Page 109 of Chandelier Enthralled
I shrugged. “So, what do you love about being an architect?”
“Now there’s small talk and then there’s—”
“Humor me.”
“Trying to lessen the embarrassment of the last hour?”
“I’m not embarrassed.”
“Really, you just made the worst mistake of your life. I’d expect some level of regret.”
“Why do you think it’s the worst?’
“I have to spell it out?”
I wanted to sink lower in my seat but didn’t. I wasn’t shy about this escapade, I was intrigued. And I’d gotten more intel on Jewel Hadley, so personally, I’d call it a win.
“Now that I know your last name, I want to know more about your work.”
“On or off the record?”
“Off.”
“Not sure I trust you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, you’re a journalist, Willa.”
“Why are you like this with me?”
“I’ve been nothing but courteous.”
“You mean curt?”
“Under any other circumstances we’d be friends.”
I glanced his way. “If I wasn’t a Cole?”
“You’re my friend’s baby sister.”
“Less of the baby, if you don’t mind.”
He smirked, and with a teasing voice said, “What if I say…baby?” The word lingered with a playful, sultry edge, as though testing a boundary between us.
“How about no,” I said, hugging my knees, even as my entire being was screamingyesto this man, my flesh shuddering with raw arousal, aching for his touch, a want that caused every part of me to feel electrified.
Again, he glanced over, and it was the way he looked at me knowingly, as though he could sense my serious crush on him.
I was too proud to beg, and yet…
I yearned for everything he would make me feel, everything he could give to me that would fill this emptiness.
“In another life, you’d be mine.”
I froze, thinking there was wriggle room in that statement. “What does that mean?”
“You and I are forbidden, Willa, you know that.”
