She was attracted. That much was painfully obvious. I saw it in the glint of her eye when our gazes met, and I saw it in how readily she obeyed me and sat down.
I had to hold back a smile. The best part was that the natural command I held over people was one of the things she said she’d hated about me in the past, especially because of how much she valued being a driven, independent person. Despite all that, she was just as vulnerable to my presence as everyone else.
“Let me get you a drink,” I offered, not moving my posture an inch as she fidgeted to get comfortable. She was self-conscious, and I knew her mind was racing with ways to try to make herself look confident, composed, and in charge.
It took everything I had in me to hold back a smile. She hadn’t changed a bit.
“Not right now,” she dismissed reluctantly. “Believe it or not, I’m working right now.”
“Really?” I feigned surprise, raising my eyebrows. “That’s a hell of a coincidence. Are you meeting someone here?”
“Actually,” she started, smoothing out her outfit a little, “I’m the owner of this resort. So, in a sense, I’m always working. While I’m here, I mean.” She gave a polite laugh that couldn’t hide her nervousness, and I watched her finger wrap a lock of her long hair around it, twisting it and untwisting it without any thought.
So, she was a workaholic. I suspected as much by her body language, but anxiously bringing up work as the first thing she identifies herself by? That was a dead giveaway. All that tension I could sense in her was starting to make sense.
“Impressive,” I remarked. “So, you took this place over after college, I’m guessing? I always knew you had incredible potential, but I never would have guessed a big investment like this.”
She blushed a little, the validation working its charm like honey on her. “Actually, you’re only half-right,” she explained.
“You always did like catching me that way,” I remarked, leaning back in my chair and smiling smugly at her.
“I did take over right after college, yes.” She trailed off for a moment, pausing to choose her words carefully. She was clearly shuffling through emotions, and for a moment, it was genuinely hard to read her. I found that surprising and intriguing at the same time. Finally, she resumed her guarded smile. “It’s been a challenge, but I’ve never shied away from challenging situations.”
As she spoke the words, she slid forward a little on her chair, and I smiled.
“No, you never have,” I admitted. “That was something I always liked about you.”
We watched each other for a few moments in silence, the shadow of a smile on both our faces. It was like we were fencing, looking for weaknesses in each other’s armor and deciding where to move in and where to give ground.
“What about you, what brings you here?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and letting her curtain of black hair spill off her shoulder. She was teasing me with it, just like she did in college. “Besides offering drinks to your exes.”
I wondered if she remembered the feeling of me holding it tight in my fist while I pounded her from behind, bending her over her bed.
“Admiring my exes,” I fired back, “and insisting that a drink would do them some good, since they sound like they’ve been working hard.”
She laughed despite herself, uncrossing and crossing her legs. “It’s impolite to make at a pass at someone who’s on the clock, you know.”
“You’re the one who came to sit down with me before I knew you were on the clock,” I pointed out. “But I must say, you’re being a better hostess than I could have hoped for.”
“Keep that up, and you might find your suite downgraded,” she retorted, a cool smile on her lips.
“That’s okay, there’s an old friend of mine here who would let me crash in her room. I hear she runs the place.”
Her smile grew, and I decided to try her defenses again.
“How about that drink?” I offered again. “Unless my memory is starting to go already, you take a double gin and tonic with elderflower flavored tonic--subtle, though, not so strong that it’s overwhelming, and you pass on the lime garnish because it makes your teeth feel unpleasant.”
Her long eyelashes fluttered in surprise. “I’m impressed you remember so well.”
“How couldn’t I, Miss Complicated Order?” I teased her, relaxing my posture a little. I watched her shoulders go down a touch, and I could tell she was mirroring me unconsciously. I had her around my finger already.
She playfully feigned an indignant scoff. “Complicated? I remember you trying it once and liking it for yourself, Mister Plain Scotch.”
“And you never gave my scotch the same courtesy,” I pointed out with a smile, and I slid the glass over to her. “Here, if you’ve got something this good on your top shelf, you should at least try it yourself.”
She raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously, smirking. “This doesn’t count as me accepting a drink,” she warned me, and I held up an inoffensive hand.
She picked up the glass and brought it to her lips. I watched her carefully, and the blush she got after meeting my eyes just before the glass touched her lips told me she knew just how I was looking at her. She took a sip of the amber liquid and made a face, shaking her head and sliding it back to me.