Page 5 of Seductive Hearts

If that were true, I would have to start using more sanitizer. Who knew where he had been? “I’ll show you to my office,” I offered as I stood. I hope sandwiches and salad will be all right for lunch.”

Colton laughed. “Are you kidding? It will be the most nourishing meal I’ve had lately. It turns out the olives from a martini don’t count as a serving of vegetables.” Dad had to go and laugh at Colton’s weak joke, which, of course, only encouraged him. I settled on leading the way out the door without bothering to wait for him to join me.

He would have to follow me.

He’d better hope he can keep up.

It was only when he fell in step behind me that I realized he was probably looking at my ass. I came within a heartbeat of swinging my hips before stopping myself. Things would be bad enough without me egging him on. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was deliberately teasing.

“That’s a nice suit,” he murmured almost too softly. It was barely audible, but the meaning was obvious. That was all I was to him—someone to have fun with, like the empty-headed girls he usually preyed on. The ones who didn’t bother looking beneath that gorgeous, perfectly put-together façade. If they ever had, they would have found nothing. Emptiness.

“So, how come I never see you around town?” he asked in a breezy, carefree tone as we entered my office. “I run into your twin cousins, Aria and Valentina, all the time.”

Sliding his hands into the pockets of his slacks, he gave the room an approving look. “I even run into my sister sometimes,” he continued, taking in the blown-up fashion sketches on the walls—vintage designs from the company’s early days. “But never you. Don’t tell me you’ve been avoiding me all this time.”

Colton didn’t get it. He still thought this was a big joke—an excuse to flirt, to exploit our longtime acquaintance. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he figured he’d get off easy, thanks to that connection. He probably imagined he would coast by and take credit for the project’s success. It was enough to make me boil.

“Let’s get one thing straight.” Folding my arms, I lifted my chin, staring at him head-on. I wouldn’t give him an excuse to joke about me avoiding him ever again. That was a mistake, and I couldn’t afford to make any with Colton Black. “We’re not here to screw around, and I’m not charmed as easily as my dad. If you make another comment about my suit or anything else about me, I’ll have you kicked off this project. Got it?” He was lucky I bit my tongue before threatening to kick him in the balls while I was at it. I was damn proud of my self-control, along with my strength. The wide-eyed teenager was long gone, and it was about time he figured it out.

I didn’t expect him to cower.

I didn’t expect him to roll over and show me his belly like a submissive puppy.

I also didn’t expect the slow, knowing grin my warning inspired.

Somehow, I had flipped a switch, and all at once, the professional image dropped away to reveal the Colton I’d known was waiting all along. “Careful, now,” he growled out, his flashing eyes moving up and down my body. “Maybe I like it when a woman gets mouthy. You’d better stop getting me excited, or we won’t be able to get any work done at all.”

I should have ordered him out, called my father’s office, and refused to go through with the arrangement. What did I do instead? I blushed to the roots of my hair and had to consciously keep my knees from shaking under the weight of his seductive stare. Much more of this, and I’d be begging him to take me on my desk—repeatedly.

He wouldn’t make it easy to keep things professional.

If this were any indication, it would be downright impossible.

But come hell or high water, I would resist him.

3

COLTON

If this kept up much longer, I’d have to put that smart mouth of hers to better use.

Her haughty, bossy attitude was getting to me. Nobody talked to me like that. The bitchier she got, the more determined I became to break her down. It would take nothing to get her purring like a kitten.

My comments were enough to make her drop the bitch act long enough for me to see the truth. The girl standing in front of me was defenseless, though she was also stubborn enough to pretend otherwise. She tossed her head back, and I caught her blonde hair's light, sweet scent.

Hunger rolled through me like a wave, leaving me with the urge to bury my face in her neck and commit her to memory, but I couldn’t go around drooling over her. “Do you think that’s funny?” she asked coldly.

“Does it sound like I’m joking?” I countered. “Let’s get one thing straight, you and me. I didn’t come here to get scolded like a bad little boy, and I know this isn’t fun and games. But I won’t walk around on my tiptoes, afraid to be real. We aren’t strangers, Rose.”

She had perfected the disparaging eye roll. Only my sister, Sienna, was better at it than Rose. “Don’t think you’re going to use that against me,” she warned, and the disgust behind it made my blood simmer.

The fuck was her problem?

I could barely swallow my irritation to choke out, “How would I use it against you? Isn’t this the way the world works? People who know each other work together, or they recommend each other to their network. Where is the crime in working alongside someone you grew up with?”

The way she frowned stirred my interest, like she was expecting something else. What did she want me to say? I figured I had her pegged, and for the most part, I was right.

Rose was the ice queen whose shit didn’t stink, holding herself superior to me.

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