Page 8 of Single Dad Christmas

“Hi, hello, yourself,” he said, only slightly teasing.

She crossed her arms over her chest, then wished she hadn’t when, for the very briefest of moments, his gaze dropped downwards, landing somewhere near her cleavage before returning to her face once more.

“Thanks for agreeing to this,” he said, gesturing towards the bank of elevators.

She slid him a sidelong glance, thought about holding her tongue before remembering how much he appreciated honesty. “Well, you really didn’t leave me much choice,” she pointed out, warmth spreading through her when he laughed in reply.

His laugh was like him—raw and real.

“True. When I know what I want, I pull whatever lever is necessary to get it.”

It was a totally innocuous comment, as it pertained to the situation at hand, but because he was so damned beautiful, and she couldn’t stopthinkingabout how beautiful he was, the comment hit her on a whole other level. It was just so sexy. And yet, it wasn’t as though Ares hadn’t been similar. He’d walked into a room and called the shots; he’d always been like that. So why hadn’t that trait, in Ares, set her pulse on fire, the way it did with Noah? Maybe it was his Australian accent? Yes, that had to be it. He reminded her of every stereotypical bush-hardened Aussie she’d ever seen on the screen or read about in books. There was something so wild about him, so feral. And shelikedit.

The discovery was kind of shocking, because Louisa had always valued, above all else, civility and manners. In that way, she’d been the perfect Queen-in-waiting. It had all come so naturally to her. Except for the public’s interest in her, which had started as tolerable but had devolved, over the course of two years, into a sort of paralyzingly intense experience that made it almost impossible to leave the house.

And now, she could breathe again. Finally.

“You’re not annoyed, are you?” He swiped a key in the lift and the doors swooshed closed. The cubicle began to ascend but Louisa was barely conscious of the fast progress upwards.

It was not a small lift. Like everything in the building, it was obviously first-rate. But it was still a small enough space for Noah’s closeness to her to resonate like an electrical current.

She glanced across at him and felt her stomach drop to her toes. She could have lied to herself and pretended that it was courtesy of the lift, but truth was the theme of the day, and she knew it was all down to the man opposite.

“I’m not annoyed, no,” she answered, the words husky and soft. She told herself to look away, to smile distractedly, to comment on the weather—it was a very hot day, after all. But instead, she just stared at him, like some kind of fool, and weirdly, he stared back. It was like they were sinking into one another, whilst neither of them moved. Her whole body seemed to be tingling and lifting with goosebumps, and just like when one experienced a sudden rush of cold, her nipples charged with a fizz of electrical current. It was such an overwhelming sensation, she almost gasped.

“I’m glad.” His words seemed to come from a long way away. She didn’t know what he was saying, but she didn’t care. She stared at his mouth, her own mouth going dry as she imagined, completely out of nowhere, what it would be like to be kissed by Noah.

She imagined him doing exactly that, now. Here. Kissing her slowly at first, then harder, more demandingly, stepping forward and pressing her back against the lift, his fingers gliding over the emergency stop button, like men did in movies, to give them more time together. She imagined his leg wedging between hers, and his hands lifting her shirt from the band of her trousers, so he could brush against bare flesh.

The image was so erotic and so fully formed that she was almost at risk of melting into a puddle of desire, right at his feet.

Oh, God. The thought of falling to her knees in front of him and taking him…she closed her eyes as that very, very inappropriate and erotic image flooded her whole body with a sensual charge she could hardly ignore.

She took a hasty step backwards, pressing her own back to the wall of the elevator, as though the metal and glass might cool her down.

Yeah, right.

The doors pinged open, and Louisa had never been more grateful for something in her whole life. Only Noah didn’t immediately move. Instead, he kept staring at her, so she no longer wanted the wall to cool her down, nor swallow her up, but rather for him to step forward and turn her unbidden fantasies into a reality.

His hand snaked out and for a moment, she thought he might hit the button she’d been imagining him touching. Instead, he pressed his flattened palm against the doors and nodded towards the reception area. “After you.”

It was a curt dismissal, except for the sound of his voice. Strained. Woolen. As though he too had been lost in thoughts that did not belong anywhere near this, and what they were.

She left the elevator quickly, never more grateful for all those deportment lessons that meant she was able to at least look like a professional woman striding into a new job, rather than how she felt: a total slick of desire, trembling with need for a man she barely knew.

CHAPTER THREE

“THIS IS ROSE,” he gestured to a very neat-looking woman, perhaps in her thirties, with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes. She wore red eyeglasses and a sage green dress, that made the caramel colour of her skin pop. “She basically keeps my life on track in every way imaginable. I’d be lost without her.”

Rose rolled his eyes. “Watch out. He only flatters like that when he needs something.”

Noah clutched a hand to his chest. “I’m wounded.”

Rose flicked a smile in his direction before turning her attention to Louisa. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

For a second, panic slicked Louisa’s insides, completely and utterly replacing the lingering feelings of warmth that had been rolling around inside of her, since that moment in the elevator. Imagined or not, it had certainly left an impression.

But then, she hadn’t imagined the way his eyes had lingered on her face, even once the doors had opened. Nor had she imagined his sharp intake of breath as she’d brushed past him to leave.

---