“Yourtaste. After all, you picked the Cypress.” I tilt my head to the side. If Lenora were here, she’d accuse me of flirting. “Is this your specialty, Mr. Jameson? Choosing hotels to invest in?”
“I suppose you could say that.” He rocks back on his heels, once again drawing my attention to those long, powerful legs. “Hotels are my idea of an oasis. I’m always searching for a new one.”
“You sound like you’re trying to get away from something.” The observation escapes my mouth before I can think better.
That remark should have upped the awkwardness level by a good thousand percent and turned Kellin off. Instead, he practically smolders.
“Aren’t we all, Ms. Gallagher?”
My breath hitches. “Touché.”
“The property is just as impressive as I anticipated, but in all honesty, I’m more interested in the mind behind the hotel.”
Kellin’s liquid-honey gaze leaves no room for confusion.
I’m most interested in you, Maeve.
Weren’t we just discussing the hotel decor?
I shift my weight, uncomfortable but also flattered. I can’t deny the way my blood rushes from my head to my belly and then out to every extremity.
Huh. Guess all those months of disuse didn’t transform my body into stone after all. Gaining the notice of a man like Kellin is…a uniquely flustering experience.
I steel my resolve, reminding myself of the goal. Whatever personal interest he may have in me doesn’t help matters.
Of course the first and only investment firm to contact me about the Cypress would send their best womanizer to close the deal.
Well, maybe womanizer is unfair. I can’t fault Kellin for oozing sex appeal. But he certainly knows how to use his natural assets.
He’s alluring to a fault. Polite, deceptively soft-spoken, and silver-tongued. A charmer with a dangerous edge beneath all that charisma.
Nothing overtly obvious, but the way his muscles shift beneath that bespoke suit jacket suggests he can handle himself in a fight. The way his sharp gaze sweeps an entire room in an instant implies that he could identify and neutralize a threat before it became a problem.
I shake the image away. He’s not my father, not my brothers. I’ve spent too much time around the mob.
And yet… Kellin’s probably closer to a wolf in sheep’s clothing than a lamb. Because of that, I need to remain vigilant.
He’s still staring at me.
Iwon’tglance away first.
“Mr. Jameson, why don’t we get you settled? Afterward, we can have dinner at the restaurant on the fifth floor, Emerald & Oak.”
A slow grin spreads across Kellin’s handsome face. “It’s a date.”
“A business meeting.” I feel like I’ve said that a lot in the past hour alone. At this point, I’m not sure who I’m reminding. “Now, if you’ll please follow me, I’ll show you to your suite.”
Chapter 4
Kellin
When Maeve Gallagher unlocks my door on the seventh floor, my gaze traces the long sweep of her chestnut hair down to the perfect curve of her ass.
The woman’s a stunner. On the taller side, maybe five-eight, with lithe, sun-kissed legs peeking out of a tight pencil skirt. My fingers itch to trail up her thighs and slip beneath that hem so that I can see how far that tan goes.
I’m only a man, after all, and I’m not blind. Maeve is sexy as hell, from her body to her mind.
Seduction on this job is fair game, and if fucking Maeve gets me the results I need, let’s just say I won’t be complaining.
