Page 19 of Sweet Surrender

“Mr. Goldsmith, tell me…” Turning his way, she offered a warm smile. “What made you decide to strike out on your own when you could have taken a leadership position in your family’s company?”

He lifted a broad shoulder, chuckling. “Where is the fun in that?”

I would kill him. I would absolutely fucking kill him. That was not the response he was supposed to offer. I cleared my throat so loudly he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t heard me. As soon as our eyes met, I shook my head. Do not screw this up.

He chuckled softly, shrugging again. “At the end of the day, what I wanted more than an easy position was something I could call my own. I was inspired by my great-grandmother’s legacy, not to mention my mother, Olivia, both strong women and entrepreneurs. They showed me what it meant to build something lasting. I’m forever indebted to them for that.”

Thank God. I released some of the breath I was holding but was not exactly relaxed. We still had a long way to go before we were out of the woods.

“What made you choose real estate?” she asked, and he rattled off the prepared response. Another relief, enough to let me lower my shoulders from up around my ears.

Before she could ask another question, Noah leaned closer. I watched, holding my breath, while he squinted. “Sorry, but I can’t help noticing your earrings. They’re very pretty.”

“Oh, thank you.” She touched her hand to the pearls dangling in a teardrop setting from both ears. “They belonged to my grandmother.“

“No offense to your grandmother, but I can’t imagine them looking any better on her than they do on you.” They shared a quiet laugh while bile rushed into my throat. It wasn’t so much the fact that he insisted on flirting, even if his compulsion sickened me.

She was into it. Her soft giggles, the way she bit her lip after breaking eye contact. I wasn’t blind. I’d watched more than one woman melt under the charm of this man, and she was no different.

“I’m going to grab a bottle of water,” I announced much too loudly. What the hell did I care? He was determined to turn this into something it wasn’t supposed to be, and she was all too happy to follow along. It was enough to make me consider something much stronger than water.

On my way past Noah, I leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Remember how you ended up in this position,” I warned, continuing to the kitchen.

It was an open floor plan, so there was no hiding my growing irritation. I could only turn to face the refrigerator, grab a bottle, and take a deep gulp of the icy cold liquid. It was a startling contrast to the heat threatening to burn me alive.

Where the hell did he get off? What was wrong with his brain? Of all times for him to resist his nature, yet all he could do was salivate over a pretty girl.

Maybe it was better for me to keep my distance. I lingered in the kitchen, my back against the quartz countertop, sipping water as they went back and forth. “I’ll have to keep you in mind if I ever look for a new place,” she promised, laughing softly before tucking her hair behind her ear again. “Though I don’t think I could afford the sort of properties you specialize in.”

I turned to watch as Noah pursed his lips thoughtfully. “You never know,” he drawled with a grin, even I could admit would melt my panties if he turned it my way. “I’ve been known to make a good deal in my time. I might be able to help you find something for a steal.”

Was it my imagination, or had he inched closer to her side of the couch? What made it so much worse was how she now mirrored his body language—leaning toward him, her legs crossed in his direction. Every filthy thought running through his head was written plainly on his face. It was enough to make me wonder if I should leave them alone.

My stomach sank like a rock. Sure, it seemed like things were going well, but for how long? He couldn’t possibly keep this going without finally saying something hopelessly stupid or worthy of a sexual harassment accusation.

Only if she considers it harassment and not an invitation at this rate.

I set my water down on the counter, and the sound was loud enough to pull Gretchen’s focus back to the interview. She sat up straight, looking down at her notes, clearly flustered. “I understand you recently made a large donation to a foundation devoted to providing quality housing to low-income and disadvantaged families. Can you tell me more about that?”

He easily launched into his prepared statement, adding enough of a personal flourish that a stranger might think he meant every word of it. Well, I couldn’t get on his case for that. He was doing what I had asked him to do.

But I had not asked him to flirt shamelessly. I should have known better than to think he was capable of forgetting about his dick for even an hour.

At the end of the hour, Gretchen offered a regretful little sigh and ended the recording. “This is going to make a terrific article,” she assured him as she stood, smoothing out invisible wrinkles in her tight skirt. And, of course, what was he doing? Watching her. It would be a miracle if I did not kill him before this was over. I started to think Jules had been right all along that this was a bad idea. It had been fun at first, imagining how he would squirm, but it wasn’t worth putting myself through the grief of watching him undermine what I had put in place.

I went through the motions of promising to follow up with Gretchen and even entertained the idea of getting together for brunch soon—at least, I pretended to. The sooner she was out of the penthouse, the better. I didn’t need a member of the press witnessing me tearing Noah’s head from his neck.

“Well…” He sounded surprisingly lighthearted when he turned my way, grinning from ear to ear once Gretchen left. “I have to admit, that wasn’t so bad. You didn’t tell me she was hot.”

Wrong move.

So very wrong.

“And in what world does that make a damn bit of difference?” I snapped, throwing my hands into the air. “Goddamn you and your libido.”

“Grow up,” he chortled. “You know what I meant. It was easy to talk to her. You could take lessons.”

The man was determined to say the exact wrong thing. “You must have a death wish,” I muttered, shaking my head. “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”

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