"I ate everything."
She looked pleased at that. "That good, huh?"
"Incredibly good."
"I saw the retiree. A lovely man, very absent-minded and has no idea the party is for him."
"Bob is losing his memory."
"I thought as much." She went back to her arranging, and he took a seat on the stool.
"He's been with the company since my grandfather's time."
"Now he's leaving. Must be tough."
"His children plan on taking him to Florida to live out the rest of his days on a boat. He loves to fish."
"Sounds nice," she murmured absently.
Picking up a flaky pastry with an enticing jellied middle, she held it to his mouth.
"What?"
"Open. I want your opinion."
"I'm sure-"
That's as far as he got. As soon as he opened up, she popped it into his mouth, laughing when he frowned at her.
The laughter faded when he suddenly wrapped his fingers around her slender wrist and held on. His eyes turned a smoky gray that held hers captive as he slowly and thoroughly consumed the pastry and started on her fingers. Althea's breath froze inside her chest as she went stock-still. Heat gathered at her lower body and built fast as he licked the sugar off her fingers. Vincent felt the raging desire that all but swamped everything else.
He forgot where he was: the open kitchen where anyone could just come by. Nothing else mattered except what they were both feeling. The lust was centered in his loins and was so powerful, he could barely breathe, and that was because he was just tasting her fingers. He wanted more. He had fought valiantly, but this was more than him.
He wanted her spread out beneath him and his hands and mouth on her. He wanted more than a taste, and he wanted it now. The sound of someone's voice just outside the doorway broke the spell and had him dropping her hand. He continued to stare at her with his smoldering gaze before stepping back and leaving without a word.
Glen walked in a moment later. "The boss passed by me without a word. But I'm used to that." It was a good thing he was concentrating on the presentation on the counter. "Wow! Look at that. Amazing."
"Please excuse me." She fled into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, sliding down when her knees buckled.
*****
Now that he had made his intentions clear and had purposed in his mind to have her, Vincent could not think of anything else.
His concentration was shot to hell. Even giving the speech as CEO of the company was a chore. The party was being held in the largest conference room and had been decorated by his sister and her department. Speeches were made, some flowery, some filled with memories of Bob's peculiarities.
The man had moments of clarity and had the crowd cracking up as he recalled stories of the olden days.
She had stuck around to serve her desserts, which were raved at by all those who partook of them. And he could not keep his eyes off her. At one point when she came up to hand him a plate,he had to resist the urge to drag her from the room and find an empty place and just have his way with her.
She saw it in his eyes, and he loved the fact that he could feel the tremors coming from her. He had to have her.
The fact that he would have to wait until the weekend was not sitting well with him. Even though it was Friday, he could feel the impatience racing along his skin.
When the party broke up at ten, he instructed the guards to take her things out to the vehicle and followed her outside. His mother and sister had already left, as had the majority of the staff, which suited him fine.
"Ah, is that everything?"
"Pretty much. Thanks, guys."
