So, I know I just need to get this over with.
I scowl at the clock as I walk to the door, noting that the annoying man is fifteen minutes early, probably—rightfully—assuming that I’d be freaking the fuck out and pulling the plug on this shit right about…well, ninety seconds ago.
It’s that annoying thought paired with the still annoying knocking that has my scowl deepening, my focus not on checking the peephole.
But on giving Jace Henderson a piece of my mind.
Except, the sharp retort doesn’t escape the tip of my tongue.
Because I’m swallowing it, my mouth dropping open, heat boiling in my belly, sending a flush over me from head to toe.
Jace just smiles sexily at me. “Hey there, gorgeous.”
More heat, liquid desire gathering between my thighs, my nipples tightening when his gaze leaves my face, trails oh so slowly down my body.
And then I’m being proverbially reduced to ash.
Because I get to see the way his face changes as his stare traces over my body…
I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so breathtaking.
“Gorgeous,” he repeats softly, stepping forward and gently touching my cheek.
We stand there, close together, silence stretching, staring into each other’s eyes. I’m studying the golden flecks in those hazel irises, mixing with the green and brown. They look different today, more green and I think it’s because of the hints of emerald in his shirt.
A shirt I can only see a small triangle of.
Because the rest of his body is clad in a suit that is fitted to such absolute perfection that even the most celibate people on the planet would line up to get a look.
He’s strong, his frame powerful—something I knew from that night in the gym, from the naked horizontal (and otherwise) time I spent with his body. And it’s not like I haven’t seen him in a suit before—that night of the fundraiser, several times here in the building.
But this suit is different.
Or maybe it’s thatI’mdifferent.
Something that has alarm rippling through me—alarm that doesn’t have a chance to take charge and erect even stronger barriers against this man because he’s stepping toward me, those fingers trailing down my cheek, running lightly over the edge of my jaw. Then he shifts slightly and I hear a crinkle and?—
My heart rolls over in my chest.
“These are for you.”
Maybe I’d expect flowers, especially on a first date, but my nose tells me differently even before he unrolls the top of the bag, revealing?—
Molly’s peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.
Another hard pulse of my heart, the organ launching itself against my ribs.
“Jace—”
He steps by me and brings the bag to the counter in the kitchen, carefully rolling the top back down so the goodies stay fresh.
The suit that fits him like sin.
The cookies he brought because he knows I like them.
The careful preservation by gently rolling the bag back down…
I know I’m in trouble.
