Page 30 of The Boss

She glimpsed pity in his eyes as he tried to make light of her admission and it annoyed her. She didn’t need his pity. She didn’t need anyone’s pity. She’d done a fine job taking care of herself all these years and, apart from Lana, she knew better than to depend on anyone, especially some guy who thought he could breach her defences her with smoldering grey eyes and a sexy smile.

“It sounds like you have a family tale of your own to tell,” she said, determined to deflect his attention away from her morbid past.

She noticed the slight tightening around the corners of his mouth, the tenseness in his jaw, though his smile didn’t waver.

“Not much to tell, I’m afraid. My folks are both historians. They traveled the world while dad fueled his archaeological habit before he took over as CEO of the museum. He ran it for twenty-five years before asking me to step in.”

“Keeping it all in the family,” she said, surprised by the flicker of bitterness in his eyes.

“I guess.”

They reached the entrance to the ballroom where the auction was being held and a round of introductions to a group of people she had no hope of remembering stalled any further probing on her part.

For that’s exactly what she’d been about to do, delve into Aidan’s past. He had a story to tell, she could sense it. What better way to gain insight into the guy than by discovering his background. Besides, it was much more fun than dwelling on her family life—or lack of.

“Want to check out what’s on offer?”

“I already have.” Her gaze perused the length and breadth of him before sending him a coquettish look from beneath her lashes.

He laughed, a low rumble of pure joy that sent a thrill through her. “See anything you fancy?”

“Oh yeah,” she murmured, mentally moving his butt to the top of her very own gropeable list. “Though I’m not sure if it’s in my price range?”

The fine hairs on the nape of her neck snapped to attention as he leaned closer, his breath fanning her cheek.

“There’s only one way to find out. Why don’t you put in a bid?” His deep voice sent a ripple of desire through her. “You never know, you might get lucky.”

Everything faded away—the muted light from wall sconces reflecting off sequinned designer dresses, the soft classical music filtering from a high-tech sound system, the drone of voices from a thousand people—as his lips brushed her cheek in the lightest of touches, so light she could’ve imagined it—or willed it, more likely.

Caught in the heat of his stare, the spicy blackcurrant undertones of his aftershave invaded her senses and she struggled not to close the short gap between them and do what she’d wanted to do since their first memorable kiss—a repeat performance.

“Get lucky, huh? I’m counting on it,” she whispered as his fingertips slid up her arm, skimming her bare skin like the touch of the flimsiest butterfly wings taking flight.

“If this evening wasn’t so damn important for the museum I’d say let’s ditch this place.”

Stifling a sigh of disappointment at his CEO conscientiousness, she tapped his cheek lightly. “Don’t worry. The night is young.”

His scorching glance set her body tingling all the way down to her metallic blue toenails poking from her silver spiked stilettos, but before he could say anything else a guy bearing a striking resemblance to an archaeologist in a movie she’d seen as a kid, complete with battered hat, bore down on them and practically dragged Aidan away.

Grinning at his pained expression, she sent him a jaunty wave and headed for the front of the room where a roped off area kept curious buyers away from the more expensive items.

Professional pride filled her as she stared at her latest triumph, a mini version of the Sydney Opera House, her very own interpretation of the iconic landmark.

“The least you could’ve done is rescue me,” Aidan said, behind her. “You’re supposed to be supporting me, remember?”

Beth turned to Aidan, surprised he’d returned to her side so quickly. “I didn’t think you needed rescuing. After all, don’t you CEO types need to mingle and schmooze and generally suck up to people?”

He frowned, as if her teasing hit too close to home. “You’re right. CEOs do have to do that sort of thing, which is why I’d rather spend the bulk of the evening with you.”

A warm glow filled her. Apart from the sizzling attraction between them, she genuinely liked him, and what had looked like a novel way to secure her lease and hold down Lana’s job at first glance was fast turning into something far more important.

She may be a fling type of girl but right now her heart gave a scary twang, the type of twang that said she could seriously fall for this guy if she let go.

Flustered by the uncharacteristic surge of emotion clogging her throat, she gestured toward her sculpture.

“What do you think of this piece?”

He screwed up his eyes, tilted his head to the right, then left, before taking a step back and repeating the process. “Not my sort of thing. Too modern.”

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