Page 19 of Some Like It Hot

“There’s no negative for me here,” Wade tells her.

“Sweetie, you’re a big talker,” Elise tells him. “But I keep telling you, I don’t think you have what it takes to keep up with me.”

“And what is that, exactly?” I ask, interrupting their exchange, even though it’s clearly not serious.

I’m ready to have Elise’s full attention on me.

And I get it when she swings toward my voice, sees me, registers who I am, straightens, and her eyes widen as her mouth drops open.

Nathan steps toward the door. He nudges Wade out as he steps into the hallway. “I’m going to go check on a few things,“ he says. “Take your time.”

Then he’s gone, pulling the door shut behind him.

“Hello, Elise,” I say, tucking my hands into the pockets of my dress pants. I want to reach for her. I want to stomp across the room, back her up against the wall, and kiss the hell out of her.

I haven’t forgotten her taste. I haven’t forgotten the feel of her lips. I haven’t forgotten how it feels to press my body to hers. I haven’t forgotten how her sweet little moan of desire sounds.

It was a damn good kiss.

And now she’s right here in front of me and it’s taking everything in me to hold back.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she asks, her voice breathless.

“Watching hockey,” I say, going with the simplest answer.

She looks around, as if confused. “How are you here? How do you know Nathan?” Then she laughs softly. “Or do all you hot rich guys have some private club or something?”

There are of course private clubs for very wealthy people but I give her the real answer. “Nathan and I are cousins.”

She stares at me. “You’ve got to be kidding.” She frowns and shakes her head. “Armstrong. Why did it never occur to me that you have the same last name?”

I open my mouth to respond but she goes on, “Maybe because you're British? You live in London. Nathan‘s from here. There have to be a million Armstrongs in the world.”

I wait just a moment to see if she’s finished, then I say, “Our grandfathers were brothers. My grandfather moved to London to run the family business office there. He met my grandmother, who is British. My father grew up in London, as did I. We’ve always overseen the European branch of the business while Nathan has been in charge of the North American branch.”

She lifts her hand and rubs her forehead. “How is it possible that I became friends with the woman connected to your cousin?”

I lift a shoulder. “Fate. Obviously. “

She scoffs. “Yeah. Sure.”

But I’m serious. Is it fanciful to believe in things like fate and soulmates? Maybe. Would people be surprised that a billionaire businessman is whimsical? Maybe. But who better to believe in things like luck and fate than someone who is living a life like the one I live? Most everything good in my life had come to me through luck, good timing, and charm.

“I was disappointed you disappeared without a trace,” I tell her, cutting to the chase. It doesn’t really matter how we ended up in this moment, only what we do now that we’re here.

Her eyes widen. “Oh.”

I take a step forward. “I tried to find you…Not just because of the job, but because of me. I wanted to see you, date you, after that kiss, and I hate to think you didn’t know that.”

She presses her lips together and crosses her arms. “I had to leave. We couldn’t do that.”

“Why not? We did it very well.”

I’m still pissed I hadn’t kissed her before I did. I’d wanted to for months. She’d only worked for my company for about six months. I’d thought I had time. I was enjoying getting to know her. Enjoying our flirtation. Enjoying letting her know me and building on our chemistry to the point of I-can’t-take-it-anymore.

She laughs. “I was terrible at my job. And I just kept getting worse, it seemed. And then I was throwing myself at the boss. I had to get out.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” I say, taking another step forward. “And even if you did, your boss was very happy to catch you.”

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