“You know,” I say, putting my cup on the table and closing the small distance between us. “I’ve got an idea on how to make your writing a little more interesting.”
“Do you now?” Her eyes go wide in fake surprise but she doesn’t move away. Instead, she holds my gaze with her own, a wicked smile playing on her lips. “And how exactly can we do that?”
I move even closer, backing her up until she’s pressed against the stone railing and I’m pressed up against all those lush curves of hers. She’s tall—close to six feet even in her work shoes—and she fits nicely against my own six-foot-four frame.
“Why don’t you let me show you?” I say, leaning in so that my breath is hot against her ear. I’m rewarded when she shivers, just a little. “I’m an action-oriented kind of guy.”
“I just bet you are.” She slaps a hand on my chest, pushes until I back up a little. “But, sadly, my break is just about over. I need to go.”
She slides out from between me and the railing, and reaches over to drop the scotch and club soda back into the cooler. Then she gathers up our empty cups and heads for the door back inside.
I take hold of her hand, spin her around until she’s facing me again. “You’re really going back to work?”
Savvy smiles, obviously amused by my disbelief. “I really am.”
“I thought we were having a moment here.”
“We were having several moments.” She reaches up with her free hand and pats my cheek. “And now they’re over.”
“They don’t have to be.” I place my free hand on her lower back, press her against me. Despite her words, her body is pliant and her nipples peaked as she lets me hold her close. “Trust me, Savvy. I can make you feel good.”
She laughs then, and somehow it’s even sexier than before. What is it about this woman that turns me on even when she’s laughing at me?
“I just bet you can.” She leans forward and brushes her lips against mine. Electricity arcs between us at the brief contact. “But not here and not tonight.”
I hold her tight, go in for another, deeper kiss. One that has her moaning low in her throat and has my every nerve ending standing up and taking notice. “Where and when then?” I ask, when she finally pulls back. “You name the place.”
She just shakes her head, shifts against me. I can feel it now, the way she’s poised to flee despite the need winding its way around us like a vine. The knowledge only makes me hold on tighter, a part of me afraid she’ll disappear like Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.
Thank God it’s only ten-thirty.
“I have to go,” she says again.
“At least give me your number. Your last name. Something.”
“And what exactly would you do with my number or my last name, Prince Kian?”
This time I don’t like the emphasis she puts on my title, any more than I like the distance she puts between us when she pulls away. “I’d call you up and ask you out on a proper date.”
“The prince and the pauper?” Now she sounds downright mocking. “I know how that one ends.”
“I think you’ve got your fairy tales confused.”
She tilts her head, studies me. “But my fairy godmother’s been on vacation for a decade or two, so there’s no taking chances. Besides, I’ve never really liked Cinderella.”
“So? You’re the writer. Why don’t you change the story?”
She cups her hand around the back of my neck, tugs my head down for a swift, hard kiss. Then pulls back and smiles up at me. “I already have.”
And then she’s gone, slipping through the door and out into the hallway.
I follow her—of course I do—and plow straight into Lucas. “Get out of my way!” I order, in too much of a hurry to be polite. He’s blocked my way just long enough for Savvy to get a head start down the hallway.
He moves, but the couple of seconds he takes are all she needs to disappear onto the open elevator at the end of the hall. I give chase, but the doors close before I get there. Damn it.
“Is everything okay, Kian?” Lucas asks and for the first time I realize he’s followed me down the hallway.
We’ve always been friends as much as we’ve been prince and bodyguard, which is the only reason I drop my guard enough to say, “I need to find out who she is.”