Her shoulder-length hair was a tumble of soft, light brown curls that tempted a man to spear his fingers through their silkiness. Even in a sea of artsy, trendy people wearing black, Kayla stood out. Black was a stark color that only accented her pale, creamy skin, her dress clung to curves he ached to explore again. When she turned, and their gazes locked across the room, he noted the brief reaction of shock and pleasure in her blue eyes before it faded away into a cool businesslike stare. A flush of color stained her cheeks but it wasn’t embarrassment or desire—it was anger.
Damned if he didn’t find that exciting.
“Hey,” Evan said, “I see Angelica over by that weird bird sculpture. I’ll catch you later, okay?”
“Sure.” Matt didn’t even see his friend leave. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Kayla.
People wandered in and out of the line of vision locking Kayla and him together, but nothing could shatter the connection alive and sizzling between them.
She felt it, too. He could see it in her eyes, in the firming of her luscious lips. Just as he could see that she wasn’t happy about what she was feeling. He had to bite back a satisfied smile. Good to know he wasn’t the only one being twisted into knots. Kayla wasn’t an easy woman to figure out.
It was one of the things he liked best about her.
Most of the women he’d been involved with over the years were all too simple to understand. They enjoyed being with him because he had access to the rich, the powerful, the famous. But Kayla was different. She looked at the world through eyes that searched out and found beauty in the most unlikely places. She wasn’t interested in society or the connections she could make through Matt.
She’d wanted him. And that had thrown him. Hard. Because he’d felt the same about her. From the first moment he’d met her, Matt had known that she was going to be different. That she had the ability to cut through his defenses and bring him to his knees. Not a place he was used to finding himself.
Memories raced through his mind, causing sensory overload. He remembered the arguments, the conversations, the incredible tension that had hummed through every moment that they’d spent together.
Mostly, though, he remembered the one night they’d had together. The frenzied need that had fueled their desperate coupling. The out of control desire that had swept away every clear thought.
Even recalling that night had his body going hard as stone and his brain fuzzing over until the only thing it could focus on was her. Nearly nine months away from her in a voluntary absence and she was as fresh in his mind as she had been the morning after their “encounter.”
That’s why he’d left. Why he’d had to go and put half a country between them. Love was not part of his game plan. He was focused on his career and didn’t have the time—or the inclination—to deviate from the plan that had been guiding him since college.
But damn he’d missed her.
She lifted her chin, tossed her hair back from her face and started walking toward him. The crowd seemed to part for her, as if in a series of orchestrated moves. She was damn near electrifying. Her hair, her eyes, the curve of her h*ps and the way those h*ps swayed invitingly when she walked.
Hell, everything about her screamed sexy, powerful woman—and that really did it for him in a big way.
The hard tap of her heels against the marble floor sounded out like tiny gunshots, even over the noise of the surrounding crush of people. She never stopped. Never hesitated. Until she came to a stop right in front of him.
Her perfume reached for him, flavoring every breath with the taste of her. He looked down into her eyes, saw them spark and flash and knew he was in deep trouble.
“You’re here for the wedding.”
Her voice was soft and cool with a thread of steel he remembered all too well. “Yeah.”
“Then it’s back to L.A.?”
“It’s where I live now, Kayla.”
She nodded, folded her arms over her chest and glanced around the crowded room before looking back at him. “Evan dragged you here tonight, didn’t he?”
“No,” he lied, and told himself that even if Evan hadn’t insisted he come, he wouldn’t have been able to stay away from her much longer. The pull of her was inexorable and something he was tired of fighting.
“Right, because there’s nothing you like more than a good gallery showing,” Kayla said, her lips curving in a sardonic smile.
Matt chuckled and realized that he’d missed this, too. The verbal sparring, the tension that simmered between them, just beneath the surface.
“You caught me. My secret weakness.” It wasn’t a complete joke. Sure, he wouldn’t normally hang at an art gallery, but watching her with the patrons was something he would pay to see. She was so knowledgeable and her love for the art world shone in her eyes. What man wouldn’t be fascinated by her?
“So, how’s California?”
He cut off his straying thoughts—a man had to concentrate when talking with Kayla. “Crowded.”
“You don’t love all the sunshine and the glamour?”
“Sunshine gets old and I’m too busy working to be interested in the glamour.”
“Uh-huh.” The toe of her shoe tapped against the marble floor. “And what is it you are interested in, Matt?”
“You.”
Three
The single word escaped before he knew it and he saw the shock in her eyes before it was replaced by disbelief. But damn it, he’d said only the truth. She interested him. Enough so that he’d stayed away from Cheyenne rather than face what she could mean to him. Enough that standing here opposite her and not being able to touch her was torturous.
“Don’t,” she muttered. “Just...don’t.”
Great start, he told himself then spoke up quickly. “Look, Kayla, now that I’m in town—”
“Been back a few days, right?”
“Yeah.” He knew where she was going with this and he couldn’t blame her.
“Still too busy to pick up a phone?”
He wasn’t surprised. Kayla Prince wasn’t the shy, retiring type. She didn’t play games. With her, you always knew where you stood. Whether you wanted to or not. “You really want to do this here? Now?”
As if suddenly remembering exactly where they were, she took a breath and nodded sharply. “You’re right. I don’t want to do this now. Actually, I don’t want to do this ever.”