Smith’s and Jackie’s wails began. “Say hello to everyone for us.”
After shutting down the video conference feed, Ian headed for his office down a long open hallway that looked over dozens of cubicles. At fifteen minutes past six on a Friday night, everyone had already left. Though he’d been back at the Seattle headquarters for only a week and a half, Ian had seen for himself that everything in the office was running with perfect efficiency. Organization and order had always been crucial components of his success, along with a laser focus and an unwavering determination.
Only once had he made the mistake of letting himself be spontaneously thrown off course. But in the wake of his messy marriage and even messier divorce, he’d been even more careful to make sure that the women he connected with were willing to play by the rules that would keep them all safe from future messes: no entanglements, no emotions. Just hours of pleasure when they were together, and nothing at all that lingered when they weren’t. And if anyone thought giving up love was something to grieve, that’s because they didn’t know how much relief there was in knowing he would never hurt a woman again by promising her something he would never be able to actually give.
At the threshold of his office, Ian shook all thoughts of love and romance aside before he stepped inside. Love had no place in the worldwide empire he’d built, and he was glad for that fact, especially when he needed every ounce of his focus right now to do whatever it took to finally close the eAirBox deal.
Mentally drafting an email to his board regarding the new counter-offer he was planning to make on Monday morning, Ian was halfway to his desk when he realized he wasn’t alone. His large leather chair was turned away from his desk so that the back was facing him...and the most stunning bare legs he’d ever seen were crossed over the arm of it, the woman’s shiny red heels tapping out a fast rhythm in the air.
He couldn’t immediately place the legs, but the scent was one he’d come across only once before, at his cousin Marcus’s wedding in Napa Valley a handful of months earlier. Equal parts vanilla and spice, the combination was at once innocent and so powerfully sensual that he was overwhelmed with the need to breathe her in just one more time, and then one more time again.
Tatiana Landon.
If she were anyone else, Ian would immediately have alerted her to his presence. But he needed to take a few moments to steel himself against the powerful way the beautiful actress affected him. And at the end of a long, hard week, he found it took him more than a few seconds not only to solidify his walls, but also to make absolutely sure that they would remain impenetrable.
Finally, he cleared his throat. But her feet didn’t stop tapping out the beat and she didn’t turn the chair around. Her evocative scent grew stronger when he moved closer, and he gritted his teeth against the potent impact it had on him as he reached for the top of his chair to turn her to face him.
He’d only just begun to spin the chair when she let out a little shriek and jumped halfway out before falling back into it. One hand was pressed over her mouth, the other over her chest, her legs tucked beneath her on the big leather seat as she stared up at him with big green eyes.
Before he could stop himself, Ian was drinking in the gorgeous expanse of skin on display from the way the skirt of her dress rode up her thighs. Her long hair was loose around her shoulders and her skin was flushed from the fright he’d given her.
Was there another woman on the planet this beautiful?
By the time she pulled out her earbuds and slid her legs out from beneath her, she was laughing. “You scared me.”
If he’d thought she was beautiful before, watching her laugh, so free, so easy, showed him he’d had no idea what real beauty was until now. He’d been the one to startle her, but just looking at her had his heart beating too fast.
“How long have you been waiting in my office?”
“A little while. Your assistant wanted to let you know that I was here, but I asked her not to interrupt your meeting. Of course, that was before I knew that