“Good.” Sean’s hand tightened on hers. “You have any thoughts on how to seal our agreement?”
Another rush of color swept into her face. “What do you mean?”
“It’s simple. We have a contract.” Sean lowered his voice to a husky whisper. “Now we need some way to guarantee it.” He looked at her slightly parted lips, then into her eyes. “You know. Sign in blood. Swear before witnesses. Cross your heart and hope to die.” He flashed a quick smile. “Something to make it official.”
He watched her face, saw the exact second she decided she’d had enough. Or maybe she’d decided to change tack. Try as he might, he couldn’t tell which.
“You’re making fun of me,” she said.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are. You think this is funny, and you’re teasing me.”
“Teasing. Not making fun. There’s a world of difference.”
“Let go of my hand, please.”
“Why? I turn you on. You turn me on. That hasn’t changed. Why walk away from it before we’ve discovered what comes next?”
He didn’t know what he’d expected, though he’d gone out of his way to provoke a reaction. Would she blush some more? Lean into him and lift that luscious mouth to his? The combination of brashness and modesty was charming, even exciting, but it only made him more suspicious.
Whatever he might have anticipated, it wasn’t the way she suddenly stood straighter, or the way her chin lifted.
“You’re right,” she said. “Why walk away now?”
Sean nodded. “That’s better.” It wasn’t. She sounded as if she’d decided to go to the dentist after all. What in hell was happening? Acting on impulse, he reached out, put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up. “As for that contract,” he said softly, “I know exactly how to seal the deal.”
All of her was trembling now, not just the hand pressed to his chest. For a woman who’d tried to convince him of how eager she was to jump his bones, the lady was strangely nervous.
Sean smiled into her eyes, deliberately dropped his gaze to her mouth.
“No,” she said quickly, the word a breathless whisper. “Please, don’t—”
He hadn’t intended to go through with it. The idea was to see how she’d react to the prospect of a kiss but when he saw her lips part, her eyes turn into the fresh green of a meadow after a spring rain, a shudder ran through his body. He wanted to kiss her. Kiss her, take her in his arms, carry her out of the noise and the light to a place where they’d be alone, where he could kiss her again and again until she trembled, yes, but trembled with need for him.
Sean stepped back, his pulse hammering, every muscle in his body tight as steel.
“Don’t toast a deal with a bottle of champagne?” he said with forced lightness. “Now, that’s definitely something no woman’s ever asked of me before.”
“Champ…” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. He tried not to imagine it was his lip those perfect teeth were worrying. “Oh. I didn’t…I mean, that would be nice.”
“Besides, how could I let you go until I know why you stood in that alcove watching me for so long?”
Her face whitened. “I was not watching you.”
“Telling fibs isn’t nice, sugar. Sure you were. And now you’re as nervous as a cat in a dog pound. Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart. I like getting beautiful women flustered—but I like to know the reason for it. Somehow, I don’t think your nerves have all that much to do with my masculine charms.”
She looked up at him, conflicting emotions warring in her eyes. For a heartbeat, Sean felt as if she were on the verge of telling him something that would set him on a white charger like a knight ready to do battle with a dragon.
But she only smiled and angled her chin so she was gazing up at him through thick, honey-brown lashes.
“You’re right about my watching you,” she said softly, “but wrong in thinking it had nothing to do with your masculine charms.” She smiled again, just enough to give those words the light touch they deserved. “I hoped you wouldn’t notice.”
“There’s not a man in the room wouldn’t notice you, if you were looking at him.”
She laughed. It was a flirty, delicious sound. “That’s very sweet.”
“It’s the truth.”
Her hand was on his chest again, her fingers toying lightly with the lapel of his jacket. Her lips were slightly parted; she tilted her head back and now he could see the swift beat of her pulse in the hollow of her throat.
Sean almost groaned. He’d played games like this before but he’d never felt as if every muscle in his body was on full alert until now.
“I think it’s time we got to know each other better, Just-Savannah.”
“That sounds nice. What do you have in mind?”
Taking her to bed. That was what he had in mind, but he wasn’t going to do that until he knew exactly what was going on here.
“The champagne I promised you, for starters.” He linked his fingers through hers. “And some privacy.”
“I’d like that.”
Warning bells rang in his head. The words were right. So was the come-and-get-me smile, but the look in her eyes was wrong.
Maybe it was time to up the ante.
He turned her hand palm-up and lifted it to his mouth. He felt her stiffen as he pressed his lips to her flesh, felt her start to jerk her hand from his.
“Easy, sugar. I haven’t taken a bite out of a woman in years. Not unless she wanted me to.”
“I know. I just—I told you, this is all—”
“—new. Yeah, so you said.” Sean’s smile was deliberately lazy. “Unless, of course, there’s more to the story than you’re letting on.”
“What more could there be, Mr. O’Connell? You’re a very attractive man. I’m sure I’m not the first woman to show an interest in you.”
The warning bells were going crazy. Mr. O’Connell? How could she know his name? He was Just-Sean. She was Just-Savannah. Definitely, there was more on her agenda. Should he call her on it? Should he play along?
He looked deep into the green eyes fixed to his. Hell. He was a gambler, wasn’t he? What did he have to lose?
“Now, sugar,” he said softly, “what kind of gentleman would I be if I answered that question?”
A slow, easy smile curved his mouth.
Seeing it, Savannah almost sagged with relief. For one awful minute, she’d been afraid she’d given everything away. She’d come awfully close, saying the wrong things, letting her nerves show, but then she’d turned the situation around by using her mistakes to convince Sean O’Connell she’d never come on to a man before.
That, at least, was the truth.
She couldn’t afford any more screw-ups.
She’d thought this would be easy, but it wasn’t. Using a deck of cards to scam a dumb mark on a dingy street corner was not the same as using your body, your smile, your words to scam an intelligent man in an elegant casino.
Besides, O’Connell was more than intelligent. He was street-smart. She hadn’t expected that. He kept looking at her as if she were a candy bar he wanted to unwrap, but always with a wariness that made her uneasy.