Page 40 of The Wedding Deal
Charlotte snatched her purse off the floor and straightened. “Okay, so goodbye.”
“Wait,” he said, pushing to his feet. “It’s late. As soon as I get my sixty seconds recovery from the crotch shot, I’ll walk you to your room.” He’d hoped it’d lighten the situation; instead he got a scowl. A really cute one that made him want to cup her face and kiss it off her.
“You don’t need to walk me there. You wouldn’t walk me back if I was a dude, or one of your other employees, would you?”
“Sure I would.”
Skepticism pinched her features.
“I’m serious! Those three hundred-pound defensemen are big babies—they’re scared of everything.”
Her head tilted another half inch, but her mouth trembled against a smile. He gestured her ahead of him, snagging his hotel key off the coffee table as he walked past. He held the door open for her, and as they walked down the hall, he placed a palm against her lower back.
“Before you call me on it, this is how I walked the guys home, too.”
“Shows what you know.” A smile that managed to be both haughty and flirty flitted across her lips. “I was going to let it slide.”
In that case… He splayed his hand and walked a little closer.
She slowed in front of her door and turned to face him, and his heart thundered in his chest. This woman had gotten under his skin, ridiculously fast at that.
He figured they’d already skipped a few bases, what with the hand on her butt to boost her over the balcony the other night and her accidental crotch grab moments ago. Even though he was a football guy, he hated to skip bases.
He braced his palm on the door by her head, and her throat worked a swallow, turning him on and pushing him to go ahead and voice his thoughts. “I have to confess something.”
“To your HR rep?”
“No, just to you, James.”
He leaned closer, his gaze locked on her tempting lips. “I really want to kiss you right now.” He felt every inch between them. The only thing keeping him from giving in to the urge to flatten his body to hers was the knowledge that moving too fast would scare her off and screw everything up. “To be honest, I’ve been thinking about it since you made your first touchdown and jumped into my arms. Now I’m looking at you, and all I can think about is how much I want to kiss you.”
She licked her lips, and he suppressed a groan. His body reacted, and it was a good thing the hallway was empty, because they were about to put on quite a show. Her hand came up on his chest, her fingers curving as if she was going to grip his shirt.
He could see the battle going on in that amazing brain of hers, whether or not she should fight the pull.
Don’t fight it, he wanted to say but realized that wouldn’t make her feel less conflicted about the situation, so he searched for the right words to reassure her. “I want you to know that whatever you say or do next has no bearing on your employment. I’d never do that, and you’re way too valuable to the team for me to ever let you go. But if it’ll make you feel better, I’ll sign any paperwork you want.”
“I appreciate that. It’s not that I’m not tempted, or that I don’t feel a certain pull…” A couple of blinks and a different expression descended upon her features, her hand flattening and holding him at bay instead of grabbing and pulling him closer. He froze in place, waiting for her to make the move, silently urging her to even though he’d felt the shift. “But it’s still a bad idea. There’s no way it won’t upset the power balance, and it’d look bad to the rest of the employees and to all the people out there watching you so closely. And with you coming in and firing so much of the staff and the wrongful termination lawsuit hanging in the balance, we don’t need any more bad PR. In fact, you should be playing up the eligible bachelor thing for extra publicity.”
“I don’t give a damn about PR,” he said. “Once we rebuild the team and they start winning, the rest won’t matter, either.”
“But that’ll take time and money, and that means we need some good PR anyway.”
He grunted, and she sucked in a breath, her chest rising and falling. Not fear. No, that was desire. But it didn’t change the fact that she had to say the word. He nodded and slowly dropped his hand, even though everything in him balked at the idea of stepping away from this. “Think about it. And I guess since I’m the one in the so-called power position—although I’d argue that you’ve been in charge since the moment you stormed into my office—you’ll have to initiate any kissing.”
“Sure, if you want it to be awkward,” she murmured.
He lowered his voice, his gaze returning to the lips he so badly wanted to taste. “I don’t care. I just want it. Whenever you’re ready, know I’m all for it. Forms, blood samples—whatever you decide is needed—I’m game.”
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and he groaned again. He took the key from her hand and opened the door for her, a gentleman with very ungentlemanly thoughts.
For a few torturous yet amazing seconds, she stared at him, the chemistry snapping and sparking between them.
She reached out and squeezed his hand, a silent thank-you and good night. Or maybe an apology that she couldn’t cross lines.
Then she slipped inside, and all he could do was retreat to his room and hope that sometime before they returned to San Antonio, where his life would only get crazier and more hectic, she’d take him up on his offer.
Chapter Fourteen
