Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Sorry, not a chance.
I’d been less than thrilled when L had called and interrupted my meeting with the heads of US marketing, but my sister-in-law’s frantic voice had cured that instantly. Someone had threatened her older sister with a gun, and I was closest, already in New York.
By the time she’d put my brother on the phone, I was already out the conference room door and heading for the elevators. I promised to make sure this had nothing to do with L or the dangerous man she’d escaped from last year.
One quick conversation with the delightful woman at the front desk and I felt confident Kara’s ordeal was unrelated.
I let my gaze drift down to her perfect ass as she walked ahead of me. I hadn’t gotten a good look last time, and I studied it now until she turned into her office. I’d swear she’d grown hotter over the last six months.
The night we’d met, I decided I was going to sleep with her, and as soon as the meal was over, I’d set her in a cab and told her this. Scheiße, I could still remember the shock on her face. Was I an asshole? Yes. And her refusal only made my desire greater.
I had started subtle. The text messages which she sometimes ignored. The invitations to dinner that she always politely declined. The flower arrangements that she said were too much but never asked me to stop sending.
Subtle . . . wasn’t working. So, despite the ordeal she’d been through, I was pleased at this opportunity to try some new strategies.
Kara cast her cold, blue-eyed gaze on me. “Why are you smiling?”
Was I? “It’s nothing,” I said. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She shoved a mouse into a laptop bag. “Laurel shouldn’t have bothered you.”
“She was worried.”
Her hands hurried to get her things together. “There’s no need. I’m okay.”
I had to remind myself to stop thinking about what I wanted and focus on why I was here. “You knew this man? He worked here?”
“Yes,” she said. “He worked here for a long time. Letting him go was unpleasant, and that was before the gun.”
“I’m sure.” I took off my coat and dropped into the chair opposite the desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to finish packing so we can take a late lunch.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I’m not going to lunch with you.”
“You’re not hungry?” I couldn’t help myself and loaded it with innuendo. “I’m hungry.”
For a split second, there was a crack in her facade and a sliver of anxiety seeped through to her face. A gentleman wouldn’t badger her after what she’d just been through, but I was not a gentleman. I might have been accused of it a few times in my past, but those people were mistaken.
Plus, if she was anything like her sister, she could handle me. In fact, I suspected Kara was the tougher of the two Hayward sisters, and that was saying something.
“No,” she said. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
My tone was light, teasing. “Come on. I came across Midtown.”
“I didn’t ask you to do that.” She had all her items gathered, ready to leave, and clearly stalled. “Do you want me to reimburse you for the Uber?”
I laughed, full throated. People like me didn’t use Uber, and she knew it, but I’d play along with her joke.
“You think I can’t afford it?” I said. “Sorry. You probably couldn’t understand that with the silver spoon in my mouth.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Thanks for stopping by to check on me, but I need to get going.”
“Let me give you a ride.” I hadn’t intended it to sound sexual, but of course it came out that way.
“No,” she replied, far too quickly. “No, thank you.”
She seemed to view me as an opponent. Why did I enjoy it so much?
“Have I done something to upset you?” I said, relaxed. “You don’t seem to like me very much.”
“I don’t know you.”
“That’s not true. We talk almost every day.” She gave me a flat look, and I shrugged. “You don’t want to get to know me?”
“Not particularly.”
I grinned. She wasn’t a good liar. “Why not?”
“Because of the flowers,” she said. “Because you make me,” she searched for the right word, “uncomfortable.” Only she said it like I filled her with heat and longing she didn’t want to have.
“I do? Why do you think that is?” I rose from my seat and stepped closer, the air instantly thick between us.
“What you want from me . . .” Her voice went low and breathless. “I already told you I’m not interested.”
I made sure my voice sounded skeptical. “You did say that.”
“I meant it.”
“If that were true, then you have no reason to be uncomfortable,” I said. “But if it’s not true . . .”
“I meant it, Shawn.”
It was convincing enough this time to give me pause.