Page 48 of Captivated By You

He chuckled. “Stop attaching body parts to the cost of food and drink, and let me spoil you.”

I almost questioned why, but I knew the answer. Fancy dinner for access to my panties.

Wait…

No.

That made it sound like I was living thePretty Womanlife for reals.

“And Emma is married.”

I snapped back to the present and out of my Julia Roberts/Richard Gere fantasy world. “How do you know? Tried it on and got knocked back?”

He stuck his tongue into his cheek, and hell, it looked cute on him, and then I realized he was trying his best not to laugh.

“Why is that funny?”

“Thatisn’t funny.You’refunny. God, I adore you.”

My lips twitched. Even though I tried super hard not to encourage him, I had a sinking feeling that my entire plan to resist Ash was doomed. Had probably been doomed from the start. When he’d stayed away, it’d been easy to forget how attracted I was to him. But now, with the whole seduction routine he had going on, it was only a matter of time before his pheromones enticed mine to come out to play.

Ugh. I wanted to bellow, “Why did you have to be the fucking boss!” at the top of my lungs. Life was so unfair. I felt perilously close to a tantrum at the injustice of it all. Stupid Cupid and his wicked sense of humor.

“Wedding ring.”

Asher held up his left hand and tapped the third finger, and for a split second, I thought he’d gone the whole hog and followed up on his “grandchildren” comment by proposing to me. Worst part? My pulse sped up at the thought, and my heart skipped at least four beats.

“Emma is wearing a wedding ring,” he continued. “From that, I deduced she was married. Call me a genius.”

His playful smile sent my tummy all of a flutter. “Your ego doesn’t need any more stroking.”

Better. Back to snippy. Anything to push aside the momentary thrill of what it might feel like to have Asher propose. My imagination had jumped from the sublime to the downright ridiculous.

“Aw, Kiana, you wound me.”

I meant to give a derisive snort. Instead, it came out more like a pig in the trough. Heat raced over my cheeks, and I medicated my embarrassment by slugging back at least a third of my glass of wine. Asher’s guffaw of laughter caused a couple at the nearest table—a good few feet away—to glance over.

“My mother used to say you can’t take me anywhere.” I gave him a wry smile. “Looks like she was right.”

He reached across the table and traced a fingertip over the inside of my wrist. “You’re amazing. I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

Goose bumps sprang up where he’d touched me, my skin tingling at the contact. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say, so I said nothing. Probably for the best, all things considered.

He drew back and picked up his wineglass, swirling the liquid up the sides without spilling a drop. I’d bet his father had taught him how to do that while he was still in diapers.

“Tell me, what are your first impressions of the hotel?”

My eyebrows shot up at the change of direction. “You’re asking me to tattle on my coworkers?”

“No. I’m asking for your honest opinion on what you’ve observed in the few weeks you’ve worked there. How you’re finding the intern program, the training. Whether you’d recommend my company to your friends.” He smiled. “It makes business sense. Customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are both key to our success, and I’m interested in your experience as a new recruit.”

I studied him. His sincerity shone through. He truly wanted to hear my views.

“I’m really enjoying it. We had our first Teams call with the other interns last week. It felt good to meet others in the same position as me, even virtually. One day, I hope to meet them in person.”

“Has Philippe spoken to you about the inaugural intern conference?”

I nodded, excitement trickling over my skin. “He mentioned it in passing yesterday. I jumped at the chance to support him on the project.”

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