Book 4 in The Steele Brothers Series
The devil really shouldn’t be so beautiful.
Gaia stood in the doorway of the man’s office, staring at his broad shoulders that stretched the material of his tailored shirt. He hadn’t noticed her yet and she had the insane urge to back up slowly, to simply disappear back into the hallway.
Heart racing, body trembling, she stood in the doorway looking at the man standing behind the drawing board. The only thing wrong with him was that his shirt was too small. The sleeves were straining against the bulging biceps.
Was that bad?
It was probably bad.
Or maybe she was just grasping at straws here.
No. It was bad.
So…if it was bad, why was she practically drooling?
Bad. She was bad.
He was bad.
Good grief, she needed to leave. This was all bad. She’d been wrong to come here, wrong to try and humor her brother, Freddy, and wrong on so many other things. This meeting had been a complete waste of time.
At that precise moment, the handsome devil looked up!
Gaia’s breath caught in her throat as she stared back at the man. She’d thought the man was sexy with all of those muscles, but because of those muscles, she hadn’t bothered to look further. Talk about objectifying a person, Gaia was definitely guilty of that!
Unfortunately, now that he was looking at her, she couldn’t move. Her escape might not be blocked, but she was still trapped. Those green eyes were like emerald lasers, pointing right at her with a sharpness that left her feeling raw. Exposed.
The glasses didn’t help.
Dark rimmed glasses should look geeky, but on this man, they looked hot! Hot and sexy and Gaia was actually angry with him for this betrayal! Yes, she’d seen pictures of the Steele Brothers. The four men were in the news constantly. But no one had warned her of this man’s impact, the way those green eyes could look at her and make her feel like she was naked, exposed!
“You must be Gaia Fisher,” the man’s deep voice said. Then he stood up and Gaia’s heart stopped beating. She couldn’t breathe! He moved around that drawing board and she knew she was going to pass out. With every step, the thought pounded in her head. When he was halfway across the room, she hoped she would pass out. Then she would stop having these crazy fantasies about the man. About the enemy!
Goodness, Freddy would be furious if he ever found out what was going through her mind.
Her brother could never know. Absolutely! Secrets should be kept secrets. For instance, this man couldn’t ever find out how she’d already thought about him naked, that shirt discarded and on the floor so she could peruse all of those muscles without….
What in the world? Gaia blinked, forcing her mind to stop thinking about the man and his naked chest. His naked arms. All of those muscles exposed so she could…
Stop it!
She was here for a business meeting. She was here on her brother’s behalf. This had been Freddy’s idea and she was just helping him. Or trying to help him. And trying not to ogle the gorgeous man as he approached.
Goodness he was tall!
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the man posing as Lucifer commented, extending his hand.
Logan watched the woman who was still standing in the doorway of his office and had to restrain himself from pulling the delicate looking blonde woman into his arms, to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. He wanted to tell her that she was safe here, that he wasn’t going to do anything to her. But he couldn’t utter those words. The reassurance would be pointless.
Because that would be a lie.
He wanted this woman. He’d looked up from the drawings on his desk and knew…everything inside of him had known that this woman was going to be in his bed.
Soon!
Her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a twist, pinned to the back of her head somehow, but it still looked like spun gold against her creamy skin. Those golden eyes were a perfect match for her hair and underneath that severe, brown suit he suspected there was a spectacular figure.
He had an instinct for these things. That boring linen suit couldn’t hide the full breasts or the slender hips. The legs sticking out the bottom of the skirt looked to be miles long, although he didn’t think she was very tall. Maybe she’d come up to his chin in her smoking-hot pumps, but not much further.
Normally he preferred tall women, thinking that they fit him better. But this woman, he’d definitely make an exception for. As he waited for her slender fingers to take his, he suspected he was going to make a lot of exceptions for this woman.
“Yes, I’m Gaia Fisher,” she finally said, her cold fingers securely wrapped in his warm, strong hands. Immediately, she was stunned by the electric shock of his hand touching hers, holding her fingers captive.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, moving closer.
Gaia tried to pull away, but somehow, she found herself closer. Closer than she’d thought possible. She could smell him, could breathe in the spicy, masculine scent of this man and it sent her senses spiraling out of control. She was almost dizzy with the lust that hit her like a tsunami. Staring up into those green eyes, she knew that she was lost. And what was worse, she didn’t want to be found. Gaia knew that she would be perfectly happy to remain lost in this man’s arms, in that green gaze, for the rest of her life.
“I love your work,” he said.
Had the man’s voice deepened? She looked at his lips, wondering what it would be like to be kissed by this man. “My work?” she asked, not sure what he was talking about. Work was the farthest thing from her mind right at the moment.
His lips smiled ever so slightly and her amber eyes lifted higher, trying to understand. “Your drawings of the waterfront factory. I think it’s an ingenious idea to turn that building into condominiums.”
Drawings. What was he talking about? Gaia searched her brain, which wasn’t functioning, and tried to understand what was going on. Drawings. Factory. The plan!
“Right!” she replied, jerking backwards.
Unfortunately, her reality check meant she was backing up too quickly. In her pretty, new shoes, the ones she’d bought to give herself a boost of confidence for this meeting, she stumbled over her own two feet. Suddenly, the world was spinning backwards precariously. Her portfolio fell to the ground, her purse tumbled onto the polished conference room table beside her and, if there had been time, she would have groaned but her mind simply couldn’t function that quickly.
Knowing that she was going to fall painfully at any moment, she reached out and grabbed hold of the only solid thing within reach. At the same time, steel arms grabbed her around her waist, hauling her up against a hard chest. The “oof!” she emitted was inadvertent. Well, the whole debacle was inadvertent.
As was her gaze when she realized she hadn’t fallen into a heap on the floor at this man’s feet. Instead, she was pulled up against his chest. Shockingly, she felt her breasts swell with need, with surprise and…desire licked at her body in a way that was so intensely hot, she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking up at him and feeling small. She never felt small! She wore the highest heels she could find so that men would take her seriously. So why was she still shorter than this man? Why was he towering over her in a way that made all of her femininity come to life?
His eyes skimmed over her features and a small smile formed on those sexy lips she’d just been contemplating. “I’m not,” he replied.