Secrets, Lies & Lullabies. Heidi Betts

smacked into him with the force of a freight train late to its final destination. His fist closed on the wine in his hand, so tight he was surprised the glass didn’t shatter. Every muscle in his body turned to iron, and that most important one—the one that desired her most of all—came to attention in a way that made its wishes clearly known.

      Sweat broke out across Alex’s brow and his lungs hitched with the effort to breathe. Jessica was still staring at him, the amusement at her teasing about the jewelry slowly seeping from her eyes as she realized he wasn’t laughing.

      She probably thought she’d insulted him. Or come across as a gold digger. The difference in their stations—her minimum wage chambermaid to his multimillionaire business tycoon—was patently obvious, and something he supposed she hadn’t forgotten for a minute. Add to that the fact that he felt ready to explode, and he probably looked like Dr. Jekyll well on his way to becoming Mr. Hyde.

      Forcing himself to loosen his grip on the wineglass, he concentrated on his breathing. Relax, he told himself. Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t scare her off before you have a chance to seduce her.

      And he was going to seduce her. He’d been attracted to her from the moment they’d first met, which, of course, meant he’d thought about sleeping with her about a thousand times since. But thinking about it and making a conscious decision to go through with it were two different things.

      He hadn’t realized until just this minute that he was going to make a move on her. He was going to kiss her and do his best to convince her to go to bed with him.

      Pushing to his feet, he leaned across to set his wine on the wrought-iron table that had been between the two chaises. He locked his jaw and cursed himself when she jerked at his sudden movements. His only hope was that he hadn’t frightened her so much that he couldn’t smooth things over. Seducing a woman on the first date could be hard enough without adding “acted like a jackass” to the mix.

      “Sorry,” he said in a low voice, hoping the single word would be suitable as a blanket apology. And then in answer to her earlier question, “I don’t have any samples. I’d need a 24/7 armed guard to carry that kind of merchandise around with me.”

      At his friendly tone, she seemed to relax. And when she did, he did.

      “If you like, though, I can arrange a tour of our company. You can see how the pieces are put together, watch some gems being cut, maybe even catch a peek at a few designs that haven’t been released yet. You’d have to come to Seattle, though. Think you can get the time off?”

      If he’d expected her to be impressed, he was sorely disappointed. Her expression barely changed as her tongue darted out to lick her lips.

      “That’s all right,” she said, instead of “Oh, wow, that would be awesome!” “I was just joking. I could never afford anything of yours, anyway. Better not to tempt myself.”

      It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he’d gift her with a piece while she was there. He’d never done anything of the sort before, never even been tempted. Yet suddenly he didn’t want to just imagine her covered in his family’s fine jewelry, he wanted to literally cover her with it. Throw it at her feet like a humble servant making an offering to the gods. Diamonds, emeralds, opals, sapphires … Whatever she wanted. As much as she wanted.

      He wasn’t sure exactly when he’d become such a weak-kneed sycophant. He’d certainly never given women jewelry before; at least not easily or as willy-nilly as he was envisioning doing with Jessica.

      To be honest, he wasn’t sure he liked these feelings and the lack of control she seemed to evoke. It was the number one reason he thought he should probably call it a night and get as far away as possible from this woman.

      That would be the smart thing to do, for certain.

      So why didn’t he?

      Desire? Lust? Sheer stupidity?

      But rather than thank her for coming and seeing her to the door, he held out his hand, indicating that she should give him her wineglass. When she did, he set it aside, then held out his hand again, this time inviting her to take it. He was equal parts surprised and relieved when she did so without a hint of reservation that he could detect.

      Her fingers were cool and delicate. For a moment he savored the simple touch, not letting himself ruin it by imagining more just yet.

      Then he gave her a tug, urging her to the edge of the chaise. A second tug pulled her to her feet.

      She came into his arms as though she was tied to him and he was drawing on the string that bound them. Another step and she was pressed to his chest the way he’d wished she could be earlier.

      Her blouse was silky against his palms and the front of his own dress shirt, her breasts rubbing just enough to give him ideas and get the blood pumping hot and thick to his groin once again. He held her there, enjoying the feel of her, stroking his hands up and down the line of her spine.

      To his great delight she didn’t pull away, but sank into him even more, her breath blowing out on a soft sigh.

      With one hand at the small of her back, he brought the other up the length of her arm and the side of her throat until he cupped her jaw, his thumb brushing along the baby-soft curve of her cheek.