CHAPTER TWELVE
WHENTHEELEVATORdoors closed, Jackson hitched up the top of her dress and swiped a hand down the skirt. The black satin bodice still dipped dangerously low. The saleswoman in the department store had assured her that the dress wasn’t too small. It was supposed to show a hint of cleavage. But Jackson was showing more than a hint. And it was too late to change her mind.
She folded the wide, silky scarf around her chest as the elevator raced up. Thank goodness she was leaving tomorrow. If she was around Cameron much longer, she might spontaneously combust. When the rest of his team was around, Cameron barely even looked in her direction. He was short with everyone, and when Max patted her on the shoulder, she could swear Cameron growled.
But when they werealone, it was worse. As soon as he came close, the electricity between them sizzled. Like he was silently waiting for her signal. And she couldn’t stop herself from giving in to it.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the top floor. She clutched the scarf around her shoulders tighter and stepped out. The reception desk was empty, but she could hear low voices coming from down thehall. Jackson took a deep breath.
How many fantasies had she flashed through these last days? Fantasies of giving in to the magnetic pull between their bodies for another euphoric encounter before she left. The tension between them built all day. When he read a memo over her shoulder or helped her with her coat, all she had to do was meet his liquid blue eyes. She found what she wanted.
Then, as soon as she got far enough away from the tractor-beam pull of his body, she could see this wasn’t leading anywhere good. It was one thing to play out an office fantasy, but real life didn’t work the same.
Still, as she’d stood in the boutique’s changing room, shopping for an outfit for tonight, she knew the dress was more sexy than professional. And she bought it anyway.
Jacksonlooked down at the crumpled silk in her fists and sighed. Before she walked into the conference room full of testosterone, she needed to pull herself together.
She slipped the scarf off her shoulders and shook it out, but the wrinkles remained. She frowned. Maybe she could—
Footsteps, close by. Jackson lifted her gaze and found Cameron, only a couple paces away. He wore black dress pantsand a white dress shirt with gun holsters strapped across his chest. Refined but dangerous. His eyes, dark and hungry, dipped down over every curve of her body. He rested his gaze on her cleavage with unrestrained lust.
Cameron took a step, closing in on her. Another step. She fought the urge to turn the tables on him, to back him against the wall and make the spark in his eyes explode. Butthis was work. He took one more step. His body was only inches away from hers, and when she took a breath, her breasts skimmed his shirt. Her heart did flips in her chest.
Cameron rested his hand on the wall and leaned over her. The scent of his aftershave took her right back to his living room couch as he drove deep inside her. God, she wanted him right now. A low rumble rose from his chest.
“What thehellare you wearing?” he whispered roughly.
She swallowed and straightened up.
“This is a formal event,” she said, her voice far too breathless. “I’m trying to fit in.”
“And you look sexy as fuck,” he groaned. “You said you’d be out of the way, that I wouldn’t even notice you. But you’re putting far too much faith in my self-control if you think I can turn away when youlook so fucking good in that dress.”
His breath warmed her neck, and the heat from his body pulsed into hers. Or maybe it was her own body. She squeezed her hands into fists to keep herself from touching him. Just one more time. Once more, she wanted to run her hands over the muscles that strained against the fabric of his shirt. She shifted a little, and her hip brushed against him. His erectiongrew.
“We’re working,” he grumbled.
She waited for him to judge his next move. He stayed still.
His breaths rasped in her ear. “I’m going to walk back to my office and calm myself the hell down.” He pressed his hard length against her hip, in case she wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
His lips brushed against her neck. “Or you can follow me back there.”
She closed hereyes, trying to steady her heavy breaths.
Then he was gone. Her eyes drifted open in time to see him turn around, his hands shoved in his pockets. He started down the short hallway. Shit. Just thinking of him in his office got her going. Was he going for the cold shower method of calming down, or was he getting himself off? He wouldn’t, would he? She wanted to know.
If she followed himfor the kind of quick, hard satisfaction she knew he could give her, it might make the night a lot easier. But she knew better than to follow him back before a key job for a little pleasure. Okay, a lot of pleasure. More than she’d probably ever get for the rest of her life. Double shit.
Jackson smoothed out the scarf she was clutching and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then she starteddown the hall. She got to the end and looked left, toward Cameron’s office. His door was closed. Was he sitting at his desk with his pants unzipped, his big cock in his hand? Was he waiting for her? Damn. She was dying to walk down that hall and find out.
She looked to the right. The door to the conference room at the end of the hall was open. Derek Latu sat at the long table, his broad shouldersand his back just in sight. All he had to do was turn his head in time to see her slip into Cameron’s office.
Jackson gave herself a little shake. Good God, what the hell was wrong with her? All Cameron had to do was lean over her, and she was panting after him like a puppy. She was a professional adult, not some hormonal teenager.
No more thinking about Cameron’s big, hulking body orhis intoxicating scent. She was not even going to turn around for another look at his office door. She was going to put one foot in front of the other and walk to the conference room. And not think about what she was missing back in Cameron’s office.
Derek turned around just before she reached the conference room doorway.
