Page 127 of By His Rule

A rush of her sweet perfume assaults my nose a beat before she appears before me.

Fuck.

If I thought I had a semi earlier…

“Jesus, Lorelei,” I mutter, my hand coming up to my mouth just in case I’m drooling.

I’d seen the final hair and makeup, and I’d seen the dress, but my imagination couldn’t put it together as well as this.

“You look…”

“Wow, have I really made Kian Callahan lose his words?” she teases as she slips out of her apartment and locks up.

I take a step back, giving her some space, but it’s about all I’m capable of.

“Are we going to this thing or just hanging out in my hallway? I’ve got to be honest, you overpaid for all this,” she says, gesturing to herself, “if you planned on spending the night here.”

“We’re going,” I say gruffly, already hating the idea of sharing her with anyone else tonight.

With my hand on the small of her back, I guide her toward the elevator, willing my body to get a grip of itself.

I should not be this affected by a woman. Especially a woman I made my assistant and a huge part of my life.

The second the elevator doors close, the air turns thick.

“You look beautiful,” I say honestly, my voice rougher than usual.

Lorelei stands tall beside me, not giving me even a clue how she feels about that compliment before she responds with, “You don’t scrub up too badly either.”

One side of my mouth twitches with a smile.

“I didn’t think you had a thing for billionaires in designer suits.”

“Don’t read too much into my compliment, sir. I was merely being polite.”

Oh, ouch.

“Good to know. I was being entirely sincere. Every other man at the event tonight is going to wish they were me when I walk in with you.”

“Maybe tonight won’t be a total bust, then. I guess there could be worse outcomes than hooking up with a hot, wealthy guy.”

Something bitter and poisonous shoots through my veins and my lips part to respond, but the doors open and Lorelei glides out. I swear, she could be floating for how smoothly she walks.

My eyes automatically drop to her ass that’s perfectly wrapped in the royal blue fabric.

Is she wearing panties under there?

“You flash bastard,” she announces long before she gets to the exit.

Jamie notices us coming and rushes to open the doors.

“Good evening, Miss Lorelei,” he says, his eyes almost bugging out of his head and his cheeks blazing bright red at the sight of her. “You look incredible.”

“Thank you, Jamie. I really appreciate it.”

She shoots me a look over her shoulder, her eyes dancing with mischief and her smile downright filthy.

Christ. Tonight is going to be hard. Pun very much intended.

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