Sinful Proposition

“I meant on the mannequin, Remy,” she said with a laugh, though she found his reaction enlightening and encouraging.

He swore beneath his breath and narrowed his gaze. “You are such a goddamn tease,” he said, his tone more exasperated than angry. “I never know what to expect from you.”

She liked keeping him on his toes and getting under his skin. “Keeps things interesting, don’t you think?”

He didn’t answer her and instead exhaled a harsh breath and changed the subject completely. “You said you wanted to discuss business with me. That’s why we came up to your apartment. Not for you to try and seduce me.”

The fact that he felt seduced was a win in her book. “Okay, let’s talk business,” she agreed.

“Not in here,” he said, waving a hand through the air. “It’s too damn distracting.”

“Fair enough.” She led the way back out to the living room and indicated the red couch with black and gray throw pillows. “Want to have a seat?”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. Business, Tempest,” he reiterated in a tone of voice that was al

most growly. “And then I really need to go.”

Since he remained standing, she did, as well, and leaned a hip against the back of the sofa. “So, I’m currently in the market for a building that will most likely need to be completely renovated so that the first level is an upscale bar and the floors above it are fantasy-themed hotel rooms for exclusive guests to enjoy. The place is going to be called Wilder Things.”

His brows raised incredulously. “Are you opening a sex club?”

He was completely serious and she laughed at the glimmer of shock in his eyes. “No, Remy, nothing so scandalous. Just a regular bar, albeit a classy and trendy one, and a boutique hotel that will provide couples with a romantic, seductive getaway without even leaving New York City. And once I purchase the right building, which hopefully will be soon, I’d like to hire Lowell Construction to help design and build out the space. Specifically, I want to hire you.”

“Sounds like a fairly large project.”

“It will be. But if anyone can handle the size and scope, it’s you.” She smiled at him. “I saw firsthand what you did with this building we’re standing in, which was once a run-down warehouse that nobody wanted to touch.”

“It helped that your brother gave me an astronomical budget to work with,” he said pointedly.

“It’ll be the same for this project,” she assured Remy, who was probably already going over figures in his head. “I want the best of everything so the bar is a showpiece and the fantasy-themed rooms are jaw-dropping.” While Wilder Things was her baby and she’d be running the business and making all the design decisions, both her brothers were silent partners, which provided her with the finances to make this dream of hers happen.

“Are you interested?” she asked him.

“Absolutely,” he replied without hesitation. “I’m in the finishing stages of a few sizeable projects, but if you’re able to find the building you want within the next couple of months, I could definitely get our schedules to align and make it happen.”

Excitement bubbled up in her at the realization that the concept she’d envisioned for years was finally falling into place. “Perfect.”

“You can contact me once you’ve purchased the building,” he said, his demeanor, along with the tone of his voice, purely professional. “And on that note, I think it’s time for me to leave.”

Not if she could help it, she thought, and decided to flip the script, to reverse the situation by doing something completely unexpected. She might want Remy Lowell for her business venture, but she desired him for her personal pleasure and she’d made no secret of that fact over the past few years. And before he managed to skip out on her, she figured it was finally time to see if that spark she felt between them could turn into a flame if she dared to turn up the heat a bit.

He was looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to wish him a good night or start toward the elevator as a good hostess would do so he could follow her. Instead, she pushed off the back of the couch and strolled toward the hot, sexy man who’d kept a respectable distance between them during their conversation. She’d never been the kind of modest woman who’d sit on the sidelines waiting for a man to make the first move. No, she was a bold, confident woman who took chances and went after what she wanted.

And she really, really wanted Remy Lowell.

His posture tensed as she neared, as if he was steeling himself for whatever she intended to deliver. Stopping inches away, she tipped her head back to look in his dark eyes that were filled with a mix of emotions. “Remy, do you find me intimidating?” Her question was a deliberate dare, because strong, commanding men like him were not daunted by a self-assured woman, thank God.

He stared down at her, a muscle in his cheek ticking—the only indication that her standing close enough to touch affected him. “No.” He hesitated a handful of seconds, then shocked her by admitting something honest and real. “Truth be told, I find you too fucking tempting.”

His confession made her blood sing and her body heat in all the right places. “And why is that a bad thing?” she countered. “I find you equally tempting. I don’t think I’ve made a secret of that, and if this attraction between us is mutual, why are you trying so hard to resist me?”

“Because I’m all wrong for you,” he said gruffly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “In a dozen different ways.”

She lifted her hand and splayed her palm just inside his unbuttoned tuxedo jacket, right over his rapidly beating heart and his rock-hard chest. She gave him a flirty smile and tried to lighten things between them. “Lady and the Tramp figured out a way to make it work.”

Her comment did nothing to erase the frown on his face. So, she shamelessly slid her hand a little lower, appreciating the six-pack indentation of his firm abs beneath his dress shirt. She could feel the latent power in him in the way he was holding back and shivered at the thought of him unleashing all that aggression and her being the recipient of that dominant force he kept so carefully concealed. And just as she decided to test his restraint and let her hand wander into more interesting territory, he circled his fingers around her wrist and jerked her hand away.

“I don’t live in a fairy-tale world like you do,” he said through clenched teeth, even as he swept his thumb across the pulse point in her wrist. “Do I want to bend you over that couch and fuck you so hard and deep you’ll scream my name?” he asked, deliberately being crude, most likely to offend her, but his words thrilled Tempest instead, tapping into that part of her that wanted to be taken, hard and rough. “Yeah, I think you already know the answer to that, princess, but I’m not your polished and refined prince, and I guarantee that there is no happily ever after with me, so it’s not going to happen. Not to mention that your brother, Maddux, would cut my balls off if I messed around with his baby sister, who is seven years younger than me.”