Page 15 of The Charmer's Gambit
I peeked at Will and found him leaning against the wall, with an ankle crossed over the other, as he played with his phone. Completely unaffected. Meanwhile, my cheeks burned with a fervor.
The man was potent. If a few glances and words set me on fire, what could his hands do?
So not thinking about that.
Except I was. A very vivid image of what I would like his hands to do to me flashed through my thoughts. I bit my lip to keep from moaning. This was what forced celibacy had debased me to. And the lack of sleep wasn’t helping.
Focus, Rach.
I started rereading the vineyard’s history, and the words semi-clicked in my mind. I’d gotten about halfway through a paragraph when Will’s warm tones distracted me again.
“Evenin’, Vanessa.” A pause, then his trademark chuckle caressed my senses. “You know me so well. Uh-huh. There will be two of us dining tonight. Yes.” Another deep laugh. “No, she’s a colleague. Exactly. Thank you, darlin’.” He slipped the phone into his pocket with a shake of his head and pushed off the wall to sit across from me again. “I ordered us a pizza.”
“Didn’t hear anything about food in that conversation.” It was the second time tonight I sounded like a jealous girlfriend. First with the women downstairs, and now with his phone call.So unprofessional.
He brought his ankle up to rest on his knee. “Vanessa knows what I like.”I just bet she does. “So what do you think of the vineyard?”
“Uh, I’m not done reading about it yet.”
He arched a brow. “I thought you spoke French fluently.”
“Bien sur que oui, mais je suis fatiguée.”Of course I do, but I’m tired. Not the full truth, but true nonetheless.
“Très bien, ma chérie.”Very good, sweetheart.
His accent blew mine out of the park. Why was that so sexy? “What other languages do you speak?”
“Italian, Spanish, and I know enough German to be dangerous.”
Impressive. “I only know French and English.”
He shrugged those broad shoulders. “You weren’t groomed to work for an international hotel chain. I’d argue your law degree from Northwestern is far more impressive.”
“Don’t you have an MBA from Stanford?”
“Are we measuring our resumes, Miss Dawson?”
“Just pointing out your impressive qualifications, Mister Mershano.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “You find me impressive, do you?”
I rolled my eyes at the innuendo in his tone. “Stop distracting me. I need to read.”
“Now I’m a distraction?”
Picking up the throw pillow beside me, I hefted it at his head. He caught it with one hand and laughed.
“Careful, darlin’. You don’t want to start a pillow fight with me unless you intend to finish it.” His deep baritone elicited a shiver from deep within me. The man affected me like very few men ever had, and his gaze said he knew it. My decision to meet him here escalated frommaybebeing a bad idea todefinitelybeing a bad idea. I clearly couldn’t keep my mental faculties in check around him in such an intimate space. Next time, we would meet in my office or in a conference room. Or in a crowded café.
Ryan’s ringtone filled the air, dousing cold water over my hormones.It must be after seven thirty.
Will hopped up to grab my purse, forcing me to scramble off the couch. I nearly dropped his laptop in the process but managed to set it on the table and reach him just in time to snag the phone from his hand.
“Whoa, darlin’. I wasn’t going to answer it.”
The ringing stopped, then started again a second later. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply through my nose. Ryan wouldn’t stop until I answered. If I turned off my phone, he’d show up at my office tomorrow. Or worse.
“Is there somewhere I can take this?” I asked without looking at Will.
