Annie walked into the grand entrance of the Jefferson the next afternoon. She headed across the black-and-white tiled marble floor, taking in the arched skylight in front of her. The light streamed in and bounced off the chandeliers, bathing the area in a warm glow.
She was sore, but in the best way possible. She’d spent the night touching and tasting Jasper. He got home sooner than he thought because he insisted she’d given him the right incentive to work fast. A quick shower led to more sex. Then she’d ridden him this morning until her inner thigh muscles ached.
The last twelve hours had been amazing. There wasn’t an inch of her he hadn’t touched and praised.
“Annie?” Dave’s deep voice carried across the open hotel foyer area.
She glanced over and saw him standing just feet behind her. He wore another perfectly tailored suit. This one navy with a lighter blue tie. He looked very businesslike, because that’s what this was. Work only. The hotel might be lovely, but it proved he needed a place to live full time, and that’s where she fit in his life. And only there.
She turned to shake his hand, but he was already leaning in. His kiss grazed her cheek. It came and went, but the tingling of her skin lasted a bit longer.
“I still can’t believe that you’re really staying here,” she said, searching frantically for small talk while her heart raced.
He made a face. “It’s a bit much, right?”
“Very swanky.”
“I’m a ‘beer on the sectional’ kind of guy, so it’s weird for me. The firm picked it and paid at first, but now it’s on me.” He smiled. “Which is why I need a place to live sooner rather than later.”
She tried to ignore his hand on her arm, as he guided them from the middle of the high traffic area to the two oversized leather chairs by the wall. She’d rather go into the lounge or one of the restaurants. Something about meeting him at a hotel made her twitchy. As if she were cheating, and she definitely was not.
She inhaled, trying to calm her nerves as they sat facing each other. It took her a second to kick the words out. “This hotel is a bit of an unusual choice for temporary housing.”
“I think the new office hoped the impressive downtown location would blind me to the workload and long hours to come.”
She couldn’t help but smile at that. Tales of overworked lawyers were legend in this town. “I’m sure you were used to both in San Francisco.”
“The work, yes. The potential for snow? No.”
A piece of a memory hit her again. It tickled but wouldn’t come into focus. This would bug her until she remembered. She wished she knew why it kept happening when she was around Dave. “Are you sure we don’t know each other?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You’re my real estate agent.”
“You’re hysterical.” She shook her head and vowed to finally figure out the answer. “Should we go into the—”
“We can use my room.”
She could almost hear the brakes squeal in her head. It was as if her mind slammed them on. Her body still vibrated from the impact. “Excuse me?”
He watched a group of people walk by. “It’s more private.”
Yeah, that was the problem. “Do we need privacy?”
He reached across the table between their chairs, but his hand never touched hers. “This is important to me.”
She didn’t even know what they were talking about. Worse, she thought maybe they needed to come to an understanding. He talked in a way that could be considered safe and fine, but every word seemed to carry an underlying message.
Rather than scare her, the meaning she assigned to his words excited her. Despite being fatigued and totally satisfied after a long night with Jasper, her body snapped into high alert.
This was not good.
“Maybe we should…” Run, hide, never speak again. All those options seemed smart to her.
“I went through the portfolio you gave me, but I left it up on the table.”
She blew out a long breath. Now, that sounded reasonable. Convenient, but reasonable.
After a disastrous marriage, her life was finally buzzing along in the right direction. Yet, something about Dave tugged at her. Maybe it was the sense of danger and the forbidden.
“Annie?” He cleared his throat. “The house hunt?”
“Right.” Just because her head was spinning in all sorts of non-work ways didn’t mean his was.
Her mind shot back to their earlier meeting and the immediate sense of comfort she felt with him. Well, comfort in those moments when she wasn’t panicking about noticing his broad shoulders and that face.
Without another word, he stood up. “Are you ready?”
No, definitely not. Her whole world had started flying apart and she had no idea why. But she tamped down that feeling. She had a job to do. “Let’s go.”