Talking Dirty with the CEO - By Jackie Ashenden Page 0,24
seducing you.”
The air went from being thin to nonexistent. “W-what?” Damn, bloody stutter.
He tilted his head. “Too honest? I could go with the well-intentioned lie instead. And that involves me giving you the interview you wanted, and you giving me the explanation that I wanted, then me shaking your hand and letting you leave. Would you prefer that?”
He had to be messing with her. They’d both been there, done that with each other. Why a repeat?
“What I prefer,” she snapped, “is the truth.”
“I told you the truth.”
“But you didn’t mean it.”
His eyes widened. “Of course I bloody meant it. Why shouldn’t I?”
“Come on,” she said, feeling oddly defensive. “The whole reason you even kissed me in the first place was only because you were grateful I noticed your stupid stereo.”
Surprise crossed his face. “Actually, honey, if you remember, you were the one who kissed me.”
She flushed. Oh yeah. So she had. “Well…I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t mean to?”
Christie’s jaw firmed. “No. I didn’t.”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Because I wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
“And what about the sex? Was that only because I was grateful you noticed my stupid stereo too?”
Anger flared from some deep, fragile part of her soul. “Well, wasn’t it?”
“No. It wasn’t.” His gaze held hers, so intense all the hot, angry words she’d been going to say dried up in her mouth. “The sex afterward was because I wanted you so much I couldn’t stop myself from having you.”
Something squeezed hard inside her chest. A hope she couldn’t allow herself to have. “I don’t believe you.”
Joseph bit off a curse, tossing her phone carelessly onto the couch beside him. Then he leaned forward and reached for her, his hand on the back of her head, pulling her to him before she could move. And then the whole world stopped on its axis as his mouth covered hers.
The kiss stole her breath. Stole her mind. Every thought vanishing from her head.
Hot, hungry, and so very, very insistent.
And over way too soon.
Joseph released her, sitting back in his seat, leaving her shaking and almost unable to speak.
“Do you believe me now?” he asked softly.
Christie stammered like an idiot.
At that moment a knock came on the suite door and his media person stuck her head around it again, giving Christie a pointed look. “Time’s up. Are you ready for the next one, Joseph? It’s Complete PC.”
Joseph sat back in his seat, composed. As if he hadn’t delivered the kind of kiss that would have made a stone curl its toes. If a stone had toes. “Yeah, Liz. Send them in.” And then he added quietly, for Christie’s ears alone. “If you want to continue this interview, then meet me downstairs in an hour. If not…” He picked up her phone and put it in his pocket, the look in his eyes all challenge, “Don’t.”
Chapter Five
The interviews took forever and he hated every minute of them. Hated sitting still. Hated answering the same boring questions over and over again. But considering that the launch of the E-Slate was his personal baby, it was important he showed up personally.
Thinking of Christie, of the kiss he’d given her, did not help.
Perhaps that hadn’t been a good move. But she’d seemed so adamant that he couldn’t possibly want her that he hadn’t been able to think of another way to convince her.
And convincing her had seemed quite vital at the time. He’d wanted her to know he was serious. Seriously attracted. Maybe he’d been too blunt about that, but he liked to be up-front with people. And he liked them to be up-front in return.
He’d told her what he wanted. She didn’t have to turn up if she didn’t want that, too.
The last interview wrapped up, Joseph dealt with a couple of last-minute things with Liz, then went to find Brenda, his second in command, to let her know he was going. Fifteen minutes later, he made his way down to the hotel foyer, telling himself he didn’t feel the odd unsettledness in his gut. Almost as if he were…anxious.
An unsettledness that disappeared the moment he saw Christie sitting on one of the couches in the foyer, chestnut ponytail a riot of curls down her back. And other feelings took its place. Anticipation. Satisfaction. The hot lick of desire.
She was talking to a group of guys, all of them with that nerdy, game-boy look to them.
He stopped for a moment, watching her as she chatted. She didn’t seem as prickly with them as she