Page 93 of Release Me

“You’re welcome. What are neighbors for?”

“It’s my neighbor who causedallof my problems.”

“Fine. But aim that anger at Henry Wolf. Not the hotel employees. Definitely not at me.” Humor glints across his handsome face. “I’m far more useful to you as a friend.”

How did he make that one platonic word sound sexual? “I’ll try to remember that.”

The air within the office grows potent with tension as the silence lingers and we stare unabashedly at each other. This can’t all be one-sided. Hemustbe able to feel it too.

Ronan clears his throat as he stands and reaches for a business card from a holder. I admire his body as he leans over to scribble something on the back of it. His steps are measured ashe closes the distance toward me, holding the card out between two long fingers. “You can find me here.”

He’s standing well within my personal space. That can’t be unintentional. And he smells divine—a blend of mint and woody citrus, and musky soap from the shower he must have had after he dragged himself out of the ocean. Why is his scent so intoxicating? It’s drawing me in, in a way I can’t describe. I inhale deeply.

“Who says I’ll want to find you?” My voice cracks on that lie as I tilt my head back to meet his gaze with a challenging one.Something tells me I’ll be hoping it’s you every time the door swings open at the Sea Witch.

A muscle in his jaw ticks. It’s the first hint that Ronan might be anything but lackadaisical.

If I thought the tension was thick before, now I’m about to choke on it. He might have been handpicked by the devil himself to help run this hotel, but right now, I’ve never felt such a strong urge to kiss a man.

His hand with the card hangs in the air, waiting.

Finally, I collect it, our fingertips grazing in the process, my skin acutely aware of his touch and how it lingers a few beats before pulling away.

“If that’sallI can help you with today …”

It’s a taunt, but he’s not going to make the first move.

A rare burst of impulsiveness hits me.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I lift onto my toes to meet that perfect mouth head-on.

For one … two … three beats, we’re pressed together in a slow, tentative connection.

And then he pulls away abruptly. “I didn’t mean … Let’s keep this professional.”

“Of course it’s professional.” I snap as my cheeks burn with embarrassment.

The glass door behind me cracks open with his push. “Go left out here and make another right at the end of the hall.Halfway down there’s an exit that will put you on a path to the parking lot. You’ll avoid any more uncomfortable run-ins.”

More uncomfortable than this? Spinning on my heels, I speed down the hall, mortified over my temporary lapse in judgment.

41.Ronan

Sloane storms away without a glance back, as if she can’t get away from me fast enough.

I bite my tongue against the urge to recall her to explain myself while I watch her tight ass in those sexy white pants until she disappears around the corner.

What a bold woman, showing up to Wolf the way she did.

I duck back into my office and shut my door, my body vibrating with a raw need I haven’t felt in forever.

“Fuck me.” My second day as a director and I wasthis closeto testing the desk’s weight capacity. I hadn’t meant it to go that way, but then she asked if there was something else I wanted from her, and all blood flow left my brain, heading south.

Yeah, I wanted something, all right. I quickly assessed how frosted that glass is, if the lock on the handle works, how long it would take us to get our clothes off, how the sound of her coming might carry down the hall.

And she certainly wasn’t helping matters, what with those gorgeous eyes raking over me countless times.

But she came to Wolf in the first place becauseshe’s desperate. I would have to be a grade A prick to take advantage of that.

---