Page 18 of Scarred Heart

It wasn’t an act—the breath he released, the way his shoulders sank, and his face went slack in those first seconds after he recognized me.He pulled himself together quickly, but not fast enough.All of my work had been worth it.A shiver of pleasure ran down my spine as I started walking toward him.

“You look incredible,” he said as I approached, though he didn’t need to.The rasp in his voice got the message across as his throat worked when he swallowed hard.

Oh God, was I in trouble.Because when was the last time a man had looked at me the way he was?Not that I had gone celibate, but life had sort of gotten in the way.Beyond a couple of casual flings in law school, there hadn’t been time or emotional bandwidth available for a relationship.And there had never been an opportunity to dress up like this outside of an industry event, where everybody jumped through hoops to outdo everybody else, and I faded into the background.

Not in years had a man stared at me with blank desire written across his face.

Not in years had there been a man I wanted to look at me that way.

I had walked into this dinner, telling myself it would be a miracle if I didn’t kill him.Now, I was starting to think it would be a miracle if I ended the night with all my clothes on and my self-respect intact.

How was I supposed to fight him when I was too busy reminding myself to breathe whenever our eyes met?

“Shall we?”he asked, holding out his crooked arm to escort me inside.That effortless charm.It was more potent than ever, strong enough that I took his arm and told myself to let everything else go for tonight.

Just for tonight.

7

SPENCER

“It’s been great.I feel like I’ve found my niche, you know?”What was left of our meals sat in front of us, cold by now.I had lost interest in my grilled salmon long before then.Not that it wasn’t good.

The conversation was better.Shewas better.It took nothing more than two glasses of wine and a little food to loosen her up.Now, there was no holding her back.

And I couldn’t pretend I wasn’t interested.When had I had a conversation with a woman for the sake of conversation?Somewhere over the past two hours, my intentions had shifted.Right now, this had nothing to do with getting on her good side or covering my ass.“Making sure girls like you don’t get taken advantage of by predatory studio executives?”I asked, noting her smirk.

“Yes, now that you put it that way.I know what to look for.And I know what it’s like to be so young and hungry for success that you’d be willing to look the other way in certain situations.”A cloud passed over her face like she was remembering something ugly, and the idea stirred anger in my chest.Had she been taken advantage of back then?

“What about you?”She finished the second glass of wine, setting it aside and leaning her elbows on the table, eyes sparkling playfully.It seemed like she was unaware of the attention she drew from men as they passed our table.I was aware of the way one animal recognizes the other out in the wild.Back the fuck off, I silently warned one such douchebag as he practically undressed her with his eyes.She’s mine tonight.

“What about me?”I asked once my attention swung back to her and that glowing, tempting skin of hers.How much longer would I be able to keep my hands to myself?

“You said you would tell me how you ended up in tech.”Her glossy lips stretched in a smile, drawing my gaze and waking my hunger.“I’ve been looking forward to hearing about it.”

“Sorry to tell you, but I don’t think the payoff will be worth the anticipation.”When that didn’t seem to make a difference, I chuckled.“I was working in China.Dad sent me there to ‘turn me into a real person…’his words,” I added with a humorless snort.

“Nice,” she muttered, shaking her head with a frown.

“Come on.We both know he had a point.He wanted me to learn more about the shipping business so I could step into his shoes when the time came.His plan backfired when I discovered logistics and how to streamline our processes.I started screwing around behind the scenes, digging into our data, learning how we harvested it and applied it to our growth.I even started looking forward to going to work.”

“Wow.That’s what you call finding what you’re meant to do.I’m glad for you,” she offered with a soft smile.

“It looks like we both found the path they were supposed to be on,” I observed.It would be best to keep the rest of it to myself.She didn’t need to hear about the crash being the catalyst since Dad sent me to China within a week after it.I wouldn’t insult her that way.

One thing was for sure by the time we gave up on eating and allowed the server to clear the table—the woman sitting across from me was miles away from the one who had barely stopped short of throwing her drink in my face two nights ago.She needed to get over the initial shock, to process what she was feeling.Come to think of it, so had I.

However, now that I had, the lines between what I needed to do and what I wanted to do were getting blurrier every minute.I’d told myself tonight would be about reminding her of the good times.What made us good together.The thing was, I was starting to remember that for myself.

And I wanted more.

Not for the patent.Not for my employees.Only for me.“I have an idea.”Finishing my drink, I set the glass on the table and offered a challenging stare.“Why don’t we enjoy a nightcap somewhere quieter, where we can continue this conversation?”

Her smirk showed up right on schedule.“Come on.You must have a smoother line than that.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t normally need to use a line.”When she rolled her eyes, I shrugged.“I haven’t had much practice.”

“Tonight was about dinner, remember?”What was it in her tone that told me she didn’t mind?That knowing, teasing sound, so unlike a sharp rebuke.She had expected this.

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