What a lucky car door.
He half wished she’d drop the pen, just so he could swoop in and pick it up. Bend down, grab it before it rattled to the street, and gallantly present it.
Then he’d get her number with that pen. She’d be the type to push up the cuff of his shirtsleeve and write it on his arm.
He scoffed at himself. As if that would work. But something had to, because the clock was ticking and he had two minutes to spare.
The sun pelted its hot desert rays at him, radiating off the sidewalks, as he ran a hand along his tie and cleared his throat. She looked up from her phone, and instantly they locked eyes. Hers were blue like the sea. As she caught his gaze, she arched an eyebrow.
This was it. No time for lines. Just fucking talk to the gorgeous creature. “Seems I’ve been caught staring,” he said as he reached her, claiming a patch of concrete real estate a foot away.
“I’m afraid I’m guilty on that count, too,” she fired back, her voice laced with a torch-singer sultriness, her words telling him to keep going.
She had the pen in her hand and she twirled it once absently.
He tipped his forehead toward it. “Incidentally, I’m astonishingly good at picking up pens that beautiful women drop outside our fine city’s government buildings.”
Her lips twitched. Red. Cherry red and full. He wanted to know what they tasted like. How they felt. What she liked to do with them.
She brought the pen to her lips, danced it between them, raised her eyebrows in an invitation, and then let it drop. It clattered to the sidewalk. “Is that so?”
The pen was like a promise. Of something more. Of flirting, and then flirting back. Of phone numbers to follow. And then some. Oh yeah, so much and then some.
“That is so,” he said in a firm voice, bending down to pick up the writing implement, just as Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ crooned from her phone. He rose, and she was tapping her screen, sliding her thumb across it.
“Must answer this. But thank you so much for the pen. By the way, I like your tie.” She reached out to trail a finger down the silky fabric, her hand terribly close to his chest. Then she held up that finger, asking him to wait.
“So good to hear from you,” she said into the phone, keeping her eyes on him the whole time. “I can’t wait to see you tonight at the gala at Aria,” she said, arching an eyebrow at Ryan as she emphasized that last word. “It’s going to be a fabulous event and we’ll raise so much money. My only hope is there will be some gorgeous man there in a green tie who can afford a last-minute ticket.”
He shot her a grin—a lopsided smile that said yes, the man in the green tie could absolutely afford a ticket.
He nodded his RSVP to the gala. She waved goodbye and walked down the street.
Suddenly, Ryan had plans that night.
Good thing he’d worn that lucky green tie.
THE END
Did you enjoy this brief glimpse of Ryan and Sophie’s sweet desires? If you want to read more about what happens next with this kind of chemistry, check out the full-length novel, SINFUL DESIRE, available everywhere!
For a taste of Ryan and Sophie’s sexy times,
here’s a teaser of the night at the gala…..
“From the moment I met you, I knew I’d have my hands on you. You knew it, too. Felt it, too.”
She nodded as she trembled from the trace of his finger. “I did feel it.”
He brought his mouth to her ear and spoke softly. “If I ever do or say something you don’t like, tell me. Or smack me. I only want to bring you pleasure.” His words were both sexy and earnest. The combination sent flutters through her belly. “Immense pleasure.”
“You already are. So tell me something else that’s true. Something else you know,” she said, loving the hot, dirty way he talked to her as he touched her.
“I’m going to look into your eyes like I want to take you,” he said, his eyes blazing with desire. “That look will drive you wild. And you’ll swallow nervously because you don’t know me, and it’s odd wanting a stranger as much as you do.” He was reading her like a teenage diary. On the one hand, she was nervous. She didn’t know him at all. But she was also aroused beyond words. Beyond reason. Beyond any normal limits.
For that same reason—because she didn’t know him.
“Then, you’ll run a hand down my tie,” he told her, and she reached out instantly, doing exactly as he said, loving the directions he gave. Sophie craved this kind of interaction. She wanted a man to command her. So much time was spent deciding, and doing, and planning. It drove her brain batty, and she longed for this kind of release from her days.