Page 6 of Seductive Desires

“Mr. Ramirez. A lovely event.” Mateo nodded once but said nothing. “Well, I’m sure you’re a very busy man. Mariana and I have a meeting planned for tonight.”

Alarmed, I grabbed the sleeve of Mateo’s tux, trying to be subtle. I did not want to be left alone with this man. And I knew he would demand we stick to the shadows instead of returning to the crowded ballroom floor.

Mateo got the hint, luckily, and slid his arm around me again. “Oh? About what?” I leaned into him, trying to sell it.

Pablo sneered at our position. “Oh. Just work stuff. I’m sure it wouldn’t interest you.”

“I doubt you’d know what interests me, Mr…”

“Garcia. Pablo Garcia. I own a few properties in downtown Chicago.” Pablo’s face was red now, angry that Mateo didn’t know who he was.

Mateo raised his eyebrows. “Is that right? So what do you need from mi mariposa?” My butterfly. I think I might swoon.

Pablo scowled. “Never mind, it can wait.”

Crap, that would mean I’d have to meet with him again. I had to keep him here. “Wait. Carlos said you wanted to do a showing at your new building. Did you have a date in mind?”

He was practically seething at this point. “Doors open at the end of the month,” he gritted out.

I handed my champagne to Mateo, smiling at him. Snapping open my small clutch, I pulled out my phone, scrolling through Carlos’s calendar. “He should be able to make that work. If you email your proposition, I’ll be sure he looks it over right away.”

Pablo stormed away without another word. I’m sure I’d never hear the end of it from Carlos but hey, I deserved props for coming at all. He knows how much I hate that guy.

Once he disappeared into the crowd, relief flooded my body and I sagged against Mateo. “Thank you.”

“You seem to be a magnet for creeps, mariposa.”

I smirked. “Oh? What does that make you?”

He looked down at me with a grin. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call me a creep.”

I laughed, leaning against him for a moment. No wonder he was a playboy. The man was undeniably charming and every time he flashed that grin at me butterflies dumped into my belly and started doing the tango.

Trying to pull myself together, I pulled away. Spinning to face him, I pursed my lips. “That’s two times you’ve rescued me. I feel like I need to pay you back somehow.”

I wanted to slap my palm to my forehead. That was way more suggestive than I intended it to be. This was super unlike me. I didn’t flirt shamelessly with hot playboys at work events. I made the safe decisions. I resisted temptation and followed the rules of engagement. I should not be this turned around by the first handsome latino to look my way.

He ran his thumb over his bottom lip, his eyes dancing mischievously. “I’m sure we can think of something.”

My heart was racing. I licked my lips nervously, freezing when his eyes tracked the movement. When his eyes lifted back to mine, there was fire in them, a hungry look that left me breathless. He moved forward. It looked like he was going to pull me to him when the severe woman appeared at his side again. I blew out a breath as he turned to face her.

“Sir, they are hoping you will grace the dance floor at least once tonight.” She looked bored, like she’d rather be anywhere in the world right now. I wasn’t getting assistant vibes from her, she looked too angry for that. More like a bodyguard. She never once looked at me, her eyes always on him.

He nodded at her. “One minute.”

She strode away without waiting for him, disappearing into the crowd.

“Who is that?”

Mateo turned back to me. “Hmm? Oh, that’s Amira. She’s head of my security and my unwilling assistant for the evening.”

Female head of security. How very progressive.

“What do you need security for?” Sure, he was rich, but did rich people really need to travel around with security? It’s not like they would carry all their money in their pockets for muggers to grab.

He was about to answer me when the band kicked off a new song. His eyes lit up. “I love this song. Dance with me.”

Uh. Nope. Not going to happen. In front of all these people?! Carlos was right, I can’t dance. It didn’t stop me from having fun at a club but usually I would be several shots of tequila in before going anywhere near the dance floor. Biting my lip, I shook my head.

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