Page 10 of Sweet Temptation

“Interesting.” His voice was thoughtful. “We have several events coming up that I think you’d be a good match for.”

“Really?” Her voice squeaked, and she coughed to cover it. “I mean, that sounds very interesting.”

“We’re hosting a banquet for the mayor’s office this Friday,” he continued, and she sucked in a deep breath. “Our caterer dropped out at the last minute, and I’d like to hire you. Why don’t I arrange a brief for you? You can read it and see the scale of one of these events. Is that something you might be interested in?”

Meg’s hands clenched on the wheel as she did a little butt wiggle in her seat. She confirmed the address of her rental kitchen, and he said he’d have a briefing document couriered over the next day.

As Gavin ended the call, Meg finally let out an excited screech. A car beside her honked; she looked over to find a woman watching her with a startled expression—both of their windows were down, and she’d heard Meg’s scream. Mouthing an apology, Meg sped up, eager to get home and tell her sisters before she took the time to get ready for her evening with John.

This was a huge coup for her little business. And more than that, it would provide a welcome distraction from John after he left. See? No way was she going to be one his former flings, wishing desperately for something more.

She was going to make that something more for herself—but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy him along the way.

CHAPTER FIVE

“HI, JOHN.”

Startled, John tore his gaze away from his phone as a woman got onto the elevator behind him. Smiling back automatically, he racked his mind for a reason behind the redhead’s knowing smirk...and her name.

“Hi... Madison.” He wrestled the name from the folds of his brain, along with the history behind his knowing it. Madison was a paralegal, working on the floor above Crossing Lines. She was friends with Theo’s assistant, Ava. They’d all gone out for drinks once, and the woman had let him know that she was available for a good time.

“Having a good week?” She batted her eyes at him, and he was momentarily distracted. Not because he was attracted to the come-hither gesture, but because he was wondering if her eyelashes could be real. They looked like Muppet fur glued to her lids.

It wasn’t hot.

Belatedly, he realized that she’d asked him a question.

“Yes, thanks. You?” He knew what she was going to say—the gist of it, at least—before she spoke.

“It could be better,” she pouted, pursing her shiny lips. Her gloss was so thick it made a slight smacking sound when she spoke, putting him in mind of the slightly tacky consistency of drying paint. It, too, wasn’t hot.

Even a month ago, the woman’s thick layer of makeup wouldn’t have bothered him, if he’d even noticed it at all. He would have enjoyed the attention, let her admiration fill up the void inside him, the one he’d been trying to fill his entire life.

It might even have worked, at least for the hours he spent skin to skin with another human. Ultimately, though, that warmth would have evaporated like mist, slipping through his fingers because of its lack of substance. And yet he’d always been scared to pursue to anything more solid, afraid that it, too, might disappear.

And those were some deep thoughts to be having with a gorgeous woman making it clear that she was interested.

His problem? She might be interested, but he was not.

The elevator bell dinged as it reached the floor that housed Crossing Lines, and John nodded at the woman before slipping out of the elevator the second it opened. He registered the indignant huff at his back—women who looked like that rarely struck out.

But last night he’d dreamed of Meg. More specifically, he’d dreamed of parting those sweet, plump thighs and sliding between them. He’d spent a sweaty night, haunted by those erotic images, and had woken hard, his cock in his fist.

Meg was the sweetest temptation he’d ever known, and until he’d had his fill of her decadent body, no other woman was going to whet his appetite.

“Morning, John.” Ava was sitting behind her desk, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched as she sipped from a Starbucks cup. She’d seen him blow off her friend and expected an explanation.

“Morning.” She wasn’t getting it, not from him anyway. Striding past her, he angled his body toward the office that had been his for the last few months. His dream still so fresh it seemed real, he stepped quietly as he passed Theo’s office.

If Theo knew his plans for Meg, he’d punch John in the nuts.

“John!” Dammit. That was Jo’s voice, and there was no way to pretend he hadn’t heard her. Turning reluctantly, he found Meg’s sister sitting on Theo’s desk, legs swinging as she watched a man in torn jeans install a light fixture.

“Morning.” He forced a smile to his lips, directing it at Jo, then at Theo, who was sitting behind his desk. He avoided eye contact with the latter. “Are we finally getting rid of those fluorescent lights? Thank God. They make me look pale.”

He winked at Jo, patting his brown cheek, and she grinned. “You can thank me. Theo’s been dragging his ass about the expense, but we met Aaron here last night at the bar.”

The man on the ladder grunted as he strained to connect a wire.

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