Richard lifted a brow. “Why?”
“I’ll pick Desiree up and bring her home. Can you call your night security station to approve my access to the fortieth floor?”
Richard eyed him curiously. “I thought you and Allison didn’t like each other.”
“We don’t. However, after losing to you tonight, I’m in the mood to annoy somebody.” He crossed the room, opening the door to leave. “Goodnight, Richard.”
***
Desiree heard the knock on her office door and looked up from the manual she’d been studying. The cleanup crew had already made their rounds, so she wondered who it could be. According to Karlie, very few people worked late on this floor. Obviously, someone had.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Cobra Masters walked in. She tightened her mouth, mainly from keeping her jaw from dropping. What on earth was he doing here? And at this hour? How had he gained access to this floor?
Her grandfather had mentioned that he and Cobra were playing chess tonight. So, what was he doing here, in her office, leaning against the door and studying her with those intense dark eyes? It was obvious he was waiting for some sort of reaction from her. Considering how their last encounter ended, was he expecting her to throw something at him?
Desiree doubted it. In fact, he was standing there looking just as cool and calm as anyone could in a shirt, jeans, and alightweight jacket that accentuated his broad shoulders and firm abs. Why did he always look so sexy? It didn’t seem to matter if he was wearing a tux, a business suit, or a pair of jeans. He was too attractive, and it bothered her that she was too aware of him.
“What are you doing here, Cobra?”
He walked away from the door to sit in the chair across from her desk. She watched him, tuned into his every move. What was it about him that moved her? Her heart was racing, and her breathing seemed to catch, all because he was here. She resented her body’s reaction to him and desperately hoped he wouldn’t notice.
“I don’t recall inviting you to sit down,” she said.
“You didn’t. And to answer your question, I played chess with Richard tonight, and he told me you were working late.”
“And that concerned you how, exactly?” Desiree asked.
“Honestly, it doesn’t.”
“Then why are you here?”
***
Cobra could give her a lot of reasons, but most would amount to nothing but bullshit. Even the reason he had given Richard was crap. For some reason, which he clearly hadn’t figured out, he was attracted to her, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Had he met her last year, that would have been great. He could even envision her being someone he took to bed more than once. And that said a lot for someone who was a one-and-done man.
However, there was no way he would tell her the truth about why he was here. That she had been on his mind more often than he liked. That he’d woken up in the middle of the night twice this week with a hard-on from hell as a result of dreaming about making love to her. And he’d never lost a good night’s sleep over a woman.
He blamed it on the bet he’d made with his brothers. Or, more fitting, he blamed it on Bernice Whey, and her many aliases.
“I’m waiting, Cobra.”
He shifted in his seat, hoping she wouldn’t notice how aroused he’d become just from looking at her. That was the reason he’d needed to sit down. The moment he’d walked in and saw her sitting there, a rush of want and need had raced through him. What woman would still look so good this late at night? One who was so well put together? Whose beauty was so striking? Who didn’t have a strand of hair out of place? Damn, even that red lipstick on her lips looked fresh.
“I thought I’d take you home.”
She lifted a brow. “Any reason Ron isn’t coming?”
“I told Richard to cancel Ron, that I would do it.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Did it at any time occur to you that I’d prefer not to see you?”
He smiled. “Of course. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”
There was no reason to tell her that he had called himself all kinds of a fool on the elevator ride up to this floor. But the moment he had walked in and seen her, he had realized that coming here made perfect sense. Especially to a man who was one of the masters of the game. With his brothers married, he was the last one—a man who viewed romantic pursuit as a strategic “game” to be won.
Bottom line, he wanted her in his bed. However, it would be another five months—inching toward four—before he could make such a thing happen. In the meantime, he saw no reason not to use this time to prime her for what was to come. That way, when it happened, she would want him as much as he wanted her. He would see to it.
