Maddie peered inside. "It's my pair of sneakers she borrowed last year. I'd forgotten about them." She sniffed the bag and screwed up her nose. "Not sure I even want them back."
"Why the emergency?"
She wasn't fooled by the innocent question. A crooked grin lifted the corners of his mouth and she knew he knew Linda had set them up. God, how embarrassing. Even more embarrassing was the slipping towel. She gripped it at her cleavage and held it firmly in place.
"Guess she figured I need to work off the ice cream from last night."
His hot gaze skimmed down her body, across her breasts, past the towel to her exposed legs. Every inch turned to molten liquid under the intensity and pooled between her thighs.
Her face, however, burned. With anger. What was she, a piece of meat?
"I don't think you need to worry about the ice cream," he murmured. The soft cadence of his voice rippled through her, sending her goose bumps into a frenzy, and several other vital parts of her anatomy.
Okay, he could look at her like that if he kept paying her complements. She appreciated her own hypocrisy, but hey, it was a woman's prerogative to change her mind. Besides, men liked to eat meat.
Now there was a thought to make a girl squirm with pleasure.
"I'd better get dressed." She turned away before the towel completely slipped away. She heard him clear his throat as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
Maddie threw on jeans and a T-shirt, thanking her lucky stars that Sam had come to her and she didn't have to chase him down. If he hadn't been home, she didn't know who she'd use instead for the experiment. She didn't know too many men. A few ex boyfriends, her work colleagues and Pete made up the total of her male acquaintances. The thought of testing the effects of Pheramour on any of them was creepy.
She checked her appearance in the mirror then fluffed out her hair. Too messy. She pinned it back in a ponytail. A little boring but at least it kept it out of her eyes. No need to encourage Sam too much anyway. Pheramour would do all the work tonight.
The chemist in her was excited by the prospect.
The woman in her was absolutely terrified...and yet thrilled at the same time.
***
Sam glanced around the neat living room. It was comfortable, cozy, and held Maddie's touches everywhere. Colors matched, from the lived-in cream sofa and bright red cushions to the elaborate drapes and floor rug covering polished boards. Books stood erect in a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and several prints and photographs hung on the walls, not a single one lopsided. She had good taste. Classic, clean, simple. He liked it.
He liked her. Last night he'd thought her kind of cute, if a little nerdy, like when she'd been in school. Now, seeing the swell of her full breasts above the towel and those smooth thighs and shapely calves, he thought her the sexiest woman he knew. Maddie Clarke had definitely grown up. What he wouldn’t do to get his hands on her now.
But a woman like that could wrap a man around her little finger if she wanted to. The jury was out on whether that was a good thing.
He regretted not touching the soft flesh above her towel as he’d passed her in the hallway. He'd wanted to. Hell, he'd ached to. But that would only have got him a slap across the cheek, going by the glare she'd given him.
Nevermind. There was always later...
"Have you eaten?" he asked when she emerged from her bedroom. She wore her hair up again. When she'd greeted him at the door the damp curls had tumbled around her face unchecked. He preferred it like that—the come-and-grope-me look. Getting her to release her hair so he could play with it would be a challenge.
He loved a challenge.
"Not yet," she said. "I guess I should offer to cook something, but I'm a terrible cook. I've been known to boil pots of water dry."
"Guess we'll go out then."
"Oh." She glanced down at her jeans. "I should change."
"No need. How's pizza sound?"
"Cheap."
He raised a brow. He'd never been called that to his face before.
She bit her lip and shrugged an apology. "I just expected us to go to an expensive restaurant."
"Because I'm the CEO of National Paints?"
"No, because you're a millionaire."
"An unemployed millionaire."
Her jaw dropped. So far everyone had the same reaction—his mother, his colleagues, Pete and Linda. No one seemed to get it. He'd kind of hoped Maddie would, although he had no idea why. It's not like they were old buddies or anything. It’s not like she was the sort of person who did things on a whim. Not like him. Nope, she was a by-the-book, do it the right way kind of girl. Everything in order, nothing out of place.
He wondered what would happen if her perfectly ordered life suddenly threw a curve ball at her. What would happen if she quit her job? Would she go into complete meltdown or would she blossom?