Page 2 of Craving Her Christmas Boss

‘That’s cause it’smyroom.’

‘It’s not. It’s—’

She broke off as he took half a step closer. ‘What’s your room number?’

Her pause button slipped and she answered breathlessly, staring at that chest once more. ‘Sixty-seven.’

‘Ah.’

At that know-it-all sound, she looked up. He was nodding again, and this time accompanying it with a wide smile—perfect white teeth, all too devastating.

‘Ah, what?’ Her heart couldn’t beat any faster. She couldn’t feel any hotter. And the wild thing was that she was wishing she could forget the silly meeting with her stuffy new boss and just stand here all day. Staring at him.

‘This is my room—sixty-nine. Yours is just along the corridor a bit.’

She slowly looked behind him and read the number on the door. She could have sworn that nine was a... Oh, hell, could she really be so stupid? ‘Sixty-nine?’

‘Sixty-nine.’

‘And I’m...’ Not sixty-nine. Not thinking sixty-nine. Not thinking…Ohhhhh. The sensual feeling rippled. Imagine—those muscles, that size, that heat... And tasting it all.

Her mental x-rated movie started rolling again.

His head angled and he almost whispered, ‘You can come in here if you want.’

Unconsciously she mirrored him, angling her head so she could keep watching the same gleam of light in his eyes. Then what he’d said sank in. ‘What? No!’

‘Oh—okay.’ He was out-and-out grinning now. ‘I thought for a second there you looked like you might want to.’

Oh, great. So her lustful moment had been totally transparent. She put her hand to her chest protectively, hoping her nipples weren’t prodding through the wet shirt like twin missiles aimed at him. They sure felt as if they were.

‘What I want is to find my hotel room.’ Frozen speech now. Dignity had to be recovered.

‘Well, like I said, it’s just along the corridor a little.’

She curled her fingers and pulled the halves of her shirt closer together. This time it was his gaze that dropped. His smile widened as he gave her torso a very thorough inspection.

She could feel herself responding even more to his warm appraisal. She couldn’t believe she was standing in a hotel corridor being turned on by a complete stranger—and by him looking at her.

‘Okay,’ she croaked. She turned—too fast for her recently scraped knee—and couldn’t quite stifle her groan of pain.

His glance went lower. ‘Hey, you’ve hurt your leg. It’s bleeding.’ He stepped after her. ‘Can I get you a plaster?’

The change from teasing flirt to concerned gentleman was too fast and too damn sweet. Infatuation threatened to slip over her, to send everything sensible from her head—what little was left.

Embarrassed even more by her ridiculous response to him, she muttered, ‘No, I’m fine.’ She added, ‘Thanks...’ way too late as she tried to walk normally, but her leg had really stiffened now.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ He followed her into the hall. ‘I’m good with first aid.’

Imogen turned back and nodded, unable to stop her eyes slipping south one last time. She was quite sure he’d be good with everything. Did he have any idea how good he looked right now? His legs were long—really long—and every bit as beautifully muscled as his chest. And the way his hair was wet, sitting as if it had been pushed back with a hand, all added up to a gleaming bronze statue way better than Michelangelo’s marbleDavid—this one was all real man. But she didn’t answer, and made it to her door instead. The card worked instantly, the little green light flashed, and she heard the lock mechanism sliding. Thank all the gods.

She didn’t even try to resist taking one last look. He had gone back to his room, but had paused in his open doorway—still smiling as if he knew everything she was thinking, and still not wearing anything like enough clothing.

Feeling far too hot for this freezing winter’s day, she let the door slam behind her and, tiptoeing on her sore leg, taking the weight on her good one, hobbled into the bathroom. Caught a glance in the mirror and froze.

Oh, no.

She blinked. Took another look to be sure.

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