I nodded and set down my glass. “We don’t need to do it right now; we can set another meeting if you’d prefer. And Colton, you won’t need to be here for that.”
He tossed back the remaining small portion of his scotch, then pushed to his feet. “On that note, are you okay to take it from here? I need to shoot.”
Rising to escort him from my office, I tried to ignore the rising heat, knowing that Rafael was tracking my every move.
“Thank you for stopping by, Colton.”
He gave a lop-sided smile. “Pleasure. And I’m pleased to hear you experienced street racing first-hand.”
I arched a brow. “I feel I should charge you extra for that little stunt. You knew we’d meet,” I murmured, referring to the sexy man still occupying one of my office couches.
Colton chuckled. “And if I’d told you in advance, would you have Googled him, then jumped to conclusions?”
“You know damn well I would have.”
He laughed louder. “Exactly.”
After calling, “Later, man,” to Raf, Colton nodded a final goodbye, then made his way to the foyer.
Roxiee gave me a look from her desk that told me she was barely holding it together, then flapped her hand, reminding me I still had a client waiting.
Taking a deep breath for composure, I turned on my stilettos and strode over to where Rafael waited patiently. Much to my surprise, he rose to his feet and waited until I was seated before re-seating himself.
“Down to business, then?” he said smoothly, in the same honeyed voice that had made me come alive approximately thirty-six hours ago.
“That’s why we’re here.”
I set up a voice recorder on the table so I could replay our conversation later, but before I could press record, Rafael leaned over and clasped his hand over mine.
“We first have an agreement to settle;offthe record.”
I double-blinked and looked directly into his eyes. So dark. So much alluring depth. So easy to get drawn into the unknown that lingered within.
“I don’t believe we do.”
His rolling chuckle strummed my senses. “Oh, mamacita, wecertainlydo.”
“Greer,” I corrected, for the second time.
Another chuckle resonated through me. “Greer.”
He smirked devilishly, easily creating a rush of heat to pool low in my belly. His expression then altered without warning.
“You said I couldn’t have it both ways; winning the race and dating you. I’m here to prove I can.” The tick of his jaw belied his outward composure.
A bewildered breath fell from my mouth. “Good luck with that.”
“I don’t need luck.”
“You’re not going to let this drop, are you?”
Removing his hand from mine and giving me much needed breathing space, he casually reclined into the couch. “Nope.”
I inhaled slowly, wishing I could refill my scotch, but not trusting myself to keep my head. I watched him carefully, noting how his intense stare didn’t waver under my appraisal. If anything, he drew power from it, charging the air between us until thoughts of our first encounter invaded my mind.
He lifted a brow in a silent question.What’s it going to be?
I held his gaze, refusing to back down. “You’re in my world now, Mr. Ortiz. That means you play bymyrules.”