“You realise you just dismissed the Vice President from this room?”
He shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
“But… that was rude.”
“No. Eugene is like a second father to me. He could never be offended by my actions. He knows I hold him in the highest regard.”
“Oh.” Her tongue darted out, running along her lower lip. Tamir’s eyes dropped to it, and his gut kicked with desire.
“May I escort you home.”
Her eyes flared. “Absolutely not.”
“May I ask why not?”
She bit down on her lower lip. “I came here with Jack, for one thing.”
Tamir was surprised by the searing flash of jealousy. After all, Olivia was not his. Not yet. Their acquaintance was characterised by minutes, not months. “So? Can he not find his own way home?”
She shook her head. “It’s not that. I… I can’t go home with you.”
“I am not asking you to.” Not yet, anyway, he silently tacked on.
She lowered her gaze, focussing on a small mark in the rich red carpet. “I don’t believe you.”
God, she was sexy. He stepped closer, and was pleased when she didn’t step away.
Olivia’s breath was laboured; her whole body seemed to throb with a completely foreign sensation. The power and appeal of this man was like a drug, pulsing through her, making her limbs heavy, and her heart race.
“I saw you as soon as you entered the theatre this evening.” His words were a thick, quiet promise. An unspoken pledge of what he wanted to give her. “And I thought you were captivating.”
She shook
her head, but her shoes seemed filled with lead, for all the power she had to step away from him. He moved closer again, his broad frame now so close she could almost feel the warmth emanating from his body.
“I’m not, I assure you.”
He pressed a finger under her chin, gently coaxing her face to look at his. Her sharp intake of breath was thrilling. She wanted him to kiss her. He’d known many women in his thirty four years. And he was an expert at reading their body language. Her eyes dropped to his lips, as though she were willing him to close the gap. And he would, in good time.
“Why do you say that?”
Her heart turned over in her chest. Her body seemed to hum with a fever pitch of need. Out of nowhere, she felt like everything in her life had brought her to this moment. Her blood was pounding through her veins so fast she could hear it in her ears. Like a drum beat of encouragement, it was drowning out her doubts and common sense.
“Huh?”
He lifted his thumb and padded it across her lower lip. “Why do you say you’re not captivating?”
Her moan was a husk of sound, but he heard it. His body tightened in response. “Because… I’m just… me. If anything, I’m very boring.”
He nodded, allowing his other hand to lift to her hip. He could feel her body through the thin fabric of her dress. He ached for more. So much more.
“I don’t believe it.”
Olivia couldn’t reply. Her mouth was too dry to form words. Her lips were parted. And her body, without her permission, pressed forward, connecting their torsos. Tamir’s eyes flared wide, his whole sense of need threatening to spiral out of control.
“Come to my embassy tomorrow,” he said darkly, aching to plunge his tongue between her parted lips, and show her what her body was capable of feeling.
Olivia would go to the moon with him, if he asked. In that moment, she wanted to stay in the little bubble that seemed to have engulfed them, and never break free. “Why?” She whispered, keeping her hands at her side, though they were tingling with the instinct to touch.