“You come in and it won’t be much cooler in the house,” he replied. Still, he stepped aside to allow her to enter.
He was flirting with her as well, she realized.
He didn’t look much like a powerful executive today. In place of a tailored suit, he wore a pair of faded jeans and a short-sleeved polo shirt. His feet were bare. And while he was no bodybuilder, his arms were far more muscular than she would have guessed and the broad shoulders were definitely authentic. Urbane, physically fit and mentally agile. Arlene had pegged him right: Sam Maxwell was Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.
“You clean up amazingly well,” he said.
They stood in the foyer, a step too close together, and yet Kelli didn’t back away. She should have put an end to this inappropriate byplay, but like a moth drawn to the danger of a flame, she couldn’t quite bring herself to do so. If it was part of his strategy to win, she wanted him to know that two could play his game.
Surely that was the only reason she let her gaze flick down to his bare feet and back up before replying, “And you dress down well. I wouldn’t have guessed you owned jeans.”
“We’re even then. I wouldn’t have guessed you owned high heels.”
“Oh, I’m full of surprises,” she said.
“I’m beginning to think so.”
He reached out, and for a moment she thought he might stroke her cheek, but he drew a ribbon of her hair between his index and middle fingers instead, following its length to the freshly snipped ends.
“You cut your hair.”
The breath seemed to back up in her lungs and it took an effort to squeeze out the words, “Yes, among other things. What do you think of my makeover?”
“I’m not sure I can think.”
If this was mere flirting, it had taken on a dangerous edge. And still, Kelli did not back away. In fact, she moved forward ever so slightly, testing this new power she seemed to have. Testing herself.
“Come now, a man of your immense control and mental fortitude? I find that hard to believe.” She allowed a smile to slowly lift the corners of her mouth.
“Are you sure you want to know what I really think?” The space between them grew perilously meager as he stepped forward, all but pinning her between his body and the equally unyielding wall.
“Yes.”
The breathy whisper seemed to come from a stranger. Kelli wasn’t sure she knew herself anymore. She certainly could no longer fathom her motives for baiting such a powerful and not always pleasant man.
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