Page 5 of The Player

‘Good for you.’

‘Thanks.’ She smiled again, sweet and genuine, and he couldn’t fathom the bizarre urge to linger, chat, and get to know her.

She wasn’t in his plans for this evening. Then again, what did he have to look forward to? Putting on a front for a bunch of back-slapping phoneys and gritting his teeth to stop from calling his stepmother a few unsavoury names?

He knew what he’d rather be doing.

And he was looking straight at her.

‘Do you want to get out of here?’

Her eyes widened in surprise before a disapproving frown slashed between them. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I make polite small talk for thirty-seconds and you’re propositioning me?’

She shook her head, her disgust palpable.

‘Let me rephrase that.’ He tried his best smile, the one he used to win friends and influence colleagues. Her frown deepened. ‘What I meant was, I’ve had a long day. My flight landed in Melbourne this morning, then I had to attend this shindig for work tonight, and I’m already tired of the schmoozing.’

He gestured at the balcony around them. ‘Considering you’re out here to get away from the crowd, I assumed you’re probably over it too?’

Her wary nod encouraged him to continue when he should cut his losses and run.

‘The way I see it, we have two choices. Head back in there and bore ourselves silly for the next hour or we can head down to the bar in the lobby, have a martini, and unwind before we head home. I mean, before we go our separate ways.’

The corners of her mouth twitched at his correction.

‘What do you say? Take pity on a guy and put him out of his misery by saving him from another interminable stint in there?’

Damn, he’d made a fool of himself, blathering like an idiot. What was it about this cool, classy blonde that had him rattled?

He’d had her pegged wrong and he, better than anyone, should know never to judge the proverbial book by its cover.

‘So you weren’t propositioning me?’

Was that a hint of disappointment?

Mentally chastising himself for wishful thinking, he mimicked her frown. ‘Sadly, no. I’m too jet-lagged to—’

He bit off the rest of what he was about to say when her eyebrow arched.

Yep, he was screwing this up royally.

‘To what?’

At last, she smiled and it made him feel oddly excited, as if he wanted to see her do it again.

‘To muster up enough charm to ensure you couldn’t say no.’

She chuckled and he joined in.

‘I like a guy with confidence.’ She laid her champagne glass on the ledge. ‘Let’s go get that martini.’

He didn’t have to be asked twice. ‘You really made me work for that acceptance.’

As he gestured for her to take the stairs ahead of him, she cast him a coy glance from beneath her lashes. ‘Didn’t you know? You need to work your ass off for anything worth having.’

‘Is that right?’

‘Absolutely.’ She nodded, strands of artfully curled golden silk falling around her face in gorgeous disarray. ‘Nothing better than nailing a challenge.’

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