Chapter One
Just outside Washington, DC
Get over here so I can shove your pants down around your ankles and bury my face between your legs.
Beatrice Paxton stared dumbfounded at the sexy man mouthing those words to her. He did not just say that. No way.
But if he did…
Well. It was a good thing her pants had a lot of spandex in them.
She shook her head, dragging herself out of the unfortunate sexual tailspin just as the man in question stood up from his crouch and lunged in her direction. Instantly, paint pellets came flying from all directions, all bright neon yellow and all aimed right at him. Bea watched as he returned fire, dodging and ducking with impressive agility.
He was like the paintball version of Braveheart.
She wouldn’t lie. It was pretty hot.
Keep it professional, girl, she warned herself.
But she couldn’t take her eyes off him. After all, she was only human. And as a female human, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of beast he might be—probably was—in the bedroom. If he could move that well with all those clothes on, then surely—
Pop, pop, pop.
She heard the guns of the other team firing like crazy and realized she needed to pull her head out of her ass and give the poor man some cover. But the second she eased around the wooden structure, something whooshed past her face—had to have been only a few inches from smacking her right in the eye—and she immediately scrambled back behind the wall.
“I was telling you to cover me while I circled around to that tree over there,” he said with a grunt as he fell down next to her.
After mentally dousing her scorched panties with cold water, she was able to find her voice. “Sorry. Reading lips is harder than it looks.” Understatement.
The man unknowingly rubbing his rock-hard thigh against her hip was Zane Price, COO of Envision Tech Industries. Wealthy bachelor. Badass businessman. Chris Hemsworth look-alike—no joke. But most important? Her potential new client, and a big one at that. Like, early retirement big.
“Bloody hell, I was pointing right at the tree.”
And he was British.
Sexy posh accent and all.
Why she was being punished with so much hotness staring her in the face, yet had to abide by the “look but don’t touch” rule, she couldn’t begin to understand. Life could be so unfair.
“Okay, but that looked like some sort of military code, and I wasn’t in the Marines,” she told him. As he squatted beside her, she took advantage of his turned back and stifled a dreamy sigh. Those broad shoulders…
He turned and looked at her with a knowing smirk. “Neither was I. But I’ve played many a video game in my time.”
She quirked an eyebrow, unable to keep the grin off her face. “And video games translate to paintball…how, exactly?”
He shrugged and winked. “Call of Duty. Champion back in my university days, luv.”
Luv. Oh, the way that sounded rolling off his tongue.
She was almost positive she heard a tiger growling somewhere in her subconscious…or was that her libido? Down, kitty.
Business meeting, she reminded herself.
“Well, my gaming sophistication may never have gone past Donkey Kong and Mario Kart, but I have played a lot of sports,” she said, tossing a few glances around their makeshift structure to assess the rest of the battlefield. “And we need a game plan.”
Part of her wanted to feel ridiculous being decked out in the bulky, protective paintball gear. This was supposed to be a job interview. Envision Tech needed to hire an interior designer for the redesign of their new home store, which was supposed to open in a few months. Bea and her sister, Felicity—co-owner of Paxton Designs—had both been surprised and flattered when they received a call from Zane Price’s secretary requesting a meeting, and Bea had immediately jumped on board.
The next thing she knew, she was running around a field, shooting people.
Coolest. Business meeting. Ever.
Zane Price was clearly not your standard, conventional boss. That was just fine with her. She wasn’t a standard, conventional kind of girl.
He shifted all the way around to face her, his blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. “And what do you propose, Ms. Paxton?”
That deep voice of his made her insides feel like they were melting into her toes.
“See that ditch to the left of the building?” she asked around her suddenly dry mouth, forcing herself to focus.
“Yeah.”
“I say everyone takes up positions there and starts shooting, which will draw their team to take cover behind that hill.” She pointed. “Then you and I will circle around through those trees over there,” she said, moving her finger to indicate. “There’s an opening about a hundred feet directly behind the hill that will give us a clear shot at their backs while they’re distracted by the fire coming from the ditch.”
Price searched the expanse of the field, contemplating. “Which would sandwich them in.”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
He looked back at her with both eyebrows raised. “Not bad,” he said approvingly. “How do you know the opening is there?”
She shrugged, secretly proud of herself that she was impressing him. “I saw it earlier, when the game first started.”
If he had thought for one minute that she would be in any way intimated by him, he was about to be sorely mistaken. Well, truthfully, she was intimidated by him, just not professionally. But getting smacked in the face by movie-star good looks and a magnetic personality tended to be a bit intimidating.
“All right, Ms. Paxton,” Price responded. “We’ll try it your way.” The smirk spread into a full-blown smile, his white teeth temporarily blinding her.
She watched as he worked his way over to another shelter where a few of their teammates were hiding and explained the plan. Seconds later, he was back, approaching her on his hands and knees. It reminded her of the way lions stalked their prey in the African bush.
Definitely a beast in the bedroom. Had to be.
“After you,” he told her, waving a hand out in front of him.
Checking that the coast was clear, she quickly crawled out from behind their cover and dashed for the tree line up ahead.
Pop, pop, pop.
Pellets whipped past her face and sailed over her head as she forced herself to crawl faster. She tried to return fire, but her gun strap was twisted under her and she couldn’t get to the trigger. A familiar rush of adrenaline coursed through her body, fueling her movements.
She lived for stuff like this.
She wouldn’t necessarily say she was an adrenaline junkie. She just liked to be active and push her body to the limit. She didn’t want to admit it, but the fact that Zane Price had chosen this—and that it was clearly his type of thing—was a huge point in his “plus” column.
Breathing heavily but unable to wipe the smile from her face, she reached the edge of the tree line and looked down at herself, taking stock.
“You hit?” she asked him after she didn’t spot any yellow paint on herself.
There was a moment of silence before he murmured, “I don’t think so.”
His voice sounded weird—softer, like he was in a trance or something. She peered over her shoulder to get a good look at him and make sure he hadn’t hurt himself in the scuffle.
But he wasn’t hurt.
He was just staring at her.
Or, more accurately, at her ass.
She wasn’t quite sure how to react. On one hand, she didn’t want to set feminism back fifty years and flutter her eyelashes at him in appreciation. On the other, she wasn’t about to deny that she liked him looking at her with growing lust shining in those baby blues. Because she did like it. In a big, pathetic way.
Bad idea.
“Something on your mind, Mr. Price?” she asked with a note of challenge in her voice.
His gaze flew up to hers, looking all sheepish and irresistible. “Oh, I’ve got plenty on my mind, Ms. Paxton.”
Oo-kay. She didn’t quite know how to take that.
Fighting to keep her voice from squeaking, she replied, “All business, I hope.”
But not really.
Those damn lips of his curved up in amusement. “For some reason, I’m finding that rather difficult. Perhaps a change of scenery will help.”
As she was trying to decipher that cryptic statement, he walked slowly toward her. His eyes never left hers as he came closer and closer, his expression heating when he turned his focus to her mouth.
Holy shit.
Was he about to kiss her, or something?
Should she let him?
On a scale of one to ten, exactly how big of a slut would she be if she let him take her right here on the grass?
That’s a big fat ten right there.
You couldn’t get more unprofessional than that.
Not that she cared at the moment. So she remained in place, waiting for his next move. And just as she was about to make it easier on him and lean back against the nearest tree…he walked right past her. And kept going.
“Ah, yes,” he mused, sounding satisfied. His back was to her as he continued farther into the trees. “This is much better.”
Because you no longer have an ass to ogle?
Although, now she did. As a matter of fact, his was a very toned, very tight ass, all there for her ogling pleasure. The cargo pants he wore pulled enough that those firm muscles were clearly defined through the material as he moved through the wooded area, his movements sleek and fluid like a panther’s.
God, she’d always had a thing for butts.
And Zane Price had one that she just wanted to sink her teeth into.
Yes, this position is much better, thank you.
The sight helped to quash her fleeting disappointment that he hadn’t touched or kissed her.
All of sudden, he paused and bent over to tie his shoe. Unable to peel her eyes away, she stood there transfixed, embarrassingly aware that she was gawking like a mindless idiot.
But come on. It was like eye candy for the horny mind.
Naturally, that was the moment he glanced over his shoulder and caught her staring—exactly as he’d been busted only moments before. He had so done that on purpose. She tore her gaze away and felt her cheeks go up in flames.
Of course, he burst into laughter. The jerk.
“Sorry, luv,” he said between chuckles. “Did you need a moment to collect your thoughts? All about business, I’m sure.”
With as much dignity as she could muster, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down. “You know, where I come from, it’s not polite to address a lady’s embarrassment.”
His laughter died, though the glint in his eyes remained. “And just where is it you’re from?”
“The South. Alabama to be exact. Men down there actually have manners. You could learn a thing or two from them. Aren’t you Brits supposed to be, like, extra polite or something? Gentlemanly, and all that?”
He huffed, a gleam forming in his eyes that she couldn’t quite put a name to. “I can be a regular Prince Charming when properly motivated. Although, if we’re already assigning pet names, I’m partial to being called Master. Lord Sexy Pants also has a nice ring to it.”
She wanted to roll her eyes, but a short laugh escaped instead. “Are you always this insufferable?”
He cocked his hip to the side, looking more attractive than any man had the right to be. “I prefer to think of it as charismatic.”
“I’m sure you do,” she drawled, her southern accent coming out in full force. “But maybe we should at least try to keep things professional. This is a job interview, after all.” And as much fun as she was having with him, it was never a good idea to flirt with clients. Or potential clients.
Okay, maybe she’d flirted a little with this one. But she definitely wouldn’t let it go any further than that. Getting personally involved with a client was at the very top of her list of things never to do.
Followed closely by running a half marathon the day after a Cinco de Mayo pub crawl. True story. Tequila es el diablo.
“Not really an interview,” he said, surprising her. He thrust his arms out. “Does this look like an office?”
She glanced around, taking in the surrounding trees. “No.”
He waved down at his body. “Does this look like a business suit?”
He probably looked damn fine in a tailored suit.
“No.”
He lifted his paintball gun, tipping the barrel toward her. “And this bloody well isn’t a briefcase. Professionalism isn’t exactly one of my strong suits. It’s just us out here. No interview. No discussing projects or expenses. Just me and you talking and having fun.”
That confused her a bit. “Then, how do you know if I’m the right fit for the job?”
A look suddenly took over his whole face. It was something…naughty…and maybe a little dark. “I have my ways.”
Oh, boy. Time to bring the conversation back on neutral ground. She pushed past him, once again taking the lead, with him close on her heels.
“Paxton Designs doesn’t just do residential projects, by the way,” she said, needing to get her mind back on track. “We have a pretty extensive commercial property portfolio, as well.”
His deep chuckle set the hairs on the back of her neck on end.
“I’m aware. I did my homework.”
Of course he did. One didn’t get to be COO without being thorough.
“Without knowing the exact layout of the building—” she began.
“Not an interview, remember?” he said, cutting her off. “No work talk. This isn’t your sales pitch.”
Okay. But she had no idea what else to talk about if work was out of the question.
“What do you like to do for fun, Beatrice? May I call you that?”
She hated her full name.
“Of course.” She took a deep breath. Okay, simple conversation. She could do this. “Um. Well, I like running. And…” Wow, she actually had to think about it for a second. “And playing sports when I can. Going out dancing with my friends. Antiquing with my sister. I just like to be active, I guess. I’m not one of those people who can spend all day binge-watching Netflix. I’d go insane.”
His rich laugh sounded by her ear. He’d moved closer, reaching up to move a branch out of her way when she almost clotheslined herself on it.
“I agree,” he replied. “I prefer sports, too.” Another moment of silence passed, then, “You like to dance, huh?”
Had she imagined that drop in his voice? “Yeah, I do.”
He made some sort of humming noise in his throat. “Got a favorite place you like to go in the city?” She looked back at him questioningly, and he grinned. “I’m still relatively new here. Some suggestions would be nice.”
Ah. She thought maybe there’d been an ulterior motive in the question. Damn. “Well, I like Sapphire, over on—”
She choked over her next words, sucking in a breath as she tripped on a big rock hidden by leaves. Oh, shit. She felt herself plunging toward the ground and prepared for the impact. But instead of the sharp bite of dirt and gravel on her hands, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, keeping her upright.
“Whoa there.”
He pulled her back against his hard chest, his warm breath tickling the skin below her ear. “You okay?”
She couldn’t even remember what had happened before he grabbed her. She just nodded, muttering, “Fine,” and silently reveling in the feel of him wrapped around her. The musky, spicy smell of him permeated her senses, the effects making her dizzy.
His arm tightened. “Falling for me already, huh?” he whispered in her ear.
She swallowed thickly as she felt him bury his nose in her hair, and heard him breathe in deeply. She closed her eyes and imagined turning around and giving in to her sudden, irrational desire for him. Allowing her primal instincts to take over her sensible logic.
“You know that professionalism we talked about?” she murmured.
“Mm-hmm.”
She stepped regretfully out of his arms. “We both really need to work on that.”
She turned around and instantly wished she hadn’t. The look on his face emanated blatant, raw lust from every one of his features—his pursed lips, his tight jaw, his darkened eyes as they roved down her body and paused on her heaving chest.
Damn. Why was she breathing so hard? And popping out with beads of sweat? It wasn’t that hot outside.
He looked like he wasn’t faring much better as he stood watching her intently. His body remained tense for a few more seconds, then slowly his limbs began to loosen and that annoying grin reappeared on his face.
“I will if you will,” was all he said before brushing past her to take the lead again.
For the rest of their journey through the woods, her thoughts were all over the place. They didn’t touch again, and kept conversation neutral until they reached a clearing in the trees. The opening was exactly where she’d said it would be, hidden behind the hill directly in front of them, providing a clear shot at the other team.
“Okay, how about you go behind the hay bales over there,” she said, pointing to her right, “and I’ll take cover behind that rock.” She indicated an area to her left. “We go over at the same time, wait about ten seconds, and then open fire together.”
“We shouldn’t separate,” he whispered back. “Isolating ourselves makes us bigger targets.”
Except they needed to act fast now that they were in place. The rest of their teammates were firing but weren’t taking out a lot of the other players, only distracting them. “Attacking from different positions on this side will further divide them. The more divided they are, the less likely they’ll be able to return all our fire.”
He shook his head. “Trust me on this. Just start shooting on three.”
She swallowed her frustration. She never liked being told what to do, especially by a man. But he was the boss. So, she sucked in her pride and followed his instructions.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.” They both took aim.
“One, two, three!”
Chaos.
They opened fire, blasting the enemy team in the back, spraying them with blue paint. Yellow pellets whizzed past. She could hear the puff of air leave the gun every time one of them fired, adding more thrill to her excitement.
“Good shot!” Price yelled when she nailed an enemy combatant in the chest.
One of the players he was aiming at threw his hands up when three blue paint splotches appeared on his torso. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Glad you noticed,” he responded smoothly.
She got the feeling he wasn’t just talking about paintball.
They swiftly took out two more players, leaving only three on the other team. One of whom she spotted slowly creeping to one side and up the hill, as if trying to sneak up behind them.
Assuming Price had spotted him, too, she shouted, “I got him!”
“What?” She heard him call, but she was already on the move.
She leaped out from behind a big oak tree that was providing them cover and dove for a large boulder. “Beatrice, wait!” he shouted, but she ignored him. She was focused on the guy easing through the grass, seemingly unaware that she had him in her sights.
Her goal was to make it to a fence-like structure about twenty feet in front of her, which would give her the perfect angle to take the dude out. It was going to be awesome, all badass Xena warrior princess–type stuff.
And winning the game for her team, now that would impress the boss man.
She waited for just the right moment, pushing to her feet when she saw her opening. She was zoned in on her target, gun lifting in his direction—and was suddenly flying through the air.
“Hey!”
Somebody had hold of her and they were going down. She braced herself for impact with the hard ground, but landed on a firm chest instead. A chest that smelled suspiciously like…Zane Price.
She was rolled off his body and found herself staring up at his face. He looked kind of angry. Huh. She wasn’t expecting that. She could feel his package grinding against her pelvis, so she certainly wasn’t mad about anything. A package that was quickly hardening, by the way.
“Did you just tackle me?” she asked in bewilderment.
She saw him swallow as his eyes flew over her face. “I believe I did, yes.”
Their position on the ground was far too sexual—not that she was doing anything about it. His upper body was hovering over hers so as not to crush her, but their lower bodies were in close contact.
Very close contact.
She cleared her throat. “Why?”
“Because you were about to become a casualty,” he whispered. “I saved your life.”
“My hero.” She’d meant it to sound sarcastic. But her voice came out a lot huskier than she’d intended.
He noticed.
His eyes darkened in response.
Everything below her belly clenched with need, a reaction that his own body mirrored. She felt him grow thick against her thigh, and though he didn’t say anything, she knew they were both aware of what was happening south of the border.
“And you’re still on top of me, why?”
“Because part of me is quite comfortable here,” he admitted. “And a different part of me is about to be in a world of pain once I move. I’m trying to decide which part I should listen to.”
“Do I get a say in this?”
He gave a small thrust of his hips against her, making her gasp. One quick grind that allowed her to feel the full extent of his manhood in all of its stiff glory.
She was a goner.
His eyelids lowered to half-mast as he took in her reaction. “Do you want a say in this?”
Hell no, she didn’t. She would have been content with letting him take the lead and continue some of that grinding until they both got off in their pants. Like a couple of horny teenagers after the prom. Awesome.
“Well, I feel the need to remind you that we could be working together in the near future,” she managed.
His eyebrow shot up. “Your point?”
“This”—she waved a hand between them—“would be a complication. No need to create an awkward situation.”
The smirk was back on his face as he slowly shook his head. “If sex is ever a complication for you, Ms. Paxton, then the men you’re with clearly don’t know what they’re doing. Trust me, I am anything but awkward in that area.”
Oh, she didn’t doubt that for a second. Beast in the bedroom, remember?
She blew out a deep breath, attempting to slow her heart rate. “Regardless, we should probably just avoid the subject altogether.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t say anything more. He moved to pull himself up, but first, he drove his hips into hers one last time. To make a point? To torture them both? She wasn’t sure, but she was forced to squeeze her eyes shut in order to control her reaction to the pleasurable contact.
By the time they regained their wits and rejoined the game, only one player was left on the other team. They quickly smothered him in paint, winning the game. She had one hell of a competitive nature, so it was a good thing they won. It meant she didn’t have to be grumpy.
Although when she was around Zane Price, she couldn’t imagine being anything but…excited.
And turned on.
“Thank you for inviting me today,” she said a few minutes later as they walked toward the area where they had to return their gear. “My sister and I appreciate the opportunity for Paxton Designs.”
“My pleasure,” he replied. “I’ve learned a lot.”
Her head snapped around, her mind going into panic. At times she had forgotten that he had been vetting her for a job all afternoon. Oh, God. She hoped that little dry humping scene in the grass hadn’t diminished his opinion of her. He had initiated it, sure, but she hadn’t exactly discouraged him.
“And what have you learned?” she asked cautiously.
They stopped a few feet away from the checkout building and he turned to face her, looking like Rambo in his gear, gun in hand. His expression was intense, eyes narrow as they assessed her.
“You’re a problem-solver and like to think outside the box. You’re a leader but don’t always want people to know it. You have a fierce independent streak and you make sure people know that. You’re a little stubborn, but mainly because you don’t like to be proven wrong. You’re smart, perceptive, and you think on your feet. You have the sexiest pair of legs I’ve ever seen. And that southern accent of yours could turn a reasonable bloke into a babbling tosser because he can’t get enough of it.”
She stood there, frozen. Every part of her body was locked down from shock.
Except her vagina. That bitch was practically winking at the man.
“Those last two were personal observations,” he added, “but I still felt they were worth mentioning.”
“You got all that from the last two hours?” she asked, pushing the words out.
He lifted his shoulder in a carefree shrug. “I’ve found that paintball is effective for bringing out one’s true personality. Call it a useful business tool. I’m pretty sure we’re going to hire you, by the way.”
That finally brought her head back down out of the clouds. “What?”
He flashed a dazzling smile at her. “I can’t say that with any guarantees, but assuming the second meeting goes well, it looks like we’ll be doing business together.”
Her heart soared and she wanted to break out in a victory dance. Instead, she calmly reached forward and extended her hand. “Thank you very much. I’m glad I made an impression.”
He grunted in response, which he tried to cover up as a cough. “Oh, believe me, Ms. Paxton. You’ve made quite the impression.” He mumbled something under his breath that sounded to her like zipper impression, but she figured she had just heard wrong.
“I promise, you won’t be disappointed,” she assured him.
His large hand engulfed hers in a firm grip that he held for a few too many seconds. “Wear a tight skirt to that second meeting, and I’m sure I won’t be.”
She leveled him with a narrowed look and, before she gave herself time to think about it, instinct took over. Without a word, she raised her paintball gun and fired two clean shots at his thigh, knowing he would feel the sting.
Silence.
He went as still as a statue, and she immediately began to panic.
Oh, shit. She had just shot her soon-to-be-boss. Or he had been, before that little stroke of genius.
What the hell was she thinking?
Her eyes widened as he pinned her with an evil grin. Crap. She knew what that look meant. She took off at a sprint, darting behind the building where the restrooms were, hearing his heavy footsteps closing in as he gained distance.
“You really don’t want to fight me, luv,” he called in a taunting voice. “Because I’ll win. I saw your accuracy on the field earlier, and I have to say, I’m not scared.”
At that comment, for some absurd reason she giggled like a ridiculous schoolgirl. You’re embarrassing yourself.
“You probably should be,” she shouted back. She peeked around the edge of the building and had to quickly duck down to avoid being hit in the face. “As I recall, the last time my people were at war with your people, we won!”
“That smart mouth of yours is going to get you in loads of trouble one of these days,” came his deep rumble of a reply.
Ten minutes later, she surrendered with her hands in the air and a scowl on her face when she realized it was a lost cause. She was now covered head to toe in blue paint, while Price still only had the two shots to his thigh.
He laughed like a cracked-out hyena when he got a good look at her paint-smeared body. “Aw, don’t be blue, luv. I tried to tell you. Call of Duty has practical purposes.”
She wanted to be mad but couldn’t be. Damn him and his charm. “You’re just lucky that blue is my favorite color,” she grumbled.
“Good to know,” he replied as they walked back toward checkout. “I should probably also know your favorite food, favorite movie, and favorite flower if we’re going to be working together.”
She turned away to hide her goofy expression. “Pretty sure the only thing you need to know for that is my fee.”
“I like to know the type of people I hire.”
After turning in their gear, she looked back at him. He was standing there watching her with his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable. “That sort of information could always come in handy,” he said. “You never know.”
What the hell. “Chocolate ice cream, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and lilies.”
He simply nodded. “My office will call to set up that second meeting. It’s been a pleasure, Ms. Paxton.”
It irritated her that she was looking forward to that so much.
She got the feeling that he was, too.
He walked off, leaving her with a look that seared right through her. That look was like a promise, though she didn’t want to think about what he was promising.
Climbing into her car, she rejoiced that Paxton Designs had just landed a huge client. Nothing was official yet, but they had the account. She was sure of it.
All of a sudden, she broke out in a fit of laughter.
Zipper impression. She’d just gotten it. She shook her head at his audacity, but also had to admire his boldness. It was different.
Refreshing.
And something told her that the fun with Zane Price was only just beginning.