Mismatch - By Nana Malone Page 0,55
her.”
“She'd lost her boyfriend, Jessica. I think you've been there before. I was trying to cheer her up. But the only woman I’m currently having any sort of intimate relationship with is you. I swear it.” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. She was more than merely under his skin, she was working her way to his heart, and he wasn’t particularly fond of that idea, so he veered the conversation toward the one area he could actually deal with when it came to Jessica—sex. “Do you really think, we could have done what we did last night, and then the next day I’d be hooking up with some other woman? You were there.”
He heard her ragged breaths. “That was sex, Eli. Chemistry doesn’t seem to be our problem.”
“You're lying to yourself if you think that was just sex. Let me be clear with you. I've never had 'just sex' like that at any point in my life.” He shifted in his comfortable leather chair, trying to make room for his thickening erection. Merely thinking about her set his blood on boil. He would do almost anything to feel this way with her again. Anything except give up Samson.
“I keep thinking about how you looked in that dress, the way the fabric hugged your skin. You’re lucky I didn't rip the thing to shreds.”
“Knowing you, you would have described it as art.”
Eli chuckled. She had a point there. That's something he and his brother had in common. “Yeah, maybe.” He cleared his throat. “Are you going to start talking to me now, or do I need to grovel more? I have to tell you, having my manager not speak to me is going to make things a little difficult, especially when I get you naked again.”
“Not going to happen, lover boy. I can only take so much punishment.”
“Oh really?”
***
Jessica couldn't help herself when Eli’s voice dropped to a velvet smooth texture. Talking to him on the phone was a whole new kind of sexual experience. She honestly hadn’t expected him to call. She'd acted like a brat. Izzy was right—if she didn’t want him, then why had she been so upset seeing him with another woman? Because you want to be intimate with him. Strolling around doing normal people stuff. When have you ever wanted to be normal?
“You're awfully quiet over there, Jessica. Are you thinking about punishing me now? Because if you are, then you’re reading my mind.”
A hot sizzle danced up her spine. God, the man didn't usually say much when they were in person. Granted they were too busy ripping each other’s clothes off. But get him on the phone, and he was pure seduction. “Eli, I’m at work. I can’t talk about this right now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“Okay then. Last I checked you worked for yourself. Close the door.”
“Eli.” Shocked, she whispered his name as an admonishment.
“There's something about the way you say my name.”
She was not going to have phone sex with this man—though she strode over to close her door just in case. She also glanced surreptitiously around to make sure no one could walk by and could accidentally overhear anything.
“You’re incorrigible, Eli.”
“You know, it's funny, I’ve heard that before. Did you close your door?”
“Yes, but—”
“Good girl. Now, not to be cliché, but can you tell me what you're wearing, love? I want to be able to give you the right kind of instruction.”
Shit. What was it about her and a trouble maker? “Eli.”
His voice went deeper, gravelly. “I'm waiting.”
She rolled her eyes as she planted herself in her Barcelona chair. “Fine. But only so you can get the picture of how fabulous I look. I'm wearing a vintage Chanel wrap jumpsuit.”
“Hair up or down?”
“Up.”
“Let it out.”
She complied and removed the bobby pins holding up the thick tresses. “It's down.”
“Should I guess what color feather you have in your hair today?”
“I'm not wearing any actually. I had a meeting with an investor for the gallery, so out came the piercings, feathers, and colored hair. I look pretty ordinary now.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. What are you doing in the office? Shouldn’t you be out scouting new talent?”
“Sometimes I do take meetings in my office.”
Eli's low chuckle had her eyes fluttering shut. “Instead of meeting your clients in a dark club for instance.”
Heat prickled over her skin. “Sphinx is a perfectly fine place to meet an artist. I need money people, and they have a thing against