“You changed your hair.” He couldn’t help but smile when he said it. Every nuance of this woman seemed to make him smile uncontrollably, even something as usually benign to him as style ofhair.
She raised her hands to it, fingering the small braids, making the electric-blue highlights within the dark hair color visible tohim.
“Box braids,” she answered. “It’s a protective style. Taking care of my hair can be a little cumbersome when I travel. Having it braided up makes it easier to take care of while I’m away fromhome.”
Slade nodded, as if he’d understood anything about what she was referring to, and moved closer to her. He leaned down, his smile pulling wider as she stepped into his embrace and moved up on her toes to meet him. Circling a hand around to the small of her back, he pulled Mandisa to him until he could feel the welcome weight of her body against him. The moment their lips pressed together, Slade savored the sweet and spicy taste of cinnamon as Mandisa pushed her tongue inside his mouth. Smart, sexy, and in full command of what she wanted, this woman was beginning to becomeaddictive.
“You ready to show me a good time,cowboy?”
He nodded and was about to speak when his phone began vibrating in his pocket. He held up a finger to excuse himself when he saw his father’s name flashing across the screen. “Why don’t you go on up and get comfortable on the plane? I’ll join you as soon as I’m done with thiscall.”
She kissed him again, then headed toward the plane. He waited until she was safely inside before heanswered.
“What do you want,Bull?”
“Is the deal done? I called Lori, but she couldn’t give me an answer. Said you’d taken over the negotiationsyourself.”
“I did. This sale deserves a light touch. I can’t just bulldoze in. The owner isn’t looking to sell. I’ve invited her down to Austin to see our facilitiesfirsthand.”
There was a pause, his father inevitably turning his wheels, figuring out all the angles on the situation. “You thinking if she sees what we have to offer it will sway her to playball?”
That wasn’t the only thing Slade was hoping for with respect to Mandisa, but Bull didn’t need to know all that. “Pretty much,” Sladeanswered.
“All right. You bring her down to Texas, wine and dine her, and get this deal done. I don’t have to remind you what’s riding on this, Slade. Get me this company and formula, or Venus isgone.”
The phone call ended with a click, and Slade was left with Bull’s threat ringing in his ears. His protective instincts began to spark. Everything in him screamed for Slade to protect what was his. As he climbed the stairs to the plane, it didn’t escape his notice that when his total focus should be on Logan Industries, he wasn’t thinking about his business at all. Instead, his only concern within that moment was the woman waiting for him on the privateplane.
* * *
Mandisa was pulled from sleep when she felt the weird pressure change in her ears. Annoyed by the sensation, she burrowed closer to the solid and warm cushion of Slade’sshoulder.
“We’re descending,” he whispered as he placed a gentle kiss atop her head. The deep timbre of his voice sending tiny shocks of electricity through her system made her nerve endings buzz. There was just something soothing about the sound of this man’s voice. Maybe that was how he’d convinced her to go along with this crazy wager of his? His voice had probably hypnotizedher.
She smiled at the ridiculous notion, but aside from Slade using some kind of voodoo on her even as she sat on the descending plane, she couldn’t explain why she’d agreed to this nonsense. Okay, double her asking amount was definitely an incentive to travel down to Austin with a stranger she hardly knew. However, the way her body instinctively pressed closer to his wasn’t about the money he’d offered her for Sweet Sadie’s. It was intuitive, something her body just knew to do, like breathing, withoutthought.
She cracked her eyes open and peered at the window across the aisle. It was still dark outside. They’d left at one in the morning New York time. Four hours later, a shift in time zone, and they were meeting the still-dark morning sky of Austin,Texas.
She followed Slade down the runway steps and accepted the hand he offered her when she reached thebottom.
“Welcome to Texas, darlin’.” His voice and smile, just as big and bold as everything else on him, welcomed her. “What’cha think?” He spread his arms wide and turned in a broadcircle.
She took gentle fingers and massaged her newly braided scalp gingerly. “Well, considering we’re on a tarmac that looks pretty much the same as every other runway, not much. I do have one question,though.”
He waited in expectation, nodding, encouraging her tocontinue.
She pulled her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and slid a finger across the screen to wake it. A brief glance at the illuminated background, and she returned her gaze tohim.
“It’s barely five in the damn morning. Why the hell is it already eighty-five damn degrees? This doesn’t make anysense.”
His grin didn’t falter as he hooked a finger in her belt loop and pulled her to his chest. “If you’re hot, Mandisa, all you gotta do is tell me. Ole Slade knows just how to put out yourfire.”
That crack was so disgustingly corny, but damn if her pussy didn’t throb and get slick from just his words. Too embarrassed to admit this man had her panties wet without even touching her, she closed her eyes and rested her head against his defined pec while she took a deepbreath.
Either she was going to get some control over herself, or she’d be too busy laid up with Slade, tasting every delicious inch of him, to see any of his preciousAustin.
Getting through the airport to the passenger exit was relatively easy. Having the kind of company money to fly privately had its benefits, she presumed. As they walked through automatic airport doors, Slade headed toward a black SUV idling at thecurb.
Slade opened the trunk, tossing their bags in the back, quickly returning to open the door for her. She sat down in the back passenger seat and smiled briefly at the quiet man sitting in the driver’sseat.
