Page 2 of Tempt

Luis looked down his nose at me, almost like my father tended to do when I said something he didn’t like—which was always. “Margie is hard on everyone, it’s just the way she is. But trust me, when she sees talent, she rarely lets it go.”

I hoped he was right. I wanted to stay. “I’m not very compliant.” I was a total rebel at heart… maybe that’s why I could never be happy having my life planned out for me.

“She’s not looking for compliance, she’s looking for creativity. People who can see new solutions and work on their own without her constant supervision.”

I arched an eyebrow. Margaret watched over everyone like a schoolmistress.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Luis laughed. “Pay attention. You’re just reeling from being the new girl on the block. Watch my desk this week and see how often she actually stops by.”

I frowned, trying to remember if I’d ever seen her pause at Luis’s cubicle. It was diagonal from mine. I didn’t exactly monitor the comings and goings of everyone, but I also couldn’t recall ever seeing our boss stop and harass Luis the way she did me.

“Maybe you’re right. I’ll pay better attention. Why do you care so much anyway?” I asked. “Am I growing on you?” Luis was five years older than me and he felt like the big brother I’d never had. (Another bizarre anomaly of my time in London.)

“Very much. You’re good. Really, really good, Allison. I hate training idiots. Please don’t leave and make me train a new idiot.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “Selfish bastard. You’re just lazy.”

He shrugged. “Can’t blame me, can you?”

I shook my head and somehow managed to lose my balance. Maybe it was the non-stop dancing, or maybe it was the champagne. Heck, maybe Luis wasn’t as smooth as I gave him credit for. I’m still not entirely sure how I managed to lose my footing. All I know is that I landed right into the sexiest wall of muscle in a designer suit I’d ever seen.

Well, at least the bottom half of him was sexy.

“Careful. We wouldn’t want to lose the night’s star dancer so soon.”

That voice…Oh sweet Jesus that voice. It was sandpaper. It was as masculine as a voice could get. It was deep, yet soft. It was British and yet had some sort of brogue I wasn’t familiar enough with yet to positively identify. Scottish? Irish? I didn’t know and didn’t care because at that moment my face was planted firmly against his navy blue vest.

His arms held me in place. They were strong and unwavering; as if holding me were the easiest thing they’d done all day. He smelled divine. There was definitely an expensive cologne clinging to his clothes, but it was something else entirely that was making me lightheaded.

It was him.

Whatever natural musk belonged to the man with the strong arms and sex-god voice, my body was fine tuned to needing it. I was in serious trouble and a little bit afraid that if I looked up and saw a face that matched the body I was going to come undone.

Maybe he was married.Please be married.None of this would matter if he were married.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath to pull myself together. “Thank you so much for catching me.” It was utterly ridiculous to believe I could actually be attracted to someone I’d only been in contact with for five seconds—and hadn’t even looked in the eye. I was clearly overreacting.

But seriously, that was all it took. Five seconds and I was hot, bothered, and breathless. That had to count for something.

The man chuckled and eased me back onto my feet, which was when I finally got a chance to take him all in.

Fuck.

He was gorgeous.

A little rough around the edges, but in a very good, very manly way. A scar ran through his left eyebrow. There was another on the edge of his square jaw. His lips were full, his eyes were dark, and his hair was perfectly styled to match the late Prohibition years of the early 1930’s. He looked like he stepped right out of an old speakeasy and should have a wooden baseball bat slung over one shoulder, ready to take care of anyone who got in his way.

Maybe with a cigar between his teeth, too.Oh yeah.Definitely with a cigar.

I licked my lips and squeezed my thighs together, trying to calm the rush of desire that was quickly steamrolling out of control. This was insane. It was impossible to be this attracted to someone I didn’t know.

Wasn’t it?

He half-smiled, his eyes roaming over me. “All right then?”

“Yes.” I nodded quickly. If by “all right” he meant incredibly horny and confused.

He released my arms and stepped back, suddenly looking a little uncomfortable. “Well, good. Like I said, we wouldn’t want to lose a good dancer with so many hours yet to go.”

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