He stepped back and tried to regain the upper hand. "So … Norwood, huh?"
"What about him?"
"Your clothes aside, there's something else you can do to get his attention."
Kate eyed him with faint suspicion. "What?"
He reached behind her head to find the pins capturing her dark hair in that doughnut-shaped knot. With a few twists of his fingers, he pulled out the pins and dropped them to the floor.
Oh yeah.
Kate gasped, a breathy little noise that propelled straight to his dick. Her hair flooded around her shoulders in thick, lush waves, spilling the scent of strawberries into the air. Tyler stepped back, his heart crashing against his ribs with a combination of pleasure and outright awe.
With all that wavy hair as a frame, her face looked softer and even more lovely, like a painting. Her lips parted with surprise, and he was seized with the urge to kiss that notch on her upper lip. What did she taste like? Berries, cinnamon, spice-
"Why did you do that?" Irritably, she reached back to try and pull her hair up again.
"Let a guy see your hair down," Tyler advised. "And he'll be at your feet."
"Well, I don't have much choice now, do I?" she replied, giving up the futile effort of fixing her hair.
Tyler curled his fingers into his palm to restrain himself from tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, then running his hand through the glossy strands. He'd love to see all that brown silk spilling over his pillow.
The library, dammit.
"Kate." He lowered his head so they were almost eye-level. "You're crazy efficient. Smart. Organized. Educated. How about you give me a hand down here? With your help, we could get the job done in no time and I could be out of everyone's hair in a couple of weeks. Please?" he added as an afterthought.
Her expression was inscrutable, but her eyes lit with wary interest. She was intrigued by the offer-the chaos of the books and papers was both a challenge and a nirvana to an organizer like her.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Her voice was still breathless, her expression a combination of growing need and caution.
He leaned in closer. The sugar scent of her filled his head, tripping through his blood. Christ. He'd criticized her clothes, but he still couldn't stop thinking about how her body had felt against his. And in that brown suit with her white shirt, glossy hair, and cinnamon freckles, she was like a yummy little pastry he wanted to gobble right up.
Against his better judgment, he lifted a hand to the side of her face, rubbing his thumb over her smooth-as-silk cheek.
"I meant it, Darling," he murmured, his pulse still beating unusually fast. "I need you."
"I think you … you need a lot of girls." Her gaze drifted to his mouth.
"Not like you." He stroked his thumb back and forth on her cheek. The way she was softening under his touch infused his blood with heat. His head flooded with images of her lying on his bed, all warm, willing, and eager … His cock hardened.
"I'm … I can't do this alone." He swallowed, his voice coming out husky.
"I'm sure you can find someone else to help you," Kate whispered.
"Not like you."
He slipped his hand to the side of her neck, feeling her pulse throbbing against his palm. Jesus, he wanted to strip her suit off, to see that heavy-duty slip hugging her curves all snug and tight, and then he wanted to peel it off her and find her bare skin, her generous cleavage, her hard nipples … He shifted, trying not to wince as his dick pushed insistently against his jeans.
She darted her tongue out to lick her lips. He stared at her mouth, the urge to taste her seizing him. He slid one arm around her waist, flattening his palm against her lower back and pulling her closer.
Kate caught her breath, a little gasping noise. He tensed, expecting her to resist, but instead she curled her hands into the front of his T-shirt. He tightened his hand against the side of her neck. Heat flared through him, swift and hard like the revving of an engine.
He wouldn't kiss her. He wanted to … Christ, he ached to kiss her, but he'd channel every ounce of his self-control into not kissing her. As accustomed as he was to women going all pliable under his attention, he'd always been transparent with them. All cards on the table. Dates, sex, friendship, fun. They always knew what he wanted, and it was always what they wanted too.
But Kate … he was trying to get her to do what he wanted. And she was making his head spin with the effort of controlling himself. He should stop this right here, but the scent and feel of her weakened whatever resolve he possessed.