Triplets Make Five

I marched across the room and sat down in the chair. I crossed my legs the way I did before. That should keep him off me for a few minutes, anyway.

He didn’t swoop in. He didn’t do anything. He perched on the edge of the table and smiled down at me. “I think you have the most promise for this job of any woman who has applied. We just need to get the details ironed out.”

I cocked her head. “Like what?”

He leaned closer. “Look, Gabi. I’m not gonna lie to you. I don’t want to go through with this marriage business, either. I think it’s the stupidest idea on the planet.”

“Why are you doing it, then?”

He rolled his eyes toward the door. “My lawyer and PR team made me. Well them and my brother. They say I have to clean up my image and settle down. They say I have to show the public I’m not some womanizing hound.”

My green eyes snapped. “Are you a womanizing hound?”

He bit his lip. “Look. If we’re gonna do this, we better be honest and upfront with each other from the beginning. I can see you play it out front, too, and I appreciate that, so I’ll give you the same consideration. I never wanted to get married. I’m the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind. Shit, that’s what got me into this situation in the first place.”

I cast my weather eye over him one more time. So that’s what this was all about. The love ‘em and leave ‘em kind. I understood guys like that too well.

“Well, it’s not like a real marriage, is it?” I remarked. “It’s just business arrangement.”

He pointed at me. “Yes! A business arrangement. Exactly, and it’s only for a year. Did they explain that to you during the application process? It’ll be over before you know it.”

I glanced down at my own foot bobbing in mid-air. “I don’t know. A lot can go wrong in a year.”

“You said you were desperate. You said you couldn’t get another job.”

I shrugged. “Yeah. That’s the only reason I showed up at all. If it gets me back on my feet, that’s all I care about. I mean, now that I’ve met you, I don’t hate the idea. I thought....”

He inched closer. How did he get so close? God, he smelled good. “What did you think?”

I turned bright red. “I thought you’d be some kind of geezer. I thought you’d be ugly and... you know.”

His voice dropped to a sultry purr. “And what do you think now? Do you like what you see?”

My eyes migrated up his pant leg, past that rounded bulge to the hard abs and chest under his jacket. Yeah, I liked what I saw. I liked it a lot. “I guess it’s not too bad.”

He smiled again and showed me all his bright white teeth. “I like what I see, too. Do you think we might get along all right for a whole year? You wouldn’t get bored with me, would you?”

My eyes widened. “Get bored with you?”

He set both hands on the table edge next to his hips. His eyes made languid circuits over my face and mouth and neck. They dallied down my chest to the spot where my buttons hid my cleavage. “How would you like to go out with me tonight—not on a job interview—just the two of us, you and me? Get to know each other a little better.”

My eyes glided the rest of the way up to his face, and we locked our gazes on each other. “What would we do?”

“I dunno. What do you like to do on a date? We could go out to dinner. I know a couple really nice restaurants. We could go see the fireworks in Times Square.”

“I didn’t know there were fireworks going on in Times Square tonight.”

He bit back a smile. “Maybe there isn’t. Then we could go out to the harbor and take a walk on the pier. That’s a nice way to spend some time with someone you’re trying to get to know better.”

“Are you trying to get to know me better?”

He leaned so far forward his body came away from the table. He murmured into my face. “I’m doing my best. Come on, Gabi. Tell me what you like. Do you like going back to a guy’s place on the first date, or are you more of the kiss and don’t tell type?”

My cheeks burned, but I didn’t gasp in horrified astonishment. I could only sit there and stare up at him. He held me hypnotized with his soft voice and his burning eyes. If he got any closer, his lips would touch my mouth. Then what?

Before I could answer, he put out his hand. His warm fingers landed on my bare knee. They swirled once over my skin. They burrowed just an inch under my skirt hem. He gave my leg a squeeze, just enough to send a jet of burning hot excitement up my legs in between my thighs.

“I don’t like to take a girl home on the first date, either,” he whispered. “I like to give them a good time and take them home wanting more. I like wining them and dining them until they can’t stand it any longer. I like to savor every last little morsel of their delicious company if you know what I mean.”