“Yes. No.” She shook her head, staring at his boots because she was too mortified to look up at him.
“Tell me, Charli.”
She didn’t want to talk to him. Didn’t want to lay her shame bare. But in that moment, she couldn’t stuff it down any longer. She swiped at her ridiculous tears. “I’ve spent my whole life working hard, proving myself. And no matter what I do, everyone always wants what I’m not.”
“What are you talking about? Is this about your job?”
“My job, my mother…you.”
“Me?” he asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.
She raised her gaze to him and managed a well-duh smirk. “If I didn’t make it embarrassingly clear last night in the bathroom, I’m attracted to you. And of course, you can’t be a guy who would just want to have a quick fling with someone like me. No, you want the epitome of all that is stereotypically feminine. The gorgeous goddess on her knees.”
The lines around his mouth deepened. “Charli.”
She raised her palm. “Please. Don’t. If you say some pitying comment, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
His shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh. “That’s not what I was going to do.”
She stepped around him, walking to the window on the far side of the room and putting her back to him. “Right.”
She heard his boots against the floor as he turned around, but he didn’t come any closer. “Believe what you want, but let me say my piece. Since the night I found you out on the road, I haven’t stopped imagining what it would be like to get you in my bed. Every time you talk back to me, I want to hush you up in all kinds of creative ways. And last night, it took every letter of my moral code to walk out and not take full advantage of the situation.”
Her blood seemed to halt in her veins, her whole body pausing as if to make sure she’d heard him right. His footfalls sounded behind her, and then his scent was invading the air around her.
“Attraction is not the issue.” His hands were on her shoulders again and she let him turn her around. His blue eyes found hers, the stark desire in them stripping her defenses. “But I don’t have simple flings. I don’t do simple anything. My tastes are intense and specific. And beyond the fact that I don’t want to mess with my friend’s sister, you’re not a submissive. I don’t do the vanilla thing.”
Her heart was a hard, pounding knot in her throat. He was too close for her to get her thoughts in order. “Vanilla?”
“Regular sex and relationships. I’m not satisfied in that kind of dynamic.”
She blinked, her tears forgotten. He didn’t do normal sex at all? And…“Wait, you think I’m attractive?”
He laughed and lowered his hands to his sides. “Good grief, freckles. Is that your first question for me after my big I’m-a-kinky-bastard confession?”
She crossed her arms. “Yes. I need to hear what you think. The truth.”
He looked to the heavens as if pleading for some divine patience. “The truth? You’re hardheaded, you wear clothes too big for that body of yours, and you have awful taste in wine. But yes, I wanted you so badly last night that I could barely make it back to my cabin before wrapping my hand around my cock and jerking off to thoughts of you.”
Even the tips of her ears went hot at that. “Well, there’s a backhanded compliment if I’ve ever heard one.”
He shrugged. “You wanted the truth. Would you rather I bullshit you?”
She glanced down at her comfy T-shirt and loose jeans, seeing her clothes through his eyes instead of hers for the first time. “No. I can take it.”
He tucked his hands in his pockets, his expression turning resigned. “Go back to your cabin, Charli. Don’t tell anyone about this place, and we’ll move on.”
“So that’s it?”
“We’ve got nothing left to discuss.” He turned around and headed through the side door that led to his office. He picked up the phone, keeping his back to her. “Marc, can you come to my office and make sure Ms. Beaumonde makes it back to her cabin safely? Thanks.”
And with that, she was dismissed.
So they were attracted to each other and it didn’t matter. Because she wasn’t some dainty, submissive girly girl.
If she were, then he’d probably have his mouth on her right now. And hell, she’d probably have her promotion, too.
The thought was like a match being struck. She peeked over at Grant again, a small smile forming on her lips.