One Exquisite Touch (The Extravagant #2)- Lauren Blakely Page 0,26

resist this back-and-forth.

He steps closer and utters one dangerous word. “Hungry.” That’s all he says. He imprints it on the air.

And I answer with the truth. “Me too. Yet indulging would be a bad idea,” I say, a little amazed I got that out.

A lot amazed because I am all hot and bothered, and I need to cool it down. I picture dropping a bucket of ice water on my head.

There. That works.

“It would be a terrible idea,” I add, as rational as I can be.

“It would be the worst idea.”

“We can’t do anything about desire.” I pivot, doing my damnedest to go full CEO. “Why don’t we sit and talk about how we can work together? Since that’s where we should pour our energies.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Especially since I’m new to town,” he says, and there’s still a hint of seduction in his voice. Perhaps that’s his natural state.

But I can’t let it affect my state of mind, which must remain on business. That’s what my sister and I have focused on for the last few years—revamping this hotel. We completed the renovation recently, and it’s paying off. After a couple of rough years, we’ve turned the ship around, and now the hotel is thriving. My sole job is to grow it, and in so doing, to both honor my parents’ legacy and provide for the people I employ.

That is it.

I can’t entertain these wild fantasies involving Cole Donovan, the man I vie for business with. Hell, he might very well have won The Exquisite Show. He might be going after Max and Alex. For all intents and purposes, he’s the enemy . . . and so I should keep him close.

Business close. Not naked between the sheets close.

We sit on the couch, across from the table where I left the gift for him.

“Tell me, what do you think of Las Vegas so far?” I pose the question to him, to this handsome man sitting on the couch with me, hoping that talking business will eradicate the dirtier thoughts from my head.

He takes a moment, like he’s carefully considering his answer. “It’s a little different than the Italian Riviera.”

“Does that mean you prefer where you were before?”

A sly grin crosses his lips. “I tend to enjoy all sorts of fascinating locales. Though I think Vegas has a tremendous amount to offer,” he says, each word dripping off his tongue like seduction.

Anything he says sounds like sex. So I try to keep the conversation professional, firing off more questions about the Italian coastline. But even as we talk about cities and the things we like about them, trading tales about our time on the Riviera and what makes that area tick, I’m aware of the undercurrent to our conversation.

It’s in the air, this charge between us.

“Your hotel is quite successful there,” I say.

“And I hope my hotel here will be quite successful too.”

“Hope?” I arch a brow, teasing him a bit. “Hope doesn’t sound like you. Are you just being polite? Aren’t you the type of man who declares something will be successful rather than hopes for it?” I ask, my voice dropping into a masculine tone as I mimic him.

His grin goes crooked. “Were you just imitating me, Ms. Carmichael?”

“Did you enjoy my imitation?”

“I did. What else can you imitate about me?”

“I’m a man who knows what he wants,” I say, parroting his words from the other night. I’m doing a horrible job of being businesslike. But flirting is a powerful drug, and it’s enticing me to take a hit, then another.

“That remains true. And rest assured, I wasn’t saying hope to be polite.”

I laugh, perhaps to try to deflect from my own desire to get closer to my rival. “You don’t need to soften anything for me.”

He raises one dark brow, his brown eyes glinting. “Oh, trust me, Sage. Nothing is soft around you.”

I blush. Flames lick my cheeks. Heat rushes to my core. I do my best to return to business matters, and perhaps even learn some intel. “The Invitation is a stunning property. Some might even call it . . . exquisite.”

The way his lips twitch tells me I hit the mark. He’s the winner. He nabbed the show.

“Exquisite? That’s what you’d call it?” he asks.

I grit my teeth once more, frustrated over the loss. But better to dismiss those sour grapes. I’ve been vying for entertainers for more than a decade. It comes with the job. I’ve lost deals to the MGM, won them