and curtainless picture window dominated one wall, allowing moonlight to stream through and illuminate what appeared to be a private and informal meeting room. A stone fireplace, several big armchairs, a small couch and a couple of coffee tables filled the space.
She didn’t make it past the first chair when the door opened behind her and clicked shut. Inhaling a breath, she held it for several seconds, and then slowly released it, pivoting to face Ross. In the semidark, his large frame loomed larger, and her belly fluttered. With his impassive expression, he betrayed nothing of his thoughts or emotions. But he was here. And she’d take that as a positive sign.
“Ross,” she began, then stopped. Because she had no idea what to say. I just needed you to look at me and not through me didn’t seem like a good opener. She shook her head, tried again. “Ross, I wanted to apologize. About earlier. This night is important to you, and what happened between us threw a pall over it that doesn’t belong. I’m sorry for that.”
“Is that what you and Billy were talking about?”
She blinked, taken aback by the abrupt question. “No,” she said. “Well, not really...”
“Which is it?” he pressed in the low, quiet tone that still set her instinctive alarm system clanging. “Because it looked like a serious conversation, given the way you two were cozied up together.”
She frowned, lifting her hands. “Wait. What the hell is going on here?”
“He asked would I mind if he asked you out. Did I ever tell you that?” He stepped away from the door, stalking closer to her. “After he first met you at Sheen,” he continued, not granting her the chance to reply. “He called you beautiful and wanted you.”
“What did you tell him?” she breathed, still unsure of what was happening but rapidly getting tugged down by the undertow of desire swirling around them.
Ross might appear the epitome of cool composure, but his eyes... They burned bright. Anger? Lust? Didn’t matter, because both caused the air to snag in her lungs, dampened her palms and beaded her nipples into tight points, setting off a pulsing throb in her sex.
Jesus, what did that say about her?
Nothing flattering.
“I told him to go for it.” He moved even closer. And closer still, until the lapels of his tuxedo jacket grazed the tips of her breasts. She just managed to swallow a gasp. “I didn’t know you were the mother of my son then, but the reason still stands. We’re sometimes acquaintances, sometimes enemies. Co-parents who want nothing from each other but the best for our son. We’re a mistake that are now connected for the next sixteen years, right?”
“Ross,” she whispered, voice breaking. “I’m—”
“Sorry,” he finished, flicking a hand, the gold of his watch glinting in the shadowed room. “You said that. Did Billy flirt with you? Ask you how we were doing?”
“Yes, but not how you’re insinuating,” she objected, frowning.
He arched an eyebrow, and the mocking gesture sparked a flame of irritation. “Really? And what am I insinuating?” he drawled.
“If I didn’t know better—and believe me, I do—I’d swear you were jealous. Which is ridiculous considering you were just out there with women not just hanging from your every word, but from you,” she snapped.
Shit.
She didn’t lose her temper often, but dammit, when she did, her mouth ran like a swollen spring river—fast, babbling and all over the place.
“And if I didn’t know better, I’d think that was jealousy,” he taunted, cocking his head and peering down at her through a thick fringe of lashes. “Fortunately, I know better, too. But just in case you need clarification, other than how they can benefit the festival, I don’t give a damn about those women. And I definitely don’t want to fuck them. You’re the only one I need to be inside of. The only one who can get me hard just by breathing.” He tunneled his fingers through the fall of her hair and tugged, yanking her head back so his mouth hovered over hers. “And you’re wrong, Charlotte.” He pulled harder, and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip, trapping the groan that almost slipped free at the corresponding tingle across her scalp. “I am jealous. Two times Billy touched you. And both times I battled back the urge to rush across the room and shove him against the wall and away from you.”
Shock crackled through her, the static of it convincing her she’d misheard. She slowly shook