered over her lips as he looked at her, his cobalt eyes dark with desire. ‘I could get intoxicated just looking at them.’
‘Seductive words.’ And she refused to be seduced so easily. ‘So were you intoxicated the last time you kissed me?’
‘Stone-cold sober, as a matter of fact. And it was hardly a kiss.’
And she’d have agreed with him no matter how devastatingly intimate the kiss had seemed at the time, but before she could get a word out his mouth pounced on hers. Bold, predatory and without warning.
Reacting on instinct, her hands rushed up to push at his chest—to push him away—but her fingers had a mind of their own; they clutched at his jacket lapels and held on tight. Forget keeping her distance—how could she push him away when right now she wanted his mouth on hers more than air? Her eyes slid shut.
He deepened the kiss and she answered, her lips parting willingly beneath his demanding tongue. His taste was dark and rich, smooth and velvety—a moan rose up her throat—those
after-dinner delights
she’d been thinking of earlier and then some.
He dragged his hands down her sides, over her waist, the flare of her hips. Lower. Big hands spreading across her buttocks, tucking her in close, so that she could feel the hot, hard length of him.
Heat and sizzle and danger. It was like being swept up in a forest fire and her entire body was turning to flame. She might have tried again to stop him and to make some sense of … whatever this was, but her brain was frazzled from all the heat and the message wasn’t getting through to her limbs.
He lifted his lips a fraction. ‘Now
that’s
a kiss,’ he murmured. She felt his hands lift away from her body, coolness drifting in to take their place. She pried her heavy-lidded eyes open to see him staring down at her, a gleam in his gaze that had nothing to do with the hall
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