Billionaire's Touch(17)

“I can do that,” Randi insisted, trying to take the brush from his hand.

“I’m sure you’re perfectly capable, but let me,” Evan requested evenly. “There’s no reason for you to do it since I’m here.” He made short work of removing the snow and scraping the ice as he watched Randi eye him curiously.

She crossed her arms and observed his movements as he worked. “You’re a gentleman underneath all of your bluster.” The statement was almost accusing.

“I’m not chauvinistic,” Evan said carefully. “I employ plenty of smart women, some of them smarter than my male employees.” He put the snow brush back in the car, closed the door so the windows would finish defrosting, and turned to face her. “But I’ll admit that I have a hard time watching a woman do physical work when a stronger body is around.”

She frowned as her eyes drifted over his tall, muscular form. “I have a hard time arguing with the fact that you’re bigger and probably stronger. But it doesn’t mean that you have to always do the physical work.”

Evan looked at her petite figure. Logically, she couldn’t argue their difference in size. At a little over six feet tall, he towered over her. She might be the athletic type, but he worked out every day, and he was a hell of a lot stronger. “I have very little opportunity to do anything physical except in a gym. I have employees who do most things for me. I don’t mind, and cleaning your car is hardly strenuous.” He hesitated before he inquired in what he hoped was a casual voice, “Can I ask you a question?”

She lifted a brow before asking, “What?”

“Does Beatrice give out these stones to everyone?” He pulled the crystal from his pocket and held it out to her.

Hesitantly, Randi reached out and took the rock into her own hand. She turned it over and over a few times before handing it back with a perplexed look on her face. “Hardly ever,” she admitted. “You got one, too?”

“She mailed it to me with a letter a few months ago, telling me I was going to be married within six months,” he answered reluctantly, slipping the Apache tear back into his coat pocket. “I think she might be demented.”

Randi laughed, and a bolt of pleasure raced through Evan’s body at the husky, sultry sound.

“She’s not crazy. She’s just a little eccentric. Sometimes her predictions actually do come true.”

Evan shook his head. “She’s destined for disappointment with me.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Randi admitted, reaching for the door of her rapidly defrosting vehicle. It was a deep-purple SUV that somehow suited her bold personality. Evan could finally see the make and model clearly.

“Randi?” he questioned huskily.

“Yes?” She turned and looked at him, her expression no longer hostile.

“Don’t worry about my coat. I have another one.” It wasn’t what he really wanted to say, but he couldn’t exactly tell her what he was thinking. She was likely to apply a knee to his balls, and he rather liked them intact.

“I told you to send me a bill if the stain doesn’t come out. You might try the dry cleaners here. They’ve done miracles with some of my clothes. Stains are a job hazard for teachers,” she told him amiably.

It was her smile that made Evan snap. Her eyes were warm and happy, her lips curving into a beautiful expression of joy when she talked about her profession. But the grin was aimed at him, and Evan couldn’t possibly resist seizing the moment. He’d never made an impulsive move in his entire life, but he couldn’t seem to control his mind or body when she smiled at him this way.

He stepped forward without debating his options first, pinned her body against her vehicle, and without a cautionary thought in his head, he kissed her.

Evan groaned as his lips crashed down on hers, knowing that he’d just made a mistake that would probably cost him his sanity. Her body stiffened as he wrapped his arms around her, one hand threading through her hair to protect her head and keep it exactly in a position that allowed him complete access to her mouth. An unfamiliar sense of male satisfaction moved deep in his gut as the clip holding her hair fell to the ground and the dark strands tumbled around her shoulders.

She tasted like chocolate and coffee, and Evan savored the delectable softness of her lips beneath his. Out of control, he demanded access instead of asking. Finally, she became pliant beneath him, letting him in, and he inwardly released a sigh of relief as she wrapped her arms around him and met his marauding tongue stroke for stroke. Evan felt himself drowning in sensation, and it definitely wasn’t the cold of the surrounding environment. Every instinct he had was to claim the woman in his arms, make sure she remembered the heat that raged between them as they kissed each other like they were ravenous for each other. His cock strained for release as Evan explored Randi’s mouth demandingly, his body overheating from the way she returned his embrace enthusiastically.