draw her out of her shell. But he concealed his reaction with a careless shrug and a half-smile. “I’m not going to apologize for something we both wanted.”
“I didn’t want you to kiss me,” she said in a sharp voice. “I don’t want anything from you beyond employment. I thought I made that very clear.”
He dragged his eyes away from her heaving breasts, those magnificent breasts that made him want to compose sonnets and slay dragons when he should be focused on keeping his distance. “Then why did you kiss me back?” he asked in his most reasonable tone of voice. And why did he have to fight the irrational, inconvenient urge to haul her into his arms and kiss her into soft, willing compliance again?
Her lies compressed into a firm white line as she grappled with the truth of his statement. “You caught me off guard,” she finally said.
Maybe it was her wide bronze eyes, wounded and vulnerable despite her outward fire, or maybe it was the hint of worry that notched lines between her golden brows. Maybe it was the determined seam of her lush mouth, a mouth that should have been lax and curved with sensual pleasure. Whatever it was, it fired a fierce compulsion to take her to his bed and have his wicked way with her. “Maybe you caught me off guard, too.”
Colette opened and then closed her mouth. It was the first time he’d seen her speechless, and it was surprisingly satisfying.
“You have to admit you were just as curious as I,” he said, crossing his arms beneath his ribs and leaning back against one of the meeting chairs. “With the way we left things, it’s only natural to wonder.”
“I wasn’t wondering,” she claimed as her gaze slid away from his.
He felt the smile dent his cheek. “You always were a terrible liar.”
“Fine,” she admitted with an irritated flare of nostril. “We were curious and now we know. But it can’t happen again. Ever. Understood?”
“Perfectly,” he agreed easily.
She glared at him, her expression telegraphing an intoxicating combination of reluctant arousal and suspicion. “I don’t want to speak with you about our past, I don’t want to kiss you, and I certainly don’t want to sleep with you again,” she said, her eyes flashing with fierce heat. “Are we clear?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you agree to minimize the time we spend together?”
He held her gaze for a silent beat, and then dipped his attention to her mouth and breasts for the faintest flicker of time before returning. “Don’t fret, sweet. I have no plans to join you in your bed.”
Color seeped into her cheeks. “Good.”
Unless, of course, you beg to join me in mine.
Three short days later, after a frenzy of meetings and discussions about renovations and new directions, Colette approached Doux Rêves to find Stephen alone, awaiting her arrival. Dressed in another sleek business suit, this time in an espresso silk almost as dark as his hair, he’d foregone his typical tie. The hint of informality lent him a dangerous edge of sex appeal and made him look incongruously male against the whimsical backdrop of a French bakery.
Her steps slowed reflexively, but she firmed her resolve and forced her feet back to their initial pace. He’s just your employer now. Nothing more. “I thought I was meeting the contractor today,” she said as soon as she reached him, a frisson of nervousness making her voice come out less steady than she’d intended.
“We had an electrical emergency on the eighth floor,” he said. “But I have an interior decorator I’d like you to meet instead.”
Colette scanned the dark interior of the bakery and its visible slice of kitchen, finding only shadowed booths, display cases and stacks of dishes. “Where?”
He tossed her a carnal glance that made her skin bloom with heat. “My office.” “What about Henri?”
“I sent him to meet with some new dry goods suppliers to see if he could negotiate better prices.”
Knowing full well that Henri would fight every design idea they generated in his absence, she said, “He won’t like being left out of the discussion.”
“I know. Masters told me as much. But he also told me that once you’re on board you’re very good at convincing him to come around. I thought we could discuss the changes I envision before Henri has a chance to argue against my suggestions.”
An alliance with Stephen, no matter how innocuous it might appear on the surface, did not feel at all safe. “I’m not comfortable with the mediator