Page 18

He was so close that, if I leaned in just the slightest, our mouths would touch.
I was so, so tempted.
Do it. There’s no reason you can’t.
About to throw caution to the wind, I licked my lips.
And Maximus stepped back.
His gaze locked with mine as he studied my face. “Say yes.”
Heart lurching inside my chest in a near painful rhythm, I couldn’t do anything else. “Yes.”
* * *
Say yes.
Those words had lingered with me all damn week, his low voice, a sensual rasp in my ear.
Coupled with the heat coming off him as he talked about finding it sexy watching me win, those words had all but turned my knees to jelly.
I was a confident woman, and I preferred confident men who didn’t have a problem with my confidence, intelligence, abilities with a handgun, and that I could run five miles in a little over thirty minutes.
Maximus had confidence. In spades. Arrogance settled over him like invisible armor, but not so bad that it was off-putting. No, it was kind of appealing.
I’d never been…pursued like this.
The echo of that coaxing whisper went through my mind, and I couldn’t stop wondering about him.
That heat in his eyes. The implied promise when he said he’d like watching me win…and the other silent promise in his eyes when pulling away, leaving me wishing he’d done…something.
Like kissed me.
I relived those few moments more often than I wanted to admit. It was easy to imagine pulling Maximus close, tracing the sculpted lines of his mouth with my tongue, wondering what would happen next.
As I was getting ready for the date, I knew there was a good chance I’d find out before the night was out. Unless he ended up making all the wrong moves, but I didn’t see that happening.
So far, he’d only made the right ones, even with all the brush-offs I’d given him.
My phone buzzed, then pinged with a notification, the tone letting me know it was Dina. Picking it up, I skimmed it and grimaced when I saw it was an invitation over to their place for dinner.
Usually, I’d be happy to spend a Friday night with my sister and her family. She and Newt had adorable kids.
After I typed out my reply, I hoped she’d move on without asking questions because one thing I didn’t do well was, lie to my sister. She always picked it up in a text, and I wasn’t getting into a discussion about Maximus, not after I told Dina I was too smart to get tangled up with a playboy.
Hey, I’d love to, but I already made plans. Running late. Talk tomorrow?
Before I could second guess myself, I put the phone face down and grabbed my makeup bag. I wasn’t running behind, but Dina knew I hated being late, that it stressed me out, so I hoped she’d let it go.
There wasn’t another ping from the phone, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Now, I could stress about tonight…and whether I was going to sleep with James Maximus.
“Liar,” I hissed to the woman staring back at me in the mirror. “You already waxed this morning, shaved your legs, exfoliated, and put on that sexy bra and panty set you’ve been saving for a special occasion.”
Heaving out a sigh, I admitted it. “Yeah. I’m totally ready to sleep with Maximus.”
* * *