Her gaze followed the motion of his hand toward the phone. An easy escape route for her—the request for someone to let her into her own suite. Then she looked back at Evan.
His gut clenched. It wasn’t ju
st that she was so damn beautiful—and yes, so scintillating in lingerie. It was really more the range of emotions flaring in her eyes that spoke to him. Captivated him.
A woman who looked like that shouldn’t be wearing lingerie for only herself to enjoy, and he suspected she was feeling insecure that someone had discovered her secret.
If that was an accurate assumption, he suddenly yearned to kiss away that vulnerability.
He couldn’t even stop himself from saying, “You can contact the front desk. Or…you could stay awhile longer.”
Chapter Three
Staci stared up at the hunky man who’d just kinda-sorta propositioned her.
And who’d sent her pulse through the roof.
She had no idea what possessed her, but she found herself asking, “What are the chances of this remaining…anonymous?”
She was in a stranger’s hotel room in the middle of the night. In a baby doll nightie. She really didn’t need the name Staci Kay on his extremely kissable lips—or for him to make any correlation between the woman standing before him and the owner and founder of Staci Kay Shoes. Particularly given that her logo and the “Leave Your Shoes On” slogan had been plastered all over the Four Seasons this evening.
An innocent slip on his part could be detrimental to her reputation. Especially at such a crucial time for her business, when she was hoping the earlier shoe show would turn her company into a household name—in a good way. Not in the middle-of-the-night, scandalous-rendezvous way.
Which meant that the smartest thing for Staci to do was to go straight to the phone and make that call.
Yet her feet didn’t move her in that direction.
They didn’t move at all.
She continued to stare up at the tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome man and just couldn’t bring herself to make a mad dash out the door.
He was hot. Way hot. Scorchingly hot.
Chiseled muscles. Scruffy jaw that gave him an edgy look. Blazing blue eyes. And his hair…Oh, God, his hair. A bit wavy and a tad on the long side. In complete disarray, making her think of nothing more than rumpling the sheets with him and further mussing those thick, silky-looking strands.
He said, “I suppose I could go along with that.”
“Hmm?” She had no idea what he was talking about.
“Anonymity.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” She let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. “I’d completely forgotten what I’d said.”
He grinned. A devilish one. Her stomach flipped. Her inner thighs flamed.
She was breathless again.
He suggested, “Bill?”
Staci gave a shake of her head.
“Thomas?”
Another shake.
“Edward?”
“How about…Nick?” A bad-boy name that inspired a tickle along her clit. Or perhaps what did the trick was the sinfully delicious man practically devouring her with a hungry gaze.