Off Limits Attraction (The Heirs of Hansol #3) - Jayci Lee Page 0,12
on her cheeks to hold back her answering smile.
“Yes, we’re in theater three. There are only three theaters here, so it’s easy to get around.” He quickly reined in his smile, but his eyes still sparkled with humor.
He led them to their seats in the center aisle and several rows back from the screen. It was perfect, and it was all she could do to contain her excitement. It wasn’t until they were seated and the lights went out that she noticed how close they were sitting. He definitely wasn’t man-spreading, but he was a big man and his leg grazed her knee when he shifted in his seat. God, it felt so good. She really was a sad, lonely woman to get turned on by an innocuous brush of his thigh against her leg.
Before she could spiral into one of her self-pitying moods, the previews filled the screen. She couldn’t help but critique the trailers, but she promised herself she would lose herself in the feature film, let herself feel the full impact of the screenplay.
She drank half of her slushie, and ate almost all of her M&M’S and popcorn before the movie started. She hadn’t eaten dinner, so she only felt a little guilty. Colin extended his box of red licorice to her, and she took one with a sheepish smile. She was doing a horrible job with her Princess Jihae persona. Was she trying to get him interested in her? No. Not possible. She wasn’t hard up enough to risk Rotelle Entertainment for a man. Definitely not that hard up. She ripped off a piece of her licorice with her mouth and chewed vigorously. This attraction. It would fade. She would just book a date with one of her vibrators. Some good solo fun would do the job.
When the feature film started, all thoughts of lust and dirty fun were replaced by joy, tears and laughter.
* * *
In the name of all things holy...
Jihae was so close to him that he could feel the heat radiating off her body. She smelled fantastic, and that laugh of hers was doing strange things to his heart rate. And the cracks in her icy demeanor did nothing to cool him down.
It struck Colin that he was sitting beside an actual human being with a sense of humor, empathy and dedication to her work. He couldn’t fit her into the spoiled-villainess role he’d created in his mind. Of course, he still didn’t trust her, but it had been the idea of her that he’d despised, not the real woman. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that he liked her, but he would be lying to himself if he said that she still made his skin crawl. The problem was she made his skin feel tight and sensitive with awareness. He couldn’t have those feelings toward her.
His smiles and charm weren’t exactly feigned, but he had the partnership in his mind. He had to make that happen in order to earn her trust, and have her drop her guard around him. He cringed inwardly at using her that way, but this was the path he’d chosen. Hopefully, she would let something useful slip.
Colin wasn’t going to seduce her—he would never do something that abhorrent—but he would befriend her if necessary. She’d only moved to the United States several months ago and couldn’t have made many friends with her famous workaholic tendencies. Besides, he wouldn’t be acting based purely on his ulterior motive. If all went well and they ended up working together, they needed to get along to be the most efficient and productive team they could be.
That was why he watched her more than he watched the movie. He’d already seen it and knew Charity Banning was the one, but he wanted to learn about Jihae Park. For research purposes.
Unlike the professional mask she’d worn during their meeting yesterday, her face was an open book. Her smiles brightened up the darkened room, and the tears falling down her cheeks made his chest squeeze tightly.
At the end of the film, Colin knew he had her. She’d watched the movie with undivided attention and reacted exactly as intended in every scene. Rotelle Entertainment wasn’t what it was now because of her lack of good taste. Jihae knew Charity Banning was golden. He gave her some time to wipe her tears and gather her armor around her—because his gut told him that was what her ice-queen demeanor demanded—then spoke quietly to her.