“Like a vampire, you mean?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you were one.”
“Then I would have certainly developed that anti-sun vaccine you mentioned before.” He took another step closer. “I would have also developed a no-invitation-needed immunization.”
Another few steps back had her thudding against something hard. The archway of the great room. Her heart bobbed in her throat as he bent his head closer and inhaled deeply, his eyes watching her intently.
“You smell of...you.”
The way he said that, it was as if he were bracing himself against some sharp ache. His velvet groan was the darkest she’d heard his voice.
Trying not to let the shudder that traversed her body rattle it visibly, she smirked. “Thanks for the news flash. And here I always thought I smelled of someone else.”
“Do you have any idea how you smell?”
“As long as I don’t smell bad, who cares?”
“If you don’t know who, I won’t tell you. Yet.” He lowered his head, closed his eyes and drew another deep inhalation. “I know now that defiance and dry wit and fearlessness have scents. Hot and sweet and bright.” Before she decided if she’d swoon or not, he added, “You also smell of ginger and orange.” He’d pinpointed the scents in her shampoo and conditioner. His eyes opened, heavy and hooded, filled with so much she couldn’t understand but that still seared her to the marrow. “And chocolate.”
Gulping, she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve overdosed on triple chocolate chip muffins.”
“Sounds great. Smells better. Offer me some.”
“What makes you think I have any left? Should I refresh your memory about the definition of overdosed?”
He gave her a perfect Bela Lugosi leer. “Should you be haggling with a hungry vampire who’s doing you the courtesy of settling for chocolate instead of blood?”
“The hungry vampire will take the blood anyway, so I’m at least saving the chocolate.”
Shaking his head in gesture of surrender, he laughed. Peal after peal of debilitating male amusement. That thick, corded neck jutting from his open black silk shirt was the closest it had been to her lips. It was so tempting, as if inviting her to reach up and sink her teeth—
Dammit. Get away!
Though he wasn’t really crowding her, she sucked in her stomach as she squeezed out from between him and the wall. Grabbing the remote, she turned off the TV, then swung back to him. He’d followed her, was facing her across the couch.
“How about we dispense with the comic relief and get to the reason for your home invasion?”
“I came to resolve the issue that made you skip work today.”
“For the last time, I skipped nothing. I quit.”
“Yes, I got that the first time you said it. I’m here to tell you quitting isn’t an option.”
“It’s my only option. You gave me ultimatums—”
“I offered you alternatives.”
“—and I rejected them. So I was back to square one—working on your project and having mine swept aside.”
He shook his head. “You keep making assumptions of what I think or what I’ll do, and they’re consistently inaccurate.”
“What’s inaccurate in all I said?”
“Only the most relevant part. Your assumption that I wasn’t open to compromise. Which I certainly was. You pushed, I countered and our negotiations were just starting when you took off.”
“There was nothing more to negotiate.”
“There’s always more. Nothing is ever final.”
“I thought with you everything is.”
His gaze swept her from head to toe and back, swathing her in fire. “I thought so, too. But I’m learning that was because I never found a worthy challenger.”
“Me? Yeah, right.”
“I will cure you of that self-deprecation yet. For now, I’m here to tell you that you can have your project back, with all the logistical support and financial backing I would have offered you to work on mine. I ask for nothing in return.”
Her mouth fell open but nothing came out.
It was only on the third attempt that she croaked, “So what’s the catch?”
“You’re assuming again.”
“Just spit it out. The one thing I can’t handle is surprises. I have to know what I’m walking into while I’m still a thousand miles away.”
His eyes gleamed with approval. “A control freak, I see.”
“Takes one to know one. But then again, I’m just a wannabe who has nothing to show for my obsessive proclivities. You’re the real deal with the billions to prove it.”