Page 23 of The Charmer

Which he found incredibly hard to believe considering she was a knockout.

Her green eyes narrowed, as if trying to ascertain if he was serious or toying with her. “Dressed like this and with hair like this?” She plucked at her trendy top and loose curls hanging half way down her back in a frizzy curtain. “What do you think?”

In response, he leaned forward and captured one of those lively, bouncy curls between his thumb and forefinger, rubbing the silky softness. “I think you underestimate yourself. I also think you’re beautiful.”

For one long, loaded moment she stared at him, her eyes glowing with gratitude and something more, something akin to desire, as a smug, secretive smile curved her lips.

He tugged gently on her curl, leaning forward, knowing what he wanted to do was crazy but unable to stop the gravitational pull towards her.

He wanted to drag her across the table, wrap his arms around her, and kiss her senseless. To taste her rosy lips, to silence her sassy mouth for two seconds and see if his spiralling desire was a figment of his imagination or not.

He didn’t think about business or what kissing her could do to his chances for a fair hearing.

He didn’t think about tomorrow.

Instead, caught up in the moment, he leaned forward until their faces almost touched. His heart pounded with expectation as Ariel placed her hand square in the middle of his chest and shoved hard, just like she’d pushed him out the door when she first learned his true identity.

“Smooching up to me isn’t going to win you any extra points. I said I’ll hear you out and I will.”

Ariel acted cool but her fiddling hands told him otherwise as they moved from pushing back her hair to adjusting her top to rearranging the cutlery.

Trying to get his ragged breathing under control, he schooled his face into a polite mask, thankful that one of them had kept their cool and furious it hadn’t been him.

He needed to wrap this up and fast.

He had no room in his life for emotions.

Because the more time he spent in Ariel’s intoxicating company, the more he foundered, and worse, found himself re-evaluating his vows to not get close to anyone.

He had to focus on business.

It was the only way.

“I don’t need to score extra points. My proposal will speak for itself.” He folded his arms and avoided looking at her mouth, the sexy mouth he’d almost kissed a second ago.

“We’ll see, Mr. Big Shot. We’ll see.”

With an enigmatic smile, she called the waitress over to order, leaving him mulling the wisdom of consorting with the enemy.

Even an enemy as delightful as Ariel.

Chapter Sixteen

Ariel’s heart sank as she caught sight of Sofia peering through the gallery’s front windows. If the verbose woman caught sight of her with Cooper, goodness knows what might pop out of her gargantuan mouth.

“Who’s that?” Cooper said, his long strides making her wish she’d worn flat shoes rather than wedge-heeled espadrilles today. She felt like a toddler running on triple speed to keep up with a giant.

“Sofia Montessori. She’s the one who commissioned the portrait.”

“I thought she looked familiar. I’ve seen her at several events.”

She should’ve known a big shot like Cooper would move in similar moneyed circles to Sofia.

Ariel slowed her pace as they neared the front of the gallery, not wanting to get caught up in any name-dropping game that might take place. She hated that sort of thing, which is why she hid in her studio and produced art for people like Sofia and Cooper rather than attend their fancy parties and exhibitions.

She’d been to the occasional party in her early days and hated every minute of it: the yawning cultural and social gap between her and other people, the patronising, condescending attitudes when they discovered she was the artist.

“Hurry. She looks ready to break your door down,” Cooper said, shooting her a quizzical look.

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