Page 35 of Maneater (The Mavens #1)

“Will do,” I say absentmindedly, turning back to the lobby as Annette hangs up.

Sliding my phone into my pocket, I step out onto the balcony of my office to get some fresh air and attempt to clear my mind.

Unfortunately, I find myself even more distracted as I peer down to the patio before the pool deck.

The sun catches on gleaming dark hair, my eyes narrowing in on it instantly as if it were singing to me and me alone, and when the owner of the thick ponytail turns, that theory is confirmed when I see Josie and Rory.

They’re whispering to one another, heads moving from side to side like they’re looking for something, before Rory nods and they move left, out of my line of sight.

Without thinking, I close the balcony door and head out to my office toward the lobby.

When I get there, I look for dark hair and devilish curves.

When I don’t see her, I turn toward the direction I saw her and Rory’s head and almost miss her as she slowly moves down a side hall.

It’s an employee hall, mostly, just a stock room, control room, and a side entrance to a break room, so there’s no reason for her to be here, but I’m so stuck on the thrill of finding her, I don’t let my mind wander too much.

“What are you doing?” I ask her back, my voice the only noise in the quiet hallway. Her body jolts with panic before she whirls around to me, wide-eyed and nervous.

“Oh hey, hi, Rowan,” she says, that mask falling across her face as she gives me a soft smile.

“What are you doing, Josie?”

“Me?” she asks, putting a hand to her chest.

“Yes, you. There’s no one else in the hallway.”

She looks around to confirm that, and her body eases a bit. “I…uh…I was looking for more towels. I spilled some water, and now mine are all wet.”

“You could have called the front desk,” I suggest, closing the gap until there’s just two feet between us.

“Oh, I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

“So you’re just...snooping around my hotel looking for towels?”

Her head tips to the side, and I know a snarky response is coming.

“Your hotel? I didn’t realize you owned the place. Very fancy. What are you doing over on this side of the resort? Don’t you have work to do or whatever?”

“Don’t change the subject, Josie.” I take a step closer, and even though I tell myself it’s because I’m ready to play her at her own game, I can’t deny that my body feels like a magnet drawn to hers, desperate for contact.

“But there are so many better subjects I could change to.”

I feel her tease my cock and force myself to ignore it. “Your room is in another tower. Why are you looking for towels over here?”

A flash of nerves comes over her face before it’s gone, and she smiles. “Aww, you remember where I’m staying?”

She flutters her lashes at me, and something in me snaps. I take another step forward, and she takes one back, the pattern continuing until her back is against the wall, my hands planting against the wall on either side of her face, not touching her but caging her all the same.

She’s an expert at fogging my mind and making me question everything, but now I’m thinking it’s intentional. She’s intentionally confusing and distracting me, and I’m dying to know why.

“Is this what you do?” I ask, stepping closer and pinning her in place. “Use your charm to get out of trouble? Flirt and flip your hair and bat your eyelashes until whatever poor schmuck you’ve got your sights set on forgets what they’re really doing?”

She smiles wide, and somehow, in my heart of hearts, I know that’s the truth.

I don’t know what Josephine Montgomery is doing here, but I somehow know in my gut it’s not because she wanted to take in the sights of the Keys.

I told her we wouldn’t be kissing again, and I think part of me knew even as I said it I was lying. I need to kiss Josie more than I need to breathe.

“My charm doesn’t work on you,” she whispers. “It never has.”

“I didn’t realize you were so blind,” I reply just as softly. A small gasp leaves her lips, and I lean down, pressing mine to the pulse in her neck, feeling it pound against my lips. “I’ve been charmed by you since you turned me down six years ago.”

Her body stiffens at my words, but I don’t let myself get too caught up in her, get distracted, not when it’s my turn to distract her until she confesses something. Anything.

“You know, this morning, my boss informed me that our leak was found.” Her body stills, and my adrenaline increases at some innate knowledge that I was right; she has some kind of link to it.

“Why are you telling me this?” she whispers, attempting to show disinterest and failing.

Without hesitation, I reveal my hand.

“Because I think you know something, Josie.”

“I don’t know anything,” she says too quickly.

I smile then, brushing my thumb over the spot in her cheek where that fucking dimple usually lies.

“ You’re a good liar; I’ll give you that.

Most people wouldn’t see it. But I’ve been watching for a year, obsessing over every moment.

Watching you flip your hair, dissecting what’s real and what is bullshit.

I don’t know what you know, but you know something.

I just can’t figure out what. I know you’re not here just to take in the sun and sights. ”

I shift a hand and cup her cheek, a thumb brushing over her full bottom lip, and my eyes focus there as her tongue darts out, tasting me.

I bite back a groan, determined to hide how she impacts me just as well as she does.

When I shift my gaze back to her eyes, hers are shifting back to me at the same time.

“Kiss me, Rowan,” she whispers, a plea in her words. My brows furrow in confusion at the stark change of subject, but then her hands are lifting, one cupping me behind the neck, the other holding my cheek.

“What?”

“Kiss me. God, it’s all I’ve been able to think about. Please. Kiss me.”

A long moment passes as I take in her words and the need and desire in them, as I pick through them to determine if she’s being truthful. She is, I decide, truthful in her assertion that it’s all she’s been able to think of.

But something tells me this is also another distraction, another move in the game she’s playing, so I shake my head gently.

“I’m not kissing you again until I figure out what you’re doing here, Josie.”

I expect her to tell me she doesn’t know a thing.

I expect her to tell me that I’m insane, making things up.

I expect her, in her own way, to use her power of distraction and change the subject once more.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she smiles.

“Well, then I guess we’ll just have to continue this dance next time we run into each other,” she says.

I shake my head, disagreeing. “I think not.”

Her phone beeps, and she smiles; for some reason, she looks satisfied. Then she ducks under my arm and steps away from me before walking down the hall. When she’s a few feet away, she looks over her shoulder at me and smiles.

“Next time you pin me against a wall, I really hope you’re ready to make good on your promises, Rowan. I’m tired of the teasing.”

And then she’s gone.