“Your name, but I didn’t catch it.” He grinned, showing a full set of pearly whites that sparkled under the sunlight.
"She's…" Joe started to say, but a look from me made him clamp his mouth shut. “I’ll let you two talk,” Joe excused himself and hastily walked away to speak with the two masons that were looking for him earlier.
“I’ve asked you politely. Don’t make me call my security guys on you,” I said, taking a step closer to Mr. Levine.
He stepped forward, and we were standing chest to chest in a standoff. Before I realized his intention, he lowered his head and dropped a kiss on my lips. It was brief, but he was close enough for me to inhale his masculine scent intermixed with cologne. I was shaken, and it took me some seconds to regain my composure to slap him across the face. He grabbed my wrist and dropped a soft kiss on the back of my hand. I yanked my hand away and stepped back.
"I stole a kiss from you, and I'd like to give it back to you," he said with a million-watt smile. “When do you want me to return it to you?”
“If you don’t get out of here,” I threatened, jabbing a finger into his chest. “Get the hell off my construction site.”
He stared into my eyes, and we had a stare down until he backed away and lifted his hands in defeat. I whirled around and walked away before he could realize how shaken I was by that kiss.
Lord, that kiss…
I touched my lips.
It'd been ages since someone stepped into my personal space, much less kissed me. I wiped the back of my hand against my lips as if I could erase that brief kiss, but the movement only reminded me that his lips had been there. Ward Levine was a charmer and a sweet talker. Fortunately, I was no longer the naive girl I used to be. I could pick his game apart. There was no way I would fall for the trap he was trying to set.
Chapter Two
Ward
Mira McBride.
The name suited her. It had a nice ring to it. My cheek still hurt from the slap she landed, but I couldn't get her out of my mind. She was feisty, gorgeous, independent, and strong-willed. All of the things I loved in my women. Did I mention she was gorgeous? Man, she was fine. Every delicate curve of her body made it impossible to mask my attraction.
Mira was beautiful with dark brown eyes and a small build that had, astoundingly, constructed many tall buildings. When I said small build, I meant her height compared to mine, because Mira was curvaceousness and thickness wrapped into a neat little fireball. Her backside was so round and luscious that I could see it as I walked toward her and Joe. Standing clearly a foot underneath me, the short, curvaceous woman with a memorable personality held my senses hostage. She smelled like a spring flower, looked like a winter rose, and her lips tasted as sweet as chamomile. I couldn’t explain why I felt the need to flirt with her, but I enjoyed getting a reaction out of her far more than I should have. She was so feisty that it did something to me.
As a man about his business, a successful business tycoon was what they called me, and I was used to women throwing themselves at me. I loved to do the chasing, but I found it thrilling when women made the first move. Successful businesswomen and celebrities offered their phone numbers without me having to ask for it, and I had tons of invitations to private dinners and concerts from beautiful women, many of whom I turned down. But Mira was different. She had a fire lit deep down inside of her, and I wanted it to ignite me too.
She exuded feminism and class, yet she had proven to have a good head for business. I couldn’t figure out why I instantly felt drawn to her when I was used to all types of women, from moguls to airheads, swooning over me. Maybe it was because women never said no to me. Mira turning me down made me want to know more about her. To know how to bend her to my will.
Every woman has a price. What is hers?
Was it an expensive piece of jewelry or a romp in bed? Those things could make a woman beholden to you for life. Something told me that wouldn’t work for Mira. She seemed wary of men like she didn’t trust easily. She was a mystery—an enigma even, and she had my full attention.
Usually, I liked to play a game where I guessed how long a woman would be able to keep my attention. The only woman who had been able to hold my attention for three months was a Persian beauty called Crescent. I didn’t know if Crescent was her real name or not, but she was skilled in bed and adventurous. We had passionate sex for three, hot, long months until I walked
into my house one day, looked at her, decided it was over and sent her packing.
If Mira was a good girl, she should be able to keep my attention for a few weeks before I wandered on to my next adventure. I wanted to see her again and have a taste of her. I would find a way to push her over and out of her business, or I would get her to spread her thick brown legs before the week was over. Perhaps both. It was a challenge I was willing to take.
I figured Mira must’ve been a private person. Despite her success, there weren't any details about her personal life on social media. I picked up my tablet and typed her name into the search engine again as the intercom on my desk rang, and the voice of my secretary came through the line.
“I’m sorry to bother you, sir. I have found a good construction company that can handle the new office building project we want to execute,” Mariah said, sounding as if she’d just hit pay dirt.
Mira's growling voice sending me away suddenly resonated in my head. Then, an idea came to mind. I felt the blood rushing through my veins. God, I wanted to have her in my bed. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair and caress her voluptuous curves until she spread them for me and begged me to make love to her.
If she proved too stubborn to take to bed, maybe I could at least get her to build the new offices for me at a cheaper rate. That way, I would have more time to convince her she belonged in my bed. Women loved to be sweet talked and treated like a queen, so this should be fun.
A hostile takeover of her company was officially shelved until I could get closer to Mira McBride. I was sure using her company for a building project would make getting close to her easier. She would be flattered I changed course and even more flattered to work for me. Anyone with any teeth in the construction business wanted to work with my family. With my uncle being a senator, the name alone was a force.
“Mr. Levine, are you still there?” Mariah’s voice penetrated my thoughts.
"I have already found a company I’m interested in working with, so I’ll handle it myself," I said to her.
“Sir, would you give me their name so I can arrange a meeting?” Mariah sounded a bit agitated. She had been working tirelessly in search of a good construction company that was in my price range and produced quality work. The ones we normally used were booked out for months with other projects for our firm.