Page 62 of The Fix Up

“That would be great,” Ben said, his hand still on Holly’s hip.

She watched as Gloria scurried away, conscious of Ben’s chest mere inches from her face. She could feel his breath rustling her hair, and the curve of his palm around her hip left his fingers grazing the edge of her backside.

“How am I doing?”

Holly blinked and turned her attention back to Ben. “What?”

“With my charming, assertive CEO persona?” He lifted his hand from her hip and reached up to brush a strand of hair from her cheek, his eyes dancing with amusement. He rested his hand on the bed between them, leaving Holly aching for his touch. “Am I pulling it off effectively?”

“Oh. Yes, yes of course.” She’d almost forgotten the reason for their visit. Right, she was supposed to be coaching him. She’d do that any minute now. If she could just stop thinking about his leg brushing hers, the swell of his bicep under that gloriously soft shirt, the zipper on his trousers that would be so easy to tug down and?—

“Any tips?” he asked. “Anything you want me to be doing that I’m not?”

Touching me. Kissing me. Stroking me.

“No. I think you’re nailing it.” She swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure. “You’ve definitely improved your CEO charisma.”

“I’m not laying it on too thick?”

“Nope. Not too thick. Not at all.”

God, she sounded like a moron. She should come up with something intelligent to say. “You’re doing a great job holding eye contact. With Gloria, I mean.”

“And with you.”

She wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement, but she nodded anyway. “Yes. With me.”

“I’ve been trying to work on it. I never noticed how much I avoided eye contact until you pointed it out.”

His gaze was locked on hers, unblinking. She knew he probably didn’t mean to give her a smoldering look, but that’s what it felt like. Chemistry, is that what he’d called it? Whatever it was crackling between them was making Holly dizzy.

“Your posture has been perfect, too,” she said. “I mean, not right now?—”

“No, probably not at the moment.” He smiled. “I can’t recall you giving me any tips on how a CEO should conduct himself on a bed.”

“Right. Um, I think you’re doing pretty well figuring it out on your own.”

She could feel her hands shaking as liquid heat pooled in her belly and moved down. She wanted him to touch her again. Sheneededhim to touch her again.

“Thanks for the feedback,” Ben said. “You know, I think there’s one more thing I could be doing to solidify our ruse and really demonstrate my assertiveness.”

“What’s that?”

“This.”

Ben threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her close, his lips finding hers. He kissed her softly at first, then with more intensity as his knee brushed hers and his hand slid from her hair to the nape of her neck.

Holly moaned and kissed him back, her palm finding its place in the hollow of his chest. His mouth was warm and soft and he was kissing her so exquisitely she couldn’t see straight. She closed her eyes and slipped two fingers between the buttons on his shirt, aching to feel his skin against her fingertips.

He made a sound low in his throat and deepened the kiss. His palm slid lower, brushing the side of her breast, the dip in her waist, the curve of her hip?—

“Looks like it comes in honey!”

Holly jerked back, breaking the kiss and possibly Ben’s eyeglasses. “Who comes in honey?”

He reached up to adjust his glasses as Gloria skimmed a finger over a page in her catalog. She kept her gaze down for a few more beats, and Holly said a silent thank you—for her discretion or her cluelessness, she wasn’t quite sure. Holly leaned back to put a little space between her and Ben, but she could still feel him everywhere.

“The bed,” Gloria said. “In addition to the cherry finish, the manufacturer just started making it in honey. Here’s a sample.”

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