Park Avenue Prince(12)

I nodded, fixing my gaze on his chest, his broad, hard chest. What was I doing? How had I ended up in this man’s arms, and why did it feel so good?

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

He chuckled and released my waist. Cool air hit my shirt-covered back and I was pissed that I’d caused him to pull away. “You’ve been dying to since you walked in.”

“How do you know?”

Scraping his fingers through his hair, he took half a step back. “I’m good at reading people.”

“Oh yeah? So what questions have I been desperate to ask you then?” He clearly thought he knew everything.

“You’re trying to work out who I am, and why this apartment is empty. Why there’s a beat-up old couch and a mattress on the floor, yet the closet is full of custom suits.”

I concentrated on the curve of his mouth as he spoke. Each word seemed so deliberate, pushing out of those perfectly full lips.

“Oh yes, and you’re attracted to me, but for some reason you’re fighting it.” He smoothed his hand around his neck. “I’ve yet to put all the pieces together on that one.”

I shivered. Who was he to think he could dip into my brain and tell me what I was thinking, even if everything he’d said was completely accurate? Arrogant but accurate.

“I have to leave,” I said, making my way toward the hallway. “I’ll send the handyman around tomorrow to put the pictures up. I’ve marked exactly where they should go.”

I glanced back to see him shove his hands into his pockets, his smile dimmed. “I meant what I said about wanting you to help me add to my collection.”

“I can’t do that,” I called over my shoulder.

“Don’t let a kiss, even if it was the best kiss you’ve ever had, get in the way of business.”

What a piece of work. Did he just go around flirting with strange women, telling them what a great kisser he was? I stopped at the hallway entrance and turned to look at him. “You think it was the best kiss I ever had?” He might have been right. I couldn’t remember a kiss that reverberated through my whole body the way his had. It’d literally weakened me and made me want more.

“I know it was the kiss of my life. So I’m thinking it can’t have been so bad for you, either.” His tone was teasing and confessional at the same time—it almost sounded like he meant it.

I rolled my eyes in the most obvious and exaggerated way I could. “Do women really buy that?” I turned back to the door, desperate to get out of there. What was I doing, kissing my clients? Wanting to kiss them a little longer?

“I’ll call you tomorrow about the consultant thing. Sleep on it.” That didn’t justify a response. I’d told him no. I was grateful for his business, it meant I could make rent this quarter, but it didn’t mean I should spend any more time with him. I’d kissed him and that was bad enough. Who knew what would happen if I had to work with him more closely?

He could find another art consultant.





Chapter Five

Sam





“You seem distracted,” Angie said, staring at her menu. Despite it being busy, we’d still managed to snag the best booth at our favorite old-school diner in downtown. Angie’s husband was working so we’d used the opportunity to eat out. There was something about the familiarity of this place that kept us coming back. That and the burgers.

I shook my head. “Nope, just hungry. Why are you studying the menu? You know exactly what’s on there. Hasn’t changed in like ten years.”

Fact was, I was a little distracted. Grace had left my apartment yesterday before I’d gotten a chance to organize my thoughts and convince her to become my art consultant. She was beautiful, and I’m sure had her fair share of admirers. I couldn’t figure out what was stopping her from letting go with me.

Angie looked up and set the menu down. “You’re working something out,” she said.

“Stop trying to read me, it pisses me off,” I snapped, waving a waitress over. “Let’s order.” When we were teenagers, Angie and I used to sneak into town on the weekends. We’d walked the streets of midtown, our heads tilted back so we could take in the skyscrapers. I’d always said I’d own one of the buildings one day. So far, I had three in midtown, two in downtown and now my place—my first investment into residential property. After our long walks around the city, we’d always ended up at this diner and ordered a milkshake to share. Those days of daydreaming were how I’d survived—I’d had to believe the future would be better than the present.

“Yeah, it’s not like you do that to me and everyone else, all the time.” Angie rolled her eyes. Grace had made the same gesture when I’d told her she was the kiss of my life.

She’d thought I was trying to seduce her, and she was right, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true. Most people would have asked me straight out why I didn’t have any furniture. Why I was living in 740 Park Avenue but sleeping on a mattress on the floor. And although I usually didn’t give two shits what people thought about me, for some reason having Grace walk around my empty apartment had been a little uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have to explain that I didn’t care about filling my home with lots of fancy furniture, or that I liked my beat-up old sofa and I didn’t need anything more than a mattress on my floor.