Excerpt from “Defying His Charm”
His momma had been severely remiss in her responsibilities!
Naya shifted in the plush chair and glanced down at her notebook, refusing to look at the man who kept staring at her as if she might be his next dessert. Taking a deep breath, she forced her racing heart to stop dancing around in her chest. He was just a man. To another woman, a woman who wasn’t as strong as she was, the man might be attractive in a rugged, raw sort of way. But Naya wasn’t that kind of a woman. She wasn’t interested in a relationship and definitely not interested in a man who looked like he took arrogance to an art form. A very rude man who should know better than to stare at a woman. He was making Naya uncomfortable!
With another deep, slow breath, she lowered her eyes, wanting the information the speaker was delivering, but unwilling to deal with the other man’s rude, obnoxious, heated stares in her direction. It didn’t matter how gorgeous the man was, he still shouldn’t stare!
She’d been pretending to write something on her notebook for several minutes, but when she had her temper back under control, she looked up from her notebook, assuming he’d stopped his ill-mannered perusal of her being.
Darn it! He was still doing it!
Hadn’t someone told him that it was rude to stare?
Shifting again, she tried to look around, acting as if the other occupants of the seminar were fascinating. She had no idea what the speaker was saying. If the rude man would just stop looking her way, she might be able to concentrate. But with those sharp, green eyes looking in her direction, catching her gaze whenever she looked up, it was almost impossible.
She should just walk out. Naya glanced down the row of chairs but…darn it! She was trapped! Too many people on this row on both sides of her, leaving her no easy escape route. At least not one that wouldn’t make her the center of attention.
Looking up again, those sexy lips curled up into a wisp of a smile.
He knew, darn him! He’d guessed she was trying to figure out how to get out of here and was laughing at her!
Arrogant man!
She’d show him! She’d just sit here and be pleasant, listen to this stupid presentation and…well, that’s as far as her plan went at the moment. But she would think of something. In the meantime, she’d just sit here and fume!
Yeah, like that did any good. Her fuming mind rarely came up with a good plan. Her fuming mind more often came up with a really bad plan.
Like…well…she could….
Okay, so the man needed to move that sharp, green gaze to someone else before she could come up with even a bad plan! Darn him! He knew exactly what he was doing to her and she hated that!
Sighing, Naya forced her eyes to look downward again. If she just kept her head low, her eyes away from his green ones, she could survive this. The heat flooding her neck and cheeks, that was nothing. Nothing more than a stuffy room filled with stuffy people. She wasn’t blushing because she never blushed! Everyone in here was a real estate agent, just like herself. Everyone was listening to the presentation of the latest Steele Industries marketing plan.
Why in the world were they only releasing twenty of the one hundred and fifty units that would eventually fill the space in this particular high-rise building? Why not just release all of them and let the agents presell the units?
That’s what other building managers do. What made this building so different?
She thought about raising her hand to ask the question, but then she remembered those green eyes and….
Looking down at her notebook, she realized that she was drawing the man’s eyes!
Snapping her notebook shut, she folded her hands in her lap and…realized that the speaker had stopped talking and several people were looking directly at her after the loud snapping of her notebook. Including Mr. Rude-Green-Eyes! Again! So were several other people all around her.
“Sorry,” she whispered, sinking down slightly in her chair.
Good grief, had she been that loud? Obviously she had.
She breathed a sigh of relief when Mr. Green Eyes took over the presentation and ignored the annoyingly beautiful blonde woman in front of herwho kept turning her head to smirk in Naya’s direction.
Naya knew that the woman wanted Mr. Green Eyes. That message had been revealed very early on in the presentation, right along with her thigh as her skirt “accidentally” slid higher each time the lovely lady re-crossed her legs. Go for it, she thought without a hint of jealousy. The dark-haired, green eyed man was too tall for her taste. And way to arrogant.
Besides, the blonde and the black-haired man would look perfect together. She pictured them walking down the sidewalk, her long legs and his long stride would make a perfect match.
Naya’s red hair and shorter legs would definitely not be able to keep up with him. Nope, she would be a complete mismatch to the tall, handsome man.
He was tan, the kind of color that a person gets when they like to be outside, doing things in the sunshine. Naya was as pale as any other red-head and had the irritating tendency to freckle whenever she went out into the sunshine without a thick layer of sunscreen. He had the rugged jawline and the sharp, green eyes that could slice a person to the bone. She had been described as a cupcake in the past; sweet and fluffy.
She almost growled at that memory. She wasn’t sweet and she definitely wasn’t fluffy. Okay, so she had a couple of extra pounds on her. Hmmm….well, maybe a good ten extra pounds. But hey, being a real estate agent was a stressful job! Ice cream and potato chips were friendly foods that helped her through the anxiety stages.
With a sigh, she knew that it was probably time for some broccoli, she thought as she shifted in her chair again. Yeah, her skirt had been a bit tight this morning. Salads for a week, she promised herself. Salads and the gym.
Blech! She hated the gym. She’d much rather just go for a walk and enjoy the sunshine – after slathering on sunscreen, smile at others who were out on the sidewalk, maybe stop and chat a bit…
But the gym was a better idea. She rarely worked up a sweat on her walks. Maybe it was because she was too busy talking with her neighbors, petting the dogs and waving to her friends. Hard to get all hot and sweaty when one was stopping every few minutes to catch with someone.
Nope. Gym. Broccoli. Salads. She could do this! She could be strong.
Her eyes glanced over at the leggy blond. That smug woman probably ate lots of salads. The woman most likely survived on roughage and tough workouts.
Naya shifted again. She could be tough, she told herself. She could be tough and mean and…
Sighing, her shoulders drooped. She wasn’t tough, but she wasn’t a cupcake either.
Eh, who was she fooling? She was a cupcake. With extra frosting. She was too sweet and way too fluffy.
“Thanks everyone! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact anyone on my sales team,” the irritatingly handsome man was saying.
Everyone was smiling, standing up and….ho boy, she jumped out of her seat, wanting to leave the area as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she was in the middle of the row with the other guests not in any hurry to exit the conference room. People were slowing her down! She had to get out of here!
The crowd shifted and…yep, he was staring at her, his hands on his belt, pulling back his charcoal suit jacket that looked absolutely magnificent on him.
She smoothed her black, wool skirt down, reminding herself that she was doing the broccoli and salad thing. Maybe not the gym. She wasn’t quite that desperate yet.
The blonde sashayed over to the tall man and Naya gritted her teeth. Okay, so maybe a couple of gym workouts, she promised herself. It certainly would be nice to sashay. Naya never sashayed. She bustled. She hurried from one place to the next.
Naya watched the irritating blonde, saw the irritating man’s green eyes smile down to her and…wow! The blonde was tall but the black-haired sex-god was taller! Yikes!
She hurried towards the doorway, wanting to make a beeline for her car. She had absolutely no idea about the merits of the condominiums here in this building but she would look the information up online. She had to…
“Ms. Jefferson!” a deep voice called out.
Her shoulders tightened. A part of her wanted to pretend like she hadn’t heard the man. She could just melt in with the departing crowd but…unfortunately, no one was leaving! They were all milling around, taking another round at the well-stocked buffet filled with pastries and cookies.
Naya thought she could use a few cookies right about now. Emotional stress eating had a lot of good points, she thought as she reluctantly turned around.
Sure enough, sex-god approaching at her two-o’clock.
Her eyes glanced to the left and right, then back over at him. Green Eyes dared her to leave, dared her to stay. Sexy lips quirked upwards.
“Ms. Jefferson, right?” he asked, extending his hand.
Naya looked down at the hand and shivered. She wasn’t going to shake his hand, she promised herself. No way could she touch this man’s skin. It would be extremely dangerous!
But would the man listen to her telepathic command? Nope!
He reached out and took her hand, enveloping her cold fingers in his warm grip, his hand holding not only her hand but her entire body in shocked silence.
Looking up into his green eyes, she wasn’t sure what was going on. People were walking around, talking and laughing, drinking coffee and scarfing down cookies. But she wasn’t aware of them. It was just this man holding her hand. It was just his eyes making her tremble and his warmth seeping into her body.
Someone bumped her slightly and she suddenly found herself surrounded by the man’s tall frame. The top of her head came to his shoulder but there was so much more. One moment, she was surrounded by the other real estate agents in the room, the next, she found herself in the hallway. Alone. Still surrounded by this man and his strength.
“That’s better,” she heard him say.
“Better?”
He shifted slightly and Naya found her shoulders against the wall, this man towering over her. She felt vulnerable and feminine. She felt…heat.
“I was wondering if you had any other questions for me.”
Naya stared up at him as millions of questions swirled through her mind. The sensible reply would be No. She should definitely not ask this man anything. Unfortunately, her mouth spoke before her mind could stop it. “How tall are you?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she blinked, trying to figure out if she’d actually said them out loud. Surely she hadn’t! Oh please, if there was any good luck in this world, she hadn’t just uttered those words! The surprised look in his eyes told her that no, there was no good luck in this world and she really had said those words out loud.
“I mean…!”
His laugh was deep and sexy, powerful in ways she didn’t really understand.
“I believe I’m a few inches over six feet,” he responded. “And you?”
Naya was having trouble breathing. All she wanted to do was lean forward and smell the man, to reach her hand out and touch his chest. He looked so strong, so…male!
“I’m shorter,” she said, glancing down at her leather covered notebook.
“About five and a half feet?” he suggested, that dark eyebrow hovering over his amused expression.
Naya snorted as she shook her head. “I wish.” She straightened her shoulders, trying to appear taller than her five foot, four inch frame. “Listen, I appreciate your assistance but…I ummm…” her brain tried to function, to come up with a reason why she needed to run – fast, but he was too close. And way to male for her mind to function properly.