The Tycoon's Tender Triumph Page 0,28
each time she saw him, her heart sped up. When he got close to her to look over her shoulder at her notes, point out a piece of data on the computer screen or just walking down the hallway to get something to eat with Jessy, Chloe would smell Sam, feel his heat and her skin tingled, her heart raced.
The more she got to know him, really know him and not just sense his physical attraction, the worse it got. She learned that she actually liked him. His laugh was infectious, his intelligence a complete turn on and his voice was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard. She’d always thought she was a woman attracted to shoulders and muscles in a guy and Sam already had plenty of those to spare. But working with him so much, she decided that a man’s voice was a dangerous aphrodisiac.
She was sitting in his large leather chair while he bent over, both of them looking at the finished product on one of his computer screens.
“You really should let me finance this, Chloe. Whatever you’re going to sell, I’m betting it’s a solid idea and I believe you’ll make a success of the venture. I’d like to be a part of it.”
His belief in her success warmed her heart. His approval meant a great deal. But she’d spent too much time in his company over the past week and she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be around him more often. She suspected that if she allowed him to invest in her project, he’d be more involved than she was comfortable with. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
“Why? Because we’re attracted to each other and you’re afraid of me?”
Chloe wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d never been a very direct person, nor had she ever dated men who were very direct. She was used to men who waited for some sort of blatant signal that she was ready to move to the next step, which, she acknowledged, rarely ever happened. So she’d had many male friends over the years, and only dated a few.
This directness from Sam was disconcerting. She didn’t like it and pulled back, stepping around his desk and moving to the other side. “I think I’d better go,” she said, picking up her jacket that had been lying over the back of the chair.
“Why? Because you’re scared or because I’m reading you wrong?”
Chloe took the easy way out. “Because you’re completely reading me wrong. I’m not attracted to you. That’s all in the past.”
Sam smiled and Chloe didn’t like the way his eyes lit up with challenge. “Are you really trying to convince me of that? And I wonder if you believe it, or if you simply want it to be true.”
She shifted uncomfortably. “It’s true and you’re just going to have to accept it.”
“Then all the times I touch you, when you get all flustered, that’s just a pretence?” he asked, standing up and walking around his desk.
Chloe looked at the doorway, then back at him.
“Don’t try it. You won’t make it,” he replied softly, moving to stand in front of her. “Why won’t you let this thing between us go? You know it’s there and I promise you it’s mutual.” His hand came up to touch her hair, his long fingers tangling through the ends. “I think it could be extremely good between us.”
Chloe shook her head, pulling her hair out of his fingers, careful not to touch him in any way. “It might be fine, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea to risk it.”
“Fine?” he parroted. “You think this could be just ‘fine’ between us?” He put a finger to the base of her neck. “I suspect that it could be a whole lot more than ‘fine’ and what’s more, I think you know it would be as well. So what’s holding you back?”
Chloe shook her head and took a step back, only to find that the desk was behind her, a solid force that halted her backwards escape. “Sam, please…”
His eyes swept down so they were staring at her mouth. “Please what? Please show me that we could be on fire?”
“No,” she gasped. “Please don’t do this.”
He was quiet for a long moment as his eyes took in her features. “I don’t think I can ignore this any longer.”
Chloe tried to shake her head, to push him away. But as his head slowly descended, she found that