And Ryder Blackwell was the epitome of delicious and temptation.
She’d been around long enough to understand that if she were lucky there would be only a handful of men she would connect with in a way that transcended your run-of-the-mill attraction. And she’d felt that connection strongly with Ryder upon realizing who he was when he’d blocked her access to the garage. Within a nanosecond, his gaze had communicated an understanding, an awareness, to her that sometimes years with another person couldn’t accomplish. An “I see you” gaze that left her feeling…no, knowing that he had seen her. Not the details. Not what her favorite color was or what she was up to. But, rather, more fundamental elements. Almost as if the past, present and future had melted together to become immaterial in light of their meeting, their connection.
Oh, well. While it was certainly the first time she’d had such an experience with a mark, she had the feeling it likely wouldn’t be the last. And, probably sooner than she currently believed, she’d forget all about his electric-blue eyes and dimpled cheek and the surge of her blood every time she’d thought about him that afternoon, and use the money she’d stolen from him to further more important plans.
She stuffed the last of the items that could be connected to her inside the cavernous depths of her Louis Vuitton bag and wiped her prints from the drawer she’d closed.
“Going somewhere?”
Seline froze at the sound of Ryder’s voice. Somewhere in the back of her mind she gave herself a pat on the back for not having jumped. Even if his sudden presence was definitely of the jump variety.
Not that she hadn’t half expected him to show up at her office, despite his request through official channels to see her in his. Mostly because of that connection she’d shared with him. She’d instantly sensed that—not unlike herself—he was someone used to getting what he wanted. And he wanted her.
Her. The woman in the car who’d challenged him to a race. Not Carol Lambert. Although she had to remind herself that he didn’t know there was difference. A vast and damaging difference.
It had been that knowing that had prompted her to finish up her business and get out of here posthaste.
Unfortunately, she’d been two minutes too late.
Seline turned her chair to face him in the doorway, giving him her best Carol Lambert tucked-chin smile. “Hello, Mr. Blackwell. I was just getting ready to come up to see you.”
“Why do I get the impression you were getting ready to leave instead?”
She tried to act surprised, but she made the mistake of meeting his stimulating gaze. And the challenge there left her incapable of ignoring the desire to rise to it.
So he thought he could handle her, did he? Thought he knew who she was and by extension thought himself up to the task of tussling with her without consequence?
She found herself smiling.
She had two weaknesses. One was for a good, clean, risky con; the other was proving to a powerful bachelor like Ryder Blackwell how powerless he truly was when it came to a woman like her.
And while she should pass on this one, she found she didn’t want to.
All cons came with their risks. And so far this one had run like clockwork. Boringly like clockwork. Maybe a tryst with Ryder was just what was needed to spice it up a little bit.
“Was there something you needed to discuss with me?” she asked, getting up from her desk and coming to stand in front of him.
She watched him watch her approach. His black pupils dilated slightly as his gaze dropped first to her baggy blouse as if searching for the lacy bra underneath, then to her legs, which she knew were killer even in the low-heeled, unappealing shoes she wore.
Seline leaned forward, brushing her breasts against his chest. She had to give him credit for standing still, not giving away with a blink or an intake of breath that her actions surprised him. She picked up a file on the side table behind him, then broke contact as she put it into her bag.
“There are several things I’d like to discuss with you, Ms. Lambert.”
She put her bag on the table then reached for her suit jacket hanging on the back of the door. He took it from her and she easily turned so he could help her into it. If his movements were a little more languid than the occasion called for, if his fingers lingered a little too long at the collar, against the burning skin of her neck, she wasn’t going to let him see her reaction. Even though she sensed that he knew. Just as she knew that he wanted to touch her in far more intimate ways.
“I only have a few minutes,” she said, turning back to face him. “I have a meeting to get to.”
His gaze swept up from her neck over her chin to her lips. “Cancel it.”
She smiled in a way designed to transmit that he’d just tipped his hand. “Surely whatever is on your mind can wait until morning?”
Until she was long gone and he would begin the process of discovering exactly what she’d been doing while she’d been there. And that it had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with money.
“Actually, it can’t. Have dinner with me.”
She picked up her bag and edged the handle up to rest over her shoulder. “Dinner? Sounds personal. Doesn’t that violate the company’s no-fraternization rule?”
The right side of his mouth budged upward, revealing the single dimple that made her tongue tingle with the desire to taste it. “I’ll put it on my agenda to change that rule first thing in the morning. One of the benefits of being the boss.”
Seline couldn’t resist leaning closer to him. The new proximity filled her senses with a scent of lime that made her mouth water further. She dropped her voice to a provocative whisper. “Yes, but that still leaves the rule in effect for tonight. And seeing as I’m a new employee, I wouldn’t want to do anything to endanger my position. You know, like having sex with the boss.”
“Who said anything about sex?”
She tilted her head so that she was looking into his eyes. “You did. And do. Every time you look at me.”
“Astute woman.”
“Shameless man.”
His chuckle sent a shiver skidding over her hypersensitive nerve endings. It had been a long, long time since mere conversation with a man had made her wet. But if the dampness between her thighs was anything to go by, Ryder had accomplished exactly that.
“Look, Mr. Blackwell—”
“Ryder.”
“No matter what guarantees you make, the truth is that sleeping with the boss is never a good idea. Chances are you’ll come in tomorrow morning having regretted our…intimacy.” She watched as he swallowed thickly. “And then where would I be? Aside from sharing the title of one-night stand with no doubt countless other women in the company?”
“I don’t sleep with employees.”
“But isn’t that what you’re proposing now?”
His grin widened. “No. I’m offering dinner.”
Seline shivered again and clamped her thighs tightly together, reveling in the luscious sensations rolling through her. “Nothing more?”
“Let’s just say that the rest…well, I’ll be offering. It’s up to you whether or not you take me up on it.”
She blinked slowly then smiled. “Your car or mine?”
3
RED-HOT. Reckless. Dangerous.