Her top lip curled. “You certainly didn’t have to worry about drinking and driving, did you?”
He pretended ignorance. “No, I didn’t.” He indicated another glass of brandy on the coffee table in front of him. “I poured a nightcap for you. Sit with me.”
An odd look skimmed across her face. “Perhaps I’d prefer to go straight to bed.”
If one of his dates had said that he would have taken it as a come-on. But Samantha was a challenge in a different way. Did she know what she was inviting in that dress? Did she have any idea what she actually did to a man’s libido? All at once he was enjoying what he now suspected to be her sexual naïveté.
“One drink,” he coaxed. “And you can tell me all about your evening.”
She paused, then put down her evening purse and began undoing the rest of her coat buttons. Slowly she began taking it off in an unintentional striptease, exposing the sexy pink material beneath. How had he never before noticed what a stunner she was?
She sank down on the opposite chair and gracefully picked up the glass, indicating the already poured brandy. “You were so sure I wouldn’t take Joel up to my room, were you?”
He hadn’t been, no. “Yes.”
She took a sip then considered him. “You certainly tried hard enough to make it not happen.”
“Did I?” He was feeling rather proud of himself for putting obstacles in her way tonight. It must have worked or she wouldn’t be here now. With him.
“You know you did, and I don’t appreciate it. You’re trying to make sure you get every last bit of work out of me before I leave.”
Is that what she thought? “Maybe I was protecting you?”
She gave a short laugh. “From what? Having a good time?”
He looked over at her kissable lips that had recently been beneath another man’s…and something became even more determined inside him. If she was going to have fun, she was going to have it with him.
He forced a shrug. “I just think you need to look at who you go out with in future.”
Her lips twisted. “Thanks for the tip.”
He’d never known her to be sarcastic, not like she was lately. It was…energizing, he admitted, watching as she eased back in her chair, the soft silk stockings making a swishing sound as she crossed her legs. He’d give anything to reach out and smooth those long legs with his hands. Or perhaps his lips…
Before he could put words to action, he told himself he had to slow it down. He didn’t want to frighten the lady by going too quickly. Time was running out but he had to let her lead. Tonight, anyway. Tomorrow—when she was in a friendlier mood—was another day.
He took a sip of his brandy and let it soothe his throat. “So. Did you have a good time tonight?”
Her eyes darted away briefly. “Yes, I did. Very much.”
She was lying. “I bet.”
She arched one of her elegant eyebrows. “I hope you didn’t put much money on that bet, Blake.”
“I didn’t have to.” He knew women, both in the business world and out of it. She was lying. And he was intensely relieved.
A soft smile curved her lips. “Joel really knows how to treat a woman.”
She was still lying. And he found that fascinating. “Sure he knows how to treat a woman. The guy’s a womanizer.”
“I suppose it’s easy enough to recognize one’s own sort.”
He had to chuckle. She made him laugh. Then he saw a touch of real amusement in her eyes and something connected between them. She quickly looked down at her glass, hiding her eyes for a second.
He started to lean forward. “Samantha…”
Her head snapped up. “For your information, Joel’s a very nice man,” she said, making it clear she was trying to ignore the sudden sexual tension in the room.
It was a wasted effort. “I’m sure he is. Ask any woman in Aspen.”
She sent him a defiant look. “Don’t think I wouldn’t go to bed with him if I wanted to, Blake.”
She was all talk, but his gut still knotted at her words. “Obviously you didn’t want to, or you would be in bed with him this very minute. Am I right?”
“No, you’re wrong. I mean, yes… I mean, mind your own business.” Her lips pressed together. “I’ll sleep with whoever I want when I want.”
“You’re being very contradictory tonight, Samantha. They’d eat you alive in the boardroom with that attitude,” he mocked.
She stiffened. “Listen, Blake, I’ll sleep with any man I want when I’m good and ready. Tonight I just wasn’t ready. And in case you didn’t notice, this isn’t the boardroom.”
No, but he did want to eat her alive right now. He wanted to kiss her and take away the imprint of another man’s lips, his hands itching to slide up over her hot dress and lift that hair off her nape himself, exposing the soft skin beneath to his lips.
Adrenaline pumping through him, he knew it was time to take action. He’d had enough playing games tonight. He wasn’t one to sit on the sidelines for long. He needed to know if her lips were as good as they looked, if her body would curve to his touch, if the skin at her nape was soft and sensitive.
Surging to his feet, he removed the brandy glass from her hand and put it on the table. He heard her intake of breath as he pulled her to her feet, but nothing would stop him now. Already he could feel a mutual shudder pass between them.
“Blake?” she said huskily as he brought her into the circle of his arms, leaving mere inches between them. He’d never been this close to her before. Not close enough to see the rush of desire in her blue eyes. It knocked the breath from his body.
And then a sudden flash of panic swept her face and before he knew it, she had pushed against him and spun away. Scurrying toward the stairs, she left him standing there, his arms never feeling as empty as they did right now.
As hard as it was, he let her go. He could follow her and she would take him as her lover, but he knew all he needed to know for the moment. She wanted him. And he wasn’t giving up. His plans for seduction were still very much alive.
Samantha closed the door behind her and pressed herself back against it, willing her racing heart to slow down so that she could let herself think. She’d gone and panicked just now. Blake had finally reached for her and she’d blown it.What was wrong with her! Being in Blake’s arms and in his bed was what she wanted most, wasn’t it? So why had she run away like a frightened deer? He must think her green when it came to relationships, which of course she was. One lover in high school, then falling in love in her mid-twenties, did not constitute experience. Not unless that included the pain of rejection, she decided, quickly pushing that thought away.