The Allure of Julian Lefray (The Allure #1)(16)

This is work.

I shifted on my heels, waiting for the inevitable turn of the door handle, but my knock went unanswered. I leaned forward and pressed my ear to the door? listening for any sounds of life. Nothing.

I hummed and turned in a circle, trying to figure out if maybe I’d knocked on the wrong door. A quick glance at my phone confirmed that I was at the right room number, so I knocked again and waited.

Still, no one answered.

I was debating whether or not to head back down to the lobby when a cleaning woman turned the corner, pushing her cart of supplies in front of her. She was humming along to the music playing from her headphones and nodding her head back and forth. Her dark brown hair had touches of gray springing up around her temple and her uniform stretched across her hips as she walked.

When she looked up and saw me standing there, she paused and narrowed her eyes. Her gaze slid from my head to my feet and then she shook her head and kept on pushing her cart toward me.

“Mhhmm.” She tsked as she approached me. “These hoochies think they’re gonna catch them a rich man by fishin’ in hotel rooms. Shoot, this one’s early, not even close to noon yet.”

“Uhh, ma’am?” I said timidly, trying to make her aware that I could hear every single word she was saying.

When our eyes met, she pursed her lips and propped her hand on her hip.

“You’re better than this, honey. Go on down to the lobby and get some coffee. Go find you some Jesus.”

My eyes widened. What did she think was going on?

Oh.

Oh.

She definitely thought I was a prostitute.

I glanced down at my fitted wrap dress and kitten heels. Sure, the neckline of my dress wasn’t exactly a turtleneck, but I’m not a freaking nun. I’m allowed to show my clavicles for Christ’s sake.

“I’m here to meet Mr. Lefray for business,” I explained, offering her a smile to let her know I didn’t take offense to her judgment.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s business all right. Oldest business there is.” She tsked again, moving on along the hallway past me.

I opened my mouth to set her straight just as I heard Julian yelling in his hotel room.

“I’m coming! I’m coming! Sorry!” he called.

His hotel room swung open, and a second later I was greeted with the most beautiful view of my entire life: Julian Lefray naked. Well, naked except for an itty bitty hotel towel wrapped around his waist. He could have been the Eighth Wonder of the World. Every single inch of his defined arms, chest, and abs were right there for me to see. Tan, toned, and still dripping wet from his shower.

My mouth fell open.

“You’re early,” he said, his hazel eyes widening.

“You’re naked,” I replied.

I blushed the moment the words left my mouth. A quick glance to my left confirmed that the cleaning lady had stopped pushing her cart and was standing there gawking at the two of us.

“Ah, sorry,” Julian said with a bemused smile aimed at the maid. He didn’t even know the effect those dimples had on my girly parts. One word: Ijustgotpregnant. Yeah, that’s one word.

“Well it’s clear you two have business to attend to,” she said, wagging her finger at him and stepping closer.

“Oh jeez.”

I huffed out a breath and pushed past Julian into his hotel room before the woman could start giving me pamphlets from her church.

Our shoulders brushed as I stepped past Julian and I inhaled the scent of his body wash: clean, masculine, fresh. It was just what I’d expected and the last thing I needed as I tried to piece together my resolve.

“I swear this isn’t how it will be,” he said, closing the door behind him and holding his hands up in an innocent gesture.

I dropped my laptop bag on a lounge chair in the suite’s living room and then spun around to face him.

Abort! Abort! Staring at him when he was only wearing a towel was not good for my sensibilities. Before I could help myself, my gaze followed the contours of his chiseled torso, down over his abs, until I found myself staring at his hand gripping the towel right in front of his crotch.

Welp, I just stared at my boss’ crotch for like a solid ten seconds. That’ll help the situation. I gulped and looked away.

“I really thought we would have an office space by now,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it, I understand,” I said, admiring the fine art on the hotel room walls. Yes, oh how very nice. I love sailboats. They’re much better to look at than Julian’s naked torso.

I saw him run his hand through his damp hair out of the corner of my eye and then he took a step forward.

“I worked out a little longer than usual so I’m running a bit late.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Okay, well…” I waved my hand to silence him. I was two seconds away from embarrassing myself, and I really needed to prevent that from happening. “It wasn’t that awkward before, but now we’re just standing here talking and you’re wearing nothing but a towel, so maybe you should go get dressed already.”

“Right.” He laughed, then spun to head into his room.

“Make yourself at home!” he called as he shut himself in his room.

Only after his door was closed did I let my eyes wander around his space. It was remarkably tidy for a single guy’s hotel room. No pizza boxes or beer cans littered the floor. A half-read New York Times sat beside an empty coffee cup on the living room table. He’d even taken the time to refold his newspaper as neatly as possible.