Of course, they did.
I dropped the magazine onto the coffee table. “So, what’s the new endorsement? Sports gear, energy drinks, attire?”
He was silent for a second, then said, “Shampoo.”
I bit my lip, struggling to hold in my smile, my gaze lifting to his gorgeous, sun-kissed, shaggy brown mane. The Cosmo baiting didn’t even move him, but this… “Yes, you’re pretty enough with that hair.”
He narrowed his eyes. Aware I’d probably stepped on a tiger’s tail, I hastily backed away. He leaped for me. With a shriek, I took off, but darn, he was too fast. He grabbed me around the waist. “You find that’s funny?”
“Yes! It’s so girly—”
He tickled me. Squealing with laughter and trying to evade him, I pushed at his chest, but it felt like attempting to move a deep-rooted tree.
“Nooo!” I slid to my knees on the floor, struggling to get away. Instead, I collapsed on my back. He followed, caging my body between his knees, and tickling me until I had no breath. Tears ran down my face. “Stop…stop—”
“Take it back.”
“Okay-okay,” I gasped, fighting to draw air into my hurting lungs. “You’re not pretty—ugly, in fact.” He stopped, his palms gently stroking my sides. I had no idea howthatwould help get oxygen into my dying lungs.
Smiling, he moved off me, and I curled onto my side, groaning. “I hate you permanently.”
“Permanently, huh?” He lay on the floor next to me. “Well, that’s too bad, because I don’t feel hate toward you at all,” he said quietly.
My heart clipped hard at the intense note in his voice. I blurted, “Yeah, only because you wanted to get laid.”
He didn’t say anything for a second, then he rolled up and shifted to his hunches. “That’s where you’re wrong. But you’ll figure it out soon enough.”
Figure out what?
What more did he want? He had me. I frowned up at him.
He shook his head and rose, holding out his hand. I took it, he drew me to my feet. “I’d like you to come with me for my meeting.”
“How long will you be?” I asked, thinking of my workload.
“From experience, this could take a few hours, the entire day, hard to say—” He glanced at his gray, titanium watch. “Damn, I’m gonna be late.”
“The entire day?” Disappointment flooded me. “I can’t, I have a deadline.”
“Right.” He nodded. “Okay. This is where I’ll be.” He got his wallet from the coffee table, removed a biz card, and gave it to me. “I’ll leave your name with security just in case.” He grabbed his truck keys from the side table in the corridor. His hockey stick, an old one with the chips and dents, rested against it.
I followed him to the foyer. “Man, I would love to see you in action, shaking your mane.”
He opened the front door and glanced back, eyes twinkling in amusement. He reached out, dragged me close, and kissed me hard. And then he was gone, the elevator closing.
I sighed and shut the door. The penthouse suddenly seemed too big and lonely.
“Well, if I can get some work done, maybe I could go and meet him—”
A cell beeped.
Not mine since it was in my pocket. War’s. I sprinted across, grabbed the phone from the kitchen counter, and ran for the front door to catch up with him. The truncated text brightened on the display. And I froze.
I know who you are.
No name of the sender, but that sure as hell sounded like a threat.
The front door opened, and I hurriedly stepped back before my face got bashed.
