Page 11 of One Night in My Rival's Bed

I flicked my gaze his way again. ‘But seriously, how did you know how I have my coffee? Do you have special mind-reading powers or something?’

His smile tilted one side of his mouth, making him look less serious and forbidding. His more relaxed features made my heart pitter-patter and my pulse race, as if I had downed the whole coffee in one swallow. And chased it with a couple of energy drinks.

‘I overheard you order one at the design conference in Bristol last year.’

I gave him an arch look. ‘I’m surprised you even noticed me. I seem to remember you were busy during the coffee and lunch breaks with a flock of young female architects who wanted to take a selfie with you.’

Ack. Why had I revealed that I had even noticed him with his entourage of adoring women? It made me look like I’d been following his every move at that wretched conference. The fact that I had was only because he was hard to ignore, even in a crowd. He was always head and shoulders over everyone else and had an arresting and commanding presence that drew my eye from way across a room.

Grayson gave me an inscrutable sideways glance and I could feel my cheeks heating under his scrutiny. ‘You’re hard to ignore.’

‘Why’s that?’ I do not flirt. I do not fish for compliments. So it was kind of weird and out of character to hear myself ask such a flirty question.

He turned a corner at a busy junction and I watched his broad-spanned hands control the steering wheel with competence and skill. I tried not to think of those hands competently and skilfully caressing my body. Tried but failed. I took another sip of my coffee, hoping it would redirect my wayward thoughts. It didn’t.

Grayson focused his attention on the traffic in front of us. ‘You’re dedicated, hard-working and talented.’

‘And that makes me stand out in a crowd?’

A fleeting smile traversed his lips. ‘I could list all your other assets but that would be crossing a line we said we weren’t going to cross.’

‘You only said we weren’t going to touch.’ My gaze drifted to his muscular thigh so close to mine. I could have reached out and touched him right then and there. I wanted to but somehow I resisted the urge. Maybe my self-control wasn’t as out of shape as I thought. Go me.

He drove the car into the valet parking bay at the hotel, then turned to look at me. ‘So I did.’ One of his hands was still on the steering wheel, the other grasping the gear stick. Was it my imagination or was he holding them a littletootightly, as if he was trying to stop himself from touching me? His gaze went to my mouth and I held my breath. I held it for so long I thought I might faint. Or maybe that was because his eyes were so sexily hooded and his mouth so gorgeously sculpted I could think of nothing else but how it would feel pressed to mine.

I let out my breath in a shuddering stream. I licked my lips. I stared at his mouth, then flicked my gaze to meet his. ‘You haven’t changed your mind, have you?’ I asked.

‘It takes a lot to get me to change my mind.’

I twisted my mouth in a wry fashion. ‘You sound a bit like me. Niamh is always calling me stubborn.’

He looked at me for another long moment without speaking, his eyes moving back and forth between each of mine, then over my face as if memorising my features. The curve of my cheeks, the arch of my eyebrows, the ski slope of my nose, the shape of my mouth.

‘Stubbornness can be a weakness but it can also be a strength.’

‘How so?’

‘Someone who is stubborn is usually someone who stands by their convictions. They’re steady and reliable.’

‘Yes, well, I wish I’d been a bit more reliable twenty years ago,’ I said before I could stop myself.

Grayson frowned. ‘What happened twenty years ago?’

I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t let my guard down. I can’t remember the last time I told anyone about the playground incident. I hate talking about it. I hate being reminded of how I ruined my sister’s life. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. We had ten minutes to spare, but I didn’t want to be tempted to tell him my deepest darkest secret.

‘Shouldn’t we be going in? Ethan and Niamh might disappear again if we don’t show up on time.’

‘We’ve got plenty of time.’ Grayson placed his hand on mine, where it was resting on my right thigh, and a jolt of energy coursed through my flesh.

I looked at his hand, his fingers so long and thick and tanned compared to mine.

‘You’re breaking the rules.’ I tried to make my voice sound schoolmistressy, prim and proper. However, it came out kind of husky and breathless instead. But I didn’t pull my hand out from under his. I couldn’t. I liked the feel of his hand’s warmth seeping into mine, the gentle squeeze of his fingers sending my heart rate off the charts. He had never touched me before, apart from toying with my dangly earring. This was so much better than that. His hand sent heat racing through my blood like tongues of flame.

Grayson slowly lifted his hand off mine, his mouth twisting in a rueful manner. ‘Sorry. My bad.’

‘It’s okay.’

There was a beat or two of silence.

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