‘Tell the lodge to keep the deposit and I’ll rebook for another time,’ Cole told her. ‘Please book two rooms in Colesberg, and make a booking for two at Rossdale Ski Lodge for two of their best rooms for Saturday and Sunday night.’ He looked at Lex and watched her green eyes widen.
There was a good chance she’d say no, and there was always the chance that their crazy attraction would bubble over and scald them both. But that was a chance he was willing to take.
Was she?
CHAPTER SIX
‘I’MGOINGONa cross-country road trip to Rhodes, in the Eastern Cape. Would you like to come with me?’
Lex blinked, not sure she’d heard him clearly. He couldn’t possibly be asking her to travel halfway across the country, could he? Why? And what,exactly, did he want from her? If he assumed, from one hot encounter, that she was going to provide the additional service of warming his bed, boss or no boss, she’d throw the dregs of her coffee in his face.
There were a few very big steps between one hectic kiss and her hopping into bed with him. And that was a journey she hadn’t taken for years, five or more to be precise. Acquiring two sisters had played havoc on her dating life and libido.
He saw something in her face or eyes that had him straightening his back, his mouth tightening. ‘I’m offering you a job, Lex. It’s a twelve-hour drive to Rhodes, and I will need to spend part of that trip working—I do have an international company to run. I will pay you double your normal rate and will cover the costs of your food and accommodation.’
Right, okay.But they couldn’t ignore their kiss and their crazy, hot attraction.
‘I’m not naïve, Cole, it would be disingenuous to think we’ll keep our hands off each other.’
‘I love your in-my-face honesty, Lex.’
After a lifetime of dealing with her mother’s lies, half-truths and evasions, it was the only way she knew how to operate. ‘I prefer honesty to sugar-coated BS.’
‘And here it is—I do need to go to Rhodes, I need to inspect this ski-lodge and try to figure out what to do with it, and why my usually sensible father lost his head when making decisions about this property,’ Cole said, keeping his tone even. ‘It’s a long drive to do on your own and you are the Thorpe driver kept on retainer to drive.’
She was.
‘But you are also the woman I can’t stop thinking about, and I desperately want to see you naked.’
And there it was, in black and white. ‘I’m shocked by the attraction between us. It’s strong and intense. And unexpected,’ Cole said, spinning his phone on the table before stopping it with his index finger.
Unexpected—that was one way of putting it. She would use other adjectives. Earth-shattering would be one. Other-worldly would be another.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Cole beat her to it. He leaned forward, his hard expression lightening just a fraction.
‘Should I have kissed you? The answer is obvious—no. But I did—we did—and we can’t change that. Do I want to kiss you again? Yes, of course I do. I know how good we can be together. If one kiss can cause so much heat, then there is no doubt that we would contribute to global warming if we got naked together.’ He lifted one powerful shoulder in a shrug. ‘We seem to have chemistry. I have no idea where it came from, but I’m not a teenage boy at the mercy of my hormones. If you say no, then it’s no.’
He lifted his hands and spread them. ‘And nothing that happens between us would affect your job with Thorpe Industries. Yes, if you come with me, there’s a good chance we’ll end up in bed. But that will always be your choice, and I promise not to pressure you. It will be your call and it’s not something you need to decide right now.’
‘It’s not?’
He frowned. ‘No, of course not. Look, if sleeping together is off the table, that’s fine and we’ll still go to Rhodes as friends. If sex happens, great, and if you decided to sleep with me again, I’d be honoured. If it happens and you don’t want to do it again, I’ll back off, no questions asked. You hold all the power here, Lex,’ he added.
Cole rubbed the back of his neck, as if he were uncertain of his words, whether they were the right ones. ‘All I’m asking of you, at this moment, is to come with me, Lex. Step away from real life and let’s go on a road trip, forget about reality for a while. Just you and me, the sky and the road. Let’s go on an adventure.’
Man, when he put it like that...
Lex asked Cole to give her a moment to think, stood up, walked over to the window and laid a hand on its cold pane. She wasn’t naïve. She knew that there was an excellent chance of her ending up in Cole’s bed and in his arms. He’d be her first lover in five years, and probably her last for a long time, because when next would she meet a man she felt so attracted to, someone she could imagine being naked with? The men she met were usually married, and the ones who were divorced but single had the heavy baggage of kids of their own and ex-wives. Cole was hot, single and he wanted her.
But he wouldn’t push her into doing anything she wasn’t comfortable doing. If she decided she was only there in her capacity as a driver, he’d respect her decision and would behave like a gentleman. She trusted him.
And that was strange, because she didn’t trust anyone aside from her sisters.
She didn’t have to decide about sleeping with him now. He wasn’t asking that. All he was asking was to go on a road trip with her. He was offering her the opportunity to leave Cape Town, and her responsibilities, behind.
The girls were away, she didn’t have any assignments due or any upcoming exams, her French student was away and Addi would love to have the house to herself.
There wasn’t any reason to say no—except, somehow and in some way, she knew that any concentrated time she spent with Cole would change her somehow.