“Excellent. I’ll email you the agenda.”
“No rest for the wicked, hmm?”
“Not when the wicked controls a billion-dollar corporation. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Wyatt.”
Hanging up the call, he tossed the phone onto the freshly made bed. Why was he so curious to know about Avery’s ex? It wasn’t like him to want to hear tales of those who had preceded him. Yet, like in all things, Avery seemed to be his exception to the rule.
He rubbed his jaw, visions of her in his arms filling his mind. Yesterday might have been the wrong time and wrong place, but hell, it hadn’t been the wrong woman. He’d returned to the hotel and immediately treated himself to a cold shower. A long one.
But though their impromptu make-out session had been ill-advised, it did make one thing very clear. The gala hadn’t been a fluke. The desire he felt for Avery wasn’t simple or brief.
And though she didn’t want to admit it, she wanted him just as badly.
Turning, he eyed the space on the balcony. Maybe Wyatt was right. Perhaps he needed to be more direct about the information he wanted to uncover.
Tonight’s work update might benefit from a slight change in venue.
With a grin, he grabbed the hotel phone and placed a call to the concierge.
…
“How was your date?”
Avery rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t a date.”
“Sure,” Karen said, reaching for the financial reports scattered across the big conference table. “Did he kiss you?”
Avery looked down at her laptop, suddenly engrossed in the information on her screen.
Karen chuckled. “Totally a date. When’s your next one?”
“I’m not dating Hayden Wexton.”
“Hate to break it to you, honey, but it really seems like you are.”
She glanced up. “Hayden doesn’t date.”
“Maybe you’re just different,” she said with a shrug.
Am I? Pleasure flooded her at the thought. Pleasure she had no business feeling. All night she’d tossed and turned, reliving their kiss in the secluded parking lot. The instant his hands touched her body, lust pounded through her veins, demanding she appease it. It had been the same the night of the gala. As they’d twirled around the dance floor, her body had come back to life. When she’d left Jon, she’d never thought that would happen. Yet something about that night and that man had rekindled a part of herself she’d thought she’d lost.
Which was why when he reached for her hand with the half smile on his lips, she’d allowed him to guide her off the dance floor. She hadn’t hesitated to follow where he led. Even when the destination had been his room.
Closing her eyes, she remembered how he’d stepped up behind her and caught the zipper of her dress. Agonizingly slow, he’d pulled it down, running his lips along the newly exposed skin until the straps slipped down her arms. In nothing but her panties and heels, she stepped out of the gown and twirled, draping her arms around his neck as she’d lifted her mouth for a kiss.
There had been no hesitation in her body as he’d waltzed her backward toward the bed. She’d felt powerful when she’d climbed onto the soft white mattress and watched him pull the tie from his neck before his fingers flew down the buttons of his shirt. All the while his burning gaze had stayed pinned on her.
That night with that man had been like acting out a dream. She’d never been blind to Hayden’s pattern. Nothing more than a few hours pleasure would ever come of that night. And so she’d let go of any inhibitions and simply demanded what she wanted, every which way she could get it. Under him, riding him, tasting him. He’d been her fantasy come to life.
And now here he was, offering that all-consuming pleasure once more, if she just had the courage to take it.
“You know, given he’s dating you when he doesn’t ever date, maybe this is more than just a fling to him.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “He made it pretty clear on our not-date that he wasn’t looking for long term.”
Karen shrugged. “Sometimes men are the last to know. What do you think?”
I think if we could have a future, I’d fall into bed with him immediately.
Which took her aback. Was she ready for a real relationship? Was she healed enough from Jon to really be what a partner would need her to be?
What Hayden would need her to be?
Excitement coursed through her before she fought it back.
“I’m not in the business of trying to change people.”
“Maybe it’s not changing him. Maybe it’s just helping him see what he really wants.”
She released a long sigh. You couldn’t predict someone else’s behavior. It was a lesson she’d learned the hard way. Hayden’s inner thoughts were a mystery. If he wanted more from her, he certainly wasn’t saying it aloud.