I pointed a finger at him, ignoring what she might have done with him that was more “blatant”. “There are touchy feely people, and then there’s the ones that flirt while doing it. It’s all in the body language.” I clucked my tongue. “Let me show you what I mean. And then you tell me what Miranda’s reaction is.” I smiled sweet as pie. “And if you really don’t want her, then you’ll step up your game at rejecting her. ’K?”
He stared at me. I couldn’t catch everything that was flying through his eyes, but I could honestly tell that he didn’t think Miranda had done anything that warranted flirting. I almost smiled. It was hard to believe the man didn’t know when a “friend” was hitting on him. But, there it was.
He nodded slowly, and so I moved to mimic her actions.
I leisurely rested my hands on his rock-hard chest and leaned in, dipping one knee casually between his, but not touching his legs. I spoke softly about nothing, the color of his suit and the bright, mosaic tiles beneath our feet, tilting my head like it was fascinating. I kept it simple, but did exactly as she had done. As any woman would do, showing they were interested. It didn’t take long.
Miranda was abruptly there. Blatantly marking what she thought was her “territory”. She stood next to Cole, placing both hands on one of his shoulders and squishing her breasts against his muscular arm. Her glare gave off toxins as she peered down at me, but she spoke sweetly to Cole, “What are you two chatting about?”
I tried real hard not to stare where she had planted her chest and stepped back, keeping a professional expression plastered on my face. “Theories on personal behavior. Since I’m goingto be in the meetings today, I was informing Cole how I’ll be diagnosing faulty sentiments between true emotions.” Heh, that was pretty darn good.
“Really?” She ran a hand down his chest, where it stopped - and stayed - over his heart. “That sounds positively interesting. Perhaps you could explain it to me some time?”
Cole had gone mute. His face locked up tighter than a vault.
“I’m pretty sure you have the basic understanding down,” I said, and tipped my head and smiled grandly, like I was paying her a compliment. “You’re an extremely intelligent woman. You really don’t need my help seeing the truth when it’s right in front of you.”
She nodded regally, not understanding at all. “I took a few college courses on human behavior. I aced every class and even gave a few lectures when the teacher asked for volunteers.” Moving her face even closer to Cole’s by – conveniently - keeping one hand on his shoulder, she tapped her lips with her index finger. “I probably still have the bulletin points, if you would like to review them. You never know. You might learn something you hadn’t thought of before. Every added bit of knowledge helps.” She was actually serious now that she had decided I wasn’t moving in on Cole. Boy, she was thick.
Cole kind of trembled where he stood, and Miranda glanced at him in alarm. He coughed hard, taking control of himself as Miranda pounded on his back. For a moment, I had envisioned him laughing right in her face.
I sighed. Life was never perfect.
“Miranda, Ember and I need to speak privately. If you would excuse us, please?” Cole coughed again. His eyes were tearing up.
She glanced back and forth only once before agreeing. “I’ll grab you a drink of water before we meet in the conference room.” Fondly, she placed her hand on his cheek. “I would hatefor you to come down with something. I’m pretty sure I have some vitamins at my desk that might also help. I’ll be back shortly.” And she sauntered off, heels clicking a measured beat on the tiles with her hips swaying seductively to the rhythm.
She really was beautiful, even if she didn’t catch on so well to subtle putdowns. And she was uber smart business-wise and determined to get where she was now. And where was I? Freeloading off two “maybe” boyfriends, that’s where.
“You know, Cole, if you want to be with her, I understand. I honestly do.” I rubbed my forehead, hating what I was saying. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shut my eyes. It had to be said. I had nothing on that woman. “I only want you to be honest with me. That’s all. I can take it. I’m a big girl.”
“Ah, sweetheart,” Cole hummed softly. Long, masculine fingers brushed hair behind my ear before feathering down my neck. Stepping forward, he placed his hands on my cheeks, cupping my face. I met his eyes. Blue on blue. Ocean and sky. Illusionary calm and faithful chaos. He tilted his head down and whispered, “Is she on the landing above us?”
I drug my eyes away from his, flittering to the landing where the offices appeared to begin. She was there. She held her purse in one hand and a bottle of pills in the other. Her eyes narrowed where she had frozen, and her heels started clicking again as she stomped back down the stairs, heading right for us. I found his eyes, barely nodding.
His lips lifted in an adorable grin, breaking all ice barriers, just like he had for a moment on the balcony that felt like so long ago. He breathed out quietly, “I don’t want her, Ember. But it seems I need help persuading her of that. Would you help me?”
I nodded, lost in his smile, his openness.
“Good.” He bent down further, running his lips over mine. It wasn’t a caress. It was a simple touch, soft, lush lips meeting mine like a brush to a canvas. The possibilities of creatingsomething beautiful were endless as the longing sizzled back and forth between our co-mingled exhales. Time wavered when he whispered, “I’m going to kiss you now.”
Blue, blue eyes closed, and his lips met mine. Our craving joined, stroking in repressed passion and pushing with shattering impatience, and my knees buckled.Lord, I wanted this.His arm slipped around my waist, catching me, while his free hand slid and gripped the back of my head in a possessive hold. My hands fisted his lapels and pulled, giving voice to my need.
He pressed and I opened for him, our tongues instantly meeting and tangling.
Heat and want consumed, and I groaned, grabbing his hair and trying to fight back against the intimate war he was waging within my mouth, trying to grab my soul. Taking me without apology. Fierce and unrelenting. He tilted my head further and plundered.
I melted.
I surrendered.
Dominance lost, and he had me.
I didn’t give a darn.
Lightheaded and breathless, I moaned in complaint when he eventually pulled his mouth from mine. I could barely see straight when I opened my eyes. But, somehow, I saw the ocean. Vast and powerful and blemished. His soul stared back at me. And while I saw his, I knew he saw mine. We had touched on a different plane of awareness. I’m not sure there’s any going back from that.
He held me as I trembled, and my hands shook as I unclamped my frozen fingers from his hair. I quickly brought them between us, so no one would see. We were panting and we couldn’t look away from each other. Both caught in a world of quiet and newness and radiance.
