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She swallowed the suddenly bitter piece in her mouth. “This was for me, wasn’t it?”
Sensuality burned, as he answered in a husky voice, “Yes.” He cleared his throat. “So back to your earlier diatribe, how did you describe me?”
Of course, he would return to that. There were only two reasonable choices: playing dead or playing dumb. “I’m not sure what you mean,” she replied sweetly.
He raised his eyebrows, his smile turning wider. “You don’t remember calling me gorgeous?”
She cocked her head to the side, rubbed her chin. “Not really.”
“Muscular?”
“Nope.”
“Ridiculously tempting?”
“Not a chance.”
“So I’m not any of those things?”
Oh, he was.Every single one.Cheyenne resisted the urge to walk up and… well, and kiss him. “Are you done?”
He paused, tapped his chin as if considering it. “All right, but only since we’ve become close enough to share the intimacies of…”
“Julian!”
“Chocolate,” he finished with a bright smile.
She shook her head, but her smile was as wide as his. He held up the game. “So would you like to play? When I said we should get to know each other, I meant our roles might work smoother if you’re more comfortable with me, and a game might help. However, if you think it’s too intimate, we can get straight to the undressing.”
Play a game or undress immediately?Undress! Undress! Undress!Her traitorous body rallied. “The game!”
He stared at her.
She forced herself to calm. “I mean, the game seems like a great idea.”
He smiled in that annoying I-know-everything-your-traitorous-mind-is-thinking sort of way. “Perfect.” He opened the bag and spread the tiles over his large executive desk. He motioned for her to take a seat while he sat on the opposite side. “Have you ever played before?”
She nodded, helping him turn the tiles so they were all face down. “We have to form words until we get rid of all the letters.”
“Exactly.” Julian placed the last tile facedown and gave them each their allotted amount. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Then go.”
The game commenced. Cheyenne had always been extremely competitive and now moved with focused fervor, crafting word after word, rearranging to fit more. Unfortunately, Julian crept into her focus again and again, stealing her attention and slowing her movements. Tiles rapidly disappeared, and finally it came to a sudden death ending. With only one tile left each, they raced for a quick solution. Cheyenne found a spot and yelled “finish” a second before Julian put his down, winning it all. She jumped up. “That’s what you get for driving me wild! You can take that gorgeous grin, those heavenly eyes, that tight ass….” She halted.
Well, crap.
What just happened? As Julian laughed, she backtracked. “I mean that mediocre grin, those average eyes, that…” She couldn’t think of anything besidestight. She sat back. “I’m done now.”
She awaited his response, but he was no longer paying attention. He was staring down at her side of the table, where she had formed words. “Were you thinking about me while you played?”
Every second.“Of course not.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “It sure seems like it.” He read her words, “Handsome, powerful, frustrating.”
“You’re making that up.” She snuck a peek down at her letters. They were all there. Every. Single. One.