Romantic Acquisition Page 0,26

said, assuming he was ordering Chinese.

“Beef is fine. All the usuals.”

A moment later, he hung up the phone and walked towards her. “So you don’t like my living room, you don’t like my kitchen, and yet you shiver each time I get close to you. Very curious.”

Kate was wary of the look in his eyes. She turned and walked back into the living room, putting as much space as possible between them. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it. It just isn’t my style,” she clarified.

“What would you do differently?” he asked, still stalking her with a small smile on his face.

Kate was walking backwards, not wanting to take her eyes off him. “I don’t know, maybe just some flowers somewhere,” she said, waiving her hand at the room in general. “Something that isn’t white.”

“Flowers are nice,” he said and looked around the room. “Where would you put them?”

“Anywhere,” she laughed, glad that he wasn’t offended. “Just break up the whiteness.”

“The whiteness? Is that even a word?” he chuckled.

He’d gotten to about a foot away from her when her legs backed up to the end of the sofa. She was trapped. “I don’t know,” she said, her eyes moving to his mouth.

“What else?” he said, his voice husky as he stopped, standing directly in front of her. If she moved an inch, she’d be touching him.

“Pillows,” she said, licking her lips.

“Pillows?” he asked, his eyes looking at her facial features. “Why would I want pillows?”

“Color.”

“Ah, just the simple color. Shouldn’t everything in life be so simple?”

“Nothing is that simple.”

“Sure it is,” he countered, his gaze not wavering from hers. “You look around, you say flowers and pillows. How hard can that be?”

She thought frantically. “Well, there’s going out and shopping for pillows, the flowers die and have to be replaced periodically. There are issues with everything,” she said, not really understanding what she was saying but muttering off the top of her head. Her mind was on the smell of his aftershave, evident even this late in the day.

“There aren’t any issues with me kissing you, are there?”

“Yes,” she said immediately.

“What are they?”

Kate tried to think, but her mind didn’t want to. She wanted to be kissed. She wanted to feel the passion burning within him. She had been wondering all day if he was still interested in her but he’d shown no reaction to their closeness in the car. Now that she knew, now that he wanted to kiss her, she couldn’t think of any good reason to stop him.

“I don’t know,” she finally said.

With those words, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him, his mouth covering hers with his own, his lips moving sensuously over hers in an urgent need to taste and feel.

Kate couldn’t hold back. She understood now that she’d wanted this all day. She never wanted him to stop kissing her. Her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, her mouth opening immediately to deepen the kiss.

Carlo’s hands slid from her waist to her back, then lower, cupping her bottom with his hands, sliding down the back of her thigh and lifting her leg against his hip. He moved closer, his body taking over the space hers had just occupied. His body reacted immediately to her scent and her obvious need for him.

Suddenly he stopped and backed up. “Jeff and Sarah are here,” he said and stepped back, holding her steady while she regained a sense of awareness.

The elevator doors opened up a few minutes later and Jeff smiled, entering the room while Sarah trailed behind him. “I guessed you two would beat us here. Interesting day, I’m thinking,” he said and dropped his notes onto the white marble coffee table.

Sarah also sat down and put her purse beside the sofa. “Kate, I’m not sure if you knew all this, but apparently, there are some pretty unhappy people in that store,” she said.

Jeff nodded and Carlo came around the sofa to sit down. Kate followed but it took her much longer to focus on the conversation.

Fifteen minutes after Jeff and Sarah arrived, the elevator dinged again. Kate didn’t know what it was initially until Carlo looked back at the elevator and announced that dinner had arrived. A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened and a uniformed doorman appeared with several bags.

“Thanks, Jim,” Carlo said as the man disappeared into the kitchen.

“Let’s eat,” he said and everyone stood up and headed towards the kitchen.

Kate was shocked when she entered and