“Thank you,” she said to the closing door.
“See?” Karen said from behind her. “Date.”
“Date,” she agreed.
But staring after Lea, the excitement that had previously coursed through her veins was absent.
Chapter Eight
Five minutes before the clock struck eight, Avery rapped on Hayden’s door. Within seconds, it opened.
“Good evening,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb with a smile on his lips.
“Hayden,” she said in greeting. “What’s with the location change?”
“Come see for yourself.” He swept out his arm, inviting her inside.
She stepped across the threshold, her eyes zeroing in on the king-size bed mere steps away. His words drifted back to her.
The next time I get us all worked up, I’ll make sure there’s a bed with a locked door nearby.
Turning to him, she crossed her arms and arched a brow.
A rueful smile lit his expression as he closed the door.
“Something to say?” he asked, moving toward her.
“This is a pretty inappropriate setting for a work update, don’t you think?”
“I think we’ve already established I’m not a play by the rules sort of man.”
“I see. So you normally entertain your business contacts in your hotel rooms? My my.”
“All right. Maybe some rules have their place. But not tonight.”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Why am I here?”
He leaned down as if to kiss her. She inhaled with his mouth a breath from hers. Half of her wanted to bolt, and the other half wanted to rise on her tiptoes and take what she wanted.
“You are here,” he said, his lips brushing lightly against hers, “for dinner.”
Twirling her around, he faced her toward the open balcony doors and the meal laid out on the table there.
“Unless you have other ideas,” he whispered in her ear. “I’d be happy to take any requests for a change in plans under advisement.”
Slipping around her, he walked out onto the balcony.
Get a hold of yourself. She shook her head before striding after him.
Hayden was already folding himself gracefully into one of the chairs. The table was arranged to watch the sunset from the best room in the building. She had to admit, it was a picturesque setting for a dinner date.
Examining her companion, she could no longer fool herself into thinking these briefings had anything to do with work. Though the knowledge should have her heading for the door, she took her seat, instead, and inspected the delicious food laid out before them.
Hayden watched her with bright eyes as she began to fill her plate. “I expected more resistance,” he said.
“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m starving. I take it you aren’t interested in my work update?”
“Has anything happened I should know about?”
“No.”
“Then I feel confident leaving everything to you.”
Her gaze flicked to his as she reached for a fish taco. “You could have just invited me out on a date.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Would you have accepted?”
She shrugged, not able to offer an answer she didn’t have. Would she have declined if Lea had given her that message? Or would her pride have urged to her accept any invitation delivered by the beautiful woman?
“What are you hoping to gain tonight?” she asked.
He leaned forward to fill his own plate. “I’m beginning to understand why you love your puzzles so much,” he said.
“Are you saying I’m a puzzle?”
“The more I learn about you, the more I want to know.”
A glow lit her. “I’m not so complicated.”
His eyes were warm as he watched her. “You might just be the most complicated woman I’ve ever met.”
She held his gaze for a moment before refocusing on her meal. “That says more about the women you’ve chosen to spend time with than it does about me.”
“Maybe I’m changing my ways.”
She scoffed, knowing there was very little chance of a man like Hayden changing permanently.
“You’ve got until the sun sets,” she said, pointing toward the orange- and purple-painted sky. “What do you want to know?”
Hayden poured wine into her glass and waited till she took a sip. “I want to know more about who you were before the gala.”
“What?” she asked, swirling her wine.
“I know we had some brief professional meetings, but really, I only started to know you that night. I’m curious about what I missed before then.”
She shrugged. “I doubt you missed much. I was just an external contract worker, very focused on her job.”
“Wyatt said you were almost hyperfocused on work.”