A part of Adie hesitated, wondering what her real motivations were. Was she acting like this because it was that time of year? The season of doubts and regrets and over-thinking. During the festive season she always, always second guessed herself...
Was she making the right choices? Was she really happy with her life? What if this, what if that...
But no one had ever made her feel so much, so soon. It had been a long, long time since she’d used a man, and she’d never jumped into bed so quickly, but nobody had ever made her feel like this. She wanted more. She wanted one night of wild passion and if his kisses were a prelude to the main event, she was in for the treat of a lifetime.
She was a grown woman and she was allowed to explore her sexuality so, tonight, she wasn’t going to second-guess herself, to wonder if she was falling back into old, destructive patterns. In the morning she could analyze her actions and deal with her regret, but she wasn’t going to do that tonight.
Not with him.
“I have a room, upstairs,” Adie whispered, her heart in her throat.
His thumb drifted over her bottom lip, tense and expectant. As he opened his mouth to speak, her phone jangled from across the room. Not interested in anything anyone else had to say, she stared at him, waiting for his answer. Why was he hesitating? Was he playing hard to get?
“I—” Her phone rang again and Adie, through her lust, recognized the ring tone. It was Kate. If she didn’t answer, her friend would keep calling. She was pain-in-the-ass persistent.
Adie pushed him back and jumped to the floor. “Sorry, if I don’t answer, she’ll keep calling.”
He nodded and Adie brushed past him to walk over to her bag, yanking her phone out of the side pocket. Annoyed and frustrated, she scowled at the screen and jabbed the answer button.
“What?”
“I just realized that I left you to pack up. I’m on my way back to help you...”
Seriously? Nooooo!
“I don’t like you being on your own with so many valuable items. I mean, the security there is good, but anyone could con his way in...”
Adie’s eyes darted across the room to where he stood, hands in his pockets, pulling the fabric of his pants against his still-hard erection. Who was he and what was he really doing here? As blood returned to her brain, Kate’s words sank in and Adie bit her lip, her eyes flying over the table. Had he kissed her to distract her, so he could slip something valuable into his pocket? The dog collar was too big but the diamond-encrusted bottle stoppers and the gold memory sticks were easily hidden.
And had she really invited him up to her room? Would she have walked away with him without securing the room? Possibly.
Probably.
Oh, God...what the hell was wrong with her? He was a stranger and she’d been about to risk her body and her safety and her business? She was acting like she had when she was a young adult, impulsively and without thought, looking for attention, a distraction.
She refused to go back there, go back to that person she’d been. She’d worked too hard to jeopardize everything she’d work so hard to achieve, to become the person she was.
No man, no matter how attracted she was to him, was worth her backsliding even an inch.
Adie disconnected her call with Kate and folded her arms across her chest, forcing herself to meet his eyes. Passion had fled and his gaze was now concrete gray and hard.
“I see the moment has passed and your offer has been withdrawn.”
Adie bit her bottom lip. She jerked her head toward the door. “I think I got a bit carried away,” she said, her voice low. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
He walked over and stopped an inch from her. Adie refused to move—her pride was back—and she kept her folded arms as a barrier against him coming any closer.
She stiffened as he dropped a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “Don’t hurt yourself counting stock, I didn’t steal anything.” He dropped another kiss on her cheekbone and then her temple. “Thanks for the chocolate. And the drink.”
“It was nice meeting you.” He gave her a sexy smirk but Adie noticed his smile didn’t soften his eyes. “But kissing you was better.”
Adie said nothing as he turned away. She watched him walk to the door, biting down on her bottom lip to keep herself from calling him back, from begging him to take her up to her room and show her how good sex could be.
Because she knew with him it would be too bloody fantastic.
Christmas was a pain in the ass, Hunter Sheridan decided, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on the corner of his desk.
After Thanksgiving, productivity went down, laziness went up and it felt like every one of his employees was distracted by thinking about, planning for and chatting over holiday festivities.