He was so sexy it hurt.
The lift doors opened and he held a hand out, allowing her to go first. He was also a perfect gentleman. After she’d bought him a beer, he’d bought the next round and then had made her choose between having another round or switching to coffee. She got the idea that if she’d had another drink, he wouldn’t have invited her up to his room.
“Tell me something,” she said as she moved to the elegant hallway. At this time of night, it was perfectly quiet. Her own room was several floors below. When the time had come to decide on whose room to go to, she’d insisted on his.
Yes, he was lovely, but she wanted an escape if she needed it.
“I’ve told you a lot. I can tell you more,” he said in that deep Texas accent of his. He followed her off and the doors closed behind him.
She hoped she didn’t need it. She hoped he was every bit the Cowboy Prince Charming he seemed to be.
“If I’d had drink number four, would we be here?” She was curious. She’d had more than one man try to ply her with drink to get what he wanted. It never worked, but she wanted to understand his reasoning.
He stared at her for a moment as though assessing the situation and then he leaned against the wall. “No. I would have made sure you got back to your room, but I don’t know your threshold. I have zero interest in coaxing you with liquor. I would far rather know you wanted me and not some random guy to forget your troubles with. And I didn’t want to get drunk either. Three’s a good limit for me. I don’t need anything to dull this experience.”
He was forthright. She liked that quite a bit, and he hadn’t had a fourth drink either. He’d been perfectly in control. Another thing she liked. She couldn’t exactly come out and tell him she would very much enjoy it if he dominated her sexually. Or could she? “But I am trying to forget my troubles. That doesn’t mean I don’t want you in particular. If you hadn’t been in the bar this evening, I would have settled for a book.”
His lips curled up in the sexiest smile. “What kind of book?”
“Romance.” Somehow she didn’t think he would be derisive. Some people had contempt for the genre, but they were usually the ones who could use it the most.
He moved in, his hand coming up to brush a stray hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “I like the sound of that. It’s your turn to tell me something. What would the hero of that book you would have read do right now?”
He’d backed her against the wall, but not in a way that felt threatening. He was taller than she was and loomed over her, his broad shoulders blocking most of her line of sight. She was still in her heels and for most men that put her at eye level or taller. Not with this one. It was nice to look up to a man for once. “I think he would invite her back to his room where they wouldn’t shock anyone who happens to walk down the hallway.”
He watched her like he was studying something fascinating, something he wanted desperately to learn. “I happen to know there are only two rooms on this floor, and I saw the couple in the other room go upstairs a few hours ago. They seemed like they were ready for sleep. Not that older couples can’t party the night away, too, but they didn’t seem like the type. So we don’t have to worry about anyone catching us, though I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t be ashamed to get caught touching you.”
He was pushing all her buttons. The good kind. The kind that got her in trouble. “So these are the penthouse suites?”
“Yes. My dad’s company has an agreement with this hotel. We get priority for this suite. We do a lot of business in Dallas, though I don’t live here. I live far enough on the other side of Fort Worth to make it hard to get home, so I stay here, and our suite was open.”
His father’s company must be ridiculously successful, but she wasn’t going to get into that. Money was definitely not the reason she was interested in this hunk of cowboy. She had zero curiosity about his wallet. Now what he had in those jeans of his was another story altogether. “In that case, I suspect the hero would almost certainly kiss the heroine. He might press her against the wall and devour her. He might whisper all the things he’s thinking of doing to her.”
His eyes were on her mouth, as though he was thinking about doing exactly that. “Doing to her? What should I do to you, Nina? Should I take off your clothes? Should I unwrap you like the gift you are, taking my time because this is a present I didn’t expect to get tonight? Should I unbutton that shirt you’re wearing slowly, using every sense I have to catalog how gorgeous you are? Yes, I think that sounds like the way to go. I’ll do it first by touch.”
She was breathless as his fingers moved to unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse, brushing the skin he found there. He eased the sides back until he could see the tops of her breasts, a slight bit of her bra showing. She was damn glad she’d dressed for dinner with Sandra. She’d thought seriously about going the jeans and T-shirt route but at the last minute had wanted to look somewhat professional. A nice blouse meant a lacy bra.
“Soft, but then I knew
