Elena found her focus drifting to his chest, then chastised herself for her ridiculous hormones. She didn’t desire him – okay, she didn’t want to desire him.
“I should have checked the weather before leaving the apartment,” she said, wishing that she’d worn a T-shirt instead of a sweater. She didn’t have anything beneath it, so she was most likely going to suffer.
“Climb inside. We’re running late,” he told her.
“Where are we going?”
“One of my favorite places. It’s outside of the city and quiet.”
That didn’t answer her question, but she found herself sitting down and buckling up and soon they were on their way.
Elena wasn’t sure if it was the heat or the man sitting next to her, but she couldn’t get comfortable. After they rode in silence for about half an hour, he was approaching one of the ports.
“Are we taking a ferry?”
“Yes.”
They didn’t have to wait long until they were given the go-ahead to drive onto the ferry, and then Tyler turned toward her as other passengers exited their cars and moved toward the stairs. Everyone else was eager to sit out on the deck as the boat made its way to one of the islands near Seattle.
As he looked in her eyes¸ Elena knew right then and there that she was making a very foolish mistake. After she made love to Tyler eight years ago — well, to be realistic he’d used her like a cheap hooker — she’d been devastated. The man still didn’t remember her, yet her body was in a constant state of arousal around him.
She should stop with these plans of hers, get out of his car, take the ferry back to the shore and find her way home. What she shouldn’t be doing was sitting in a hot car with the even hotter man, breathing in his scent, gazing at what could only be described as perfection.
“I really have a lot of work to do this weekend, so I don’t want to be out late,” she told him.
“Really? What kind of work?”
She froze. He didn’t know she was an attorney, didn’t know what she did. That’s how she wanted to keep it. The less he knew about her, the better.
“I don’t want to get into all the boring details,” she said with a false laugh. “Besides, if I start telling you about my work, we won’t have any mystery left between us.”
“I like mystery, but not lies, sweetheart,” he said, and she shifted in her seat. “I spoke to Piper last night when I wasn’t able to get ahold of you, and she said you ‘girls’ didn’t have any plans this weekend, that you were planning on watching a bunch of movies and eating gallons of ice cream.”
“Piper told you this?” Elena was horrified.
“It took some prying, but I’m good at obtaining information.”
“And this is something that gives you a sense of satisfaction?”
“Very,” he told her. “I can see that you disagree, but in the business world, you obtain information on your opponents. It’s how you stay on top.”
Elena felt her heart slowing as her irritation grew. Her infatuation with the man diminished markedly when he was ticking her off.
“So you think it’s okay to invade a person’s privacy?”
If she hadn’t been so annoyed, she might have thought her words through. This wasn’t the way to seduce any man, and especially a playboy like Tyler. But it was hard to keep her eye on the end of the game when the guy sitting next to her caused so many conflicting emotions to roll through her in such a short amount of time.
“If necessary.”
“Am I your opponent, Tyler?”
“No, Elena. You are a challenge. I never give up on a challenge.”
“You’re so smooth, Tyler. You seem always to know exactly what to say, don’t you?”
He was so much more sophisticated than she was. The chances of her winning even this round were slim to none in reality. Wouldn’t she be far wiser just to exit his car and go back home?
“I would say that’s an accurate description of me.”
“And it doesn’t bother you if people might not find any merit to your words? After all, you apparently spew them out without any serious thought?”
That made him pause for a moment.
“You don’t mince words, do you, Elena?”
“No,” she told him. “In general, I find honesty to be best way to go.” Okay, so she was being a bit ironic, but what could she say?
“I do as well. So, in all fairness, I should warn you that I plan on sharing a bed with you very soon.”
Elena’s heart rate hit into overdrive again, just like that. He reached across and placed his hand on her leg. She wanted to push him away, to tell him there was no way in hell that was going to happen, but she stopped herself at the last minute.
“If — and that’s a big if — I decide that you might be someone worthy of ‘sharing a bed’ with,” she said, her voice husky. She wasn’t even acting when the breathlessness crept in. Dammit, once again.
“Believe me, you’ll find me worthy. And more than ‘a big if.’ You’ll never want to leave once I’ve sunk inside you.”
Clenching her jaw to keep from groaning, she felt her body tense. But it was absurd. Why was she feeling the heat? And why was she fighting an image of the two of them sweaty and entwined? It was flashing through her mind, and she hated herself for that.
“Does that come from long experience, Tyler? Or have your multiple partners left a thank-you note beside the bed telling you how incredible you?”