‘Maybe I’m not as arrogant or as rude as you are.’ She slapped files on the top of the steel. ‘I don’t like trampling on people’s feelings.’
‘You don’t think it’s worse to string him along so your ego can be inflated some more?’
‘That wasn’t what I was doing.’ She crossed her arms in front of her chest.
‘Oh, don’t tell me you really liked him?’ He looked stunned. ‘Were you just making life hell for him? Playing with him so he’d do anything you ask him to?’
‘Of course not!’ She clenched her teeth. ‘I was trying to make it clear that nothing was going to happen. I thought I had already. But he didn’t deserve your kind of in-your-face humiliation.’
‘What he doesn’t deserve is you screwing him up and spitting him out only when you’re sick of chewing him over.’
Breathing hard, she glared at him as fury burned along her veins. ‘Wow, you think so highly of me, don’t you, Carter?’
His shoulders lifted in a mocking shrug. ‘If you really wanted rid of him, you needed to be cruel to be kind.’
‘Well, I’m not cruel,’ she said painfully. ‘I won’t ever be.’
He glared right back at her—for what felt like hours. Slowly she became aware of their isolation in the office, the smallness of the space between them. They were just about in exactly the position they’d been in last night.
‘How about honest, then, can you manage that?’ he asked quietly.
‘Not if it’s going to really hurt someone,’ she muttered. Utterly honest.
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘That’s the coward’s way out.’
Well, what would he know about anything? For all his cruel-to-be-kind cliché, she’d bet her last cent he’d never hurt anyone the way she once had.
She blinked back her sudden tears, focused on his eyes instead. Close up now she saw even more colours in them—not just green and blue but shots of gold as well. All of a sudden she was trying really, really hard not to think of that kiss and how incredible she’d felt. Trying really, really hard not to notice how his mouth looked fuller today.
The atmosphere changed completely. It seemed he’d forgotten his anger too. But there was no less emotion in the air—it just transformed and intensified as it swirled around them. Somehow it made her feel even worse than when he’d been so rude on the phone. Somehow she was more afraid. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.
‘Do you want me to kiss you again, Penny?’ he asked. ‘Is that the real problem here?’
That brought her voice back. ‘You are so conceited.’
‘So you really can’t do honesty,’ he jibed.
She bent her head and fished for the last few files, needing to find her moxie more than the damn data. He so easily tipped her balance, she needed her defensive sass back. But all she could manage now was the silent treatment.
‘So what should that guy have sent you—a big box of Belgian chocolates?’ His tone lightened.
‘I don’t eat chocolate,’ she said shortly, not looking up.
‘Maybe you should, smooth off some of those sharp edges. Isn’t chocolate better than sex?’
‘You’re obviously not doing it right if the women you know say that.’
He yelped a little laugh. ‘Throw out a challenge, why don’t you?’
She slammed the file drawer shut.
‘And now you’re backing away from it again. See, you are a tease. You just like having men want you.’
She faced him full on, to put him firmly in his place. Oh, so arrogant Carter Dodds could definitely cope with that—he wasn’t exactly crushable. ‘You wanting me is not a compliment.’
‘You don’t think?’ He grinned. ‘Well, I’m not going to chase after you with a billion flowers or calls. If you want to follow through on this, just let me know.’
‘And you’ll come running?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t run after any woman.’
‘Because they all fall at your feet?’
‘Much like the men do at yours, darling,’ he murmured. ‘But I already know how much you want me so maybe I’ll make you beg for it.’
‘Cold day in hell, Carter.’
‘Don’t protest too much, you’ll only regret it later.’
She held a breath for a sanity-saving moment. ‘You always get everything you want?’
‘I already have everything I want. Anything extra is purely for fun.’ His lips curved so slowly and his eyes twinkled with such a teasing expression she fought hard not to let her lips move in response. They wanted to smile all of their own accord. To mirror the magic in his smile. How could she want to smile when she was mad with him?
Because the fact was, he was honest—and, yes, more honest than her. He might be teasing but he wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t a bit true.
‘Admit it, you love the fun of it.’ Both his eyes and voice invited.
‘The fun of what?’
‘Flirting.’
‘Is that what you’re doing?’
‘That’s what we’ve been doing from the moment we saw each other.’
‘Oh, please.’ This wasn’t flirting, this was a full-scale, high-impact, brazen sexual hunt. There was nothing subtle about it.
‘You can’t deny it,’ he said. ‘You like what you see. I like what I see.’
She dropped her gaze. Yes, that was all it was. A superficial animal attraction—based on instinct and what the eye found beautiful. They were each a pleasing example of the opposite sex with whom to practise procreation.
‘That doesn’t mean we should do anything about it. You need to concentrate, you’ve got a job to do here.’ And she needed him to give her some breathing space.
‘And I’ll do it well. Doesn’t mean I can’t have a few moments of light relief here and there.’
Light relief was all she ever did. But she didn’t think Carter would walk as lightly over her as she would him. ‘You don’t think this is a distraction?’
‘I think it’s more of a distraction not to give in to it.’
‘Oh, right, so really I should be saying yes for Mason’s sake.’
He chuckled. ‘You should be saying yes because you can’t keep saying no—not to this.’
He had the sledgehammer thing down pat.
She’d known many cocky guys. Had heard many lines—hell, she’d even delivered a few herself. But while Carter was confident, she could also tell he meant every word—and not in some deluded way. He really wanted her. And the truth was, she wanted him too—but to a degree too scary. This kind of extreme just couldn’t be healthy.
He leaned a little closer and, despite her caution, Penny couldn’t help mirroring his movement. She had to part her lips just that tiny fraction—to breathe, right?
He smiled wickedly and lifted his head away again, his eyes dancing with the delight of a devil. He picked up the files she’d thumped on the top of the cabinet. ‘I’ll see you at the bar later.’
‘You’re