“I promise, you won’t regret this.” She let go, gave him a quick grin, and hurried down the hall.
His lips tingled as he watched her go.
It took him less than two days to regret the decision. Not because the plan they were preparing to put in motion wouldn’t work, but because he hadn’t considered how distracting it would be to work in such close proximity to her for hours each day.
He couldn’t keep his eyes off her when she was in the room, and couldn’t stop thinking about her when she wasn’t.
He was screwed, and the hell of it was, he wasn’t entirely sure he cared anymore.
Chapter 19
The week proved to be nothing short of pure torture.
By Friday morning, Gina had completed most of the great room decorating in between helping Dean and Mike lay the groundwork for their offensive against Jackson. It wasn’t the work of transforming the empty echoing cavern into a warm, welcoming place for family and friends to congregate around the fireplace that had been so trying. Nor was it the labor of diving back into software design.
Nope. It was all Dean.
She sat at the conference table in his office, thinking about the time they’d spent together over the past week when she should’ve been focused on the computer work in front of her.
He’d reverted back to the guy who’d dared her to fix that first kiss. In his office, he’d lean over her shoulder to look at her notes, giving her a lungful of heaven while the mere touch of his hand on her shoulder sent tingles to her toes. Then there were the long, leisurely, hot looks he didn’t even bother to hide—like his sensual perusal during his trip to the kitchen for more coffee while she hung Serena’s mountain landscape on the tall wall by the stairs. She’d swear she felt his eyes tracing the line of her body.
All those light, teasing finger grazes and countless heated glances built her level of anticipation to a nearly unbearable level.
She was ready to combust, primed for physical contact in a way she’d never imagined possible, and what did he do?
Nothing.
Nada.
Not one move to kiss her, or fan the smoldering embers into a full-blown explosion—not even when she decided to fight fire with fire.
Since she’d initiated a couple of her own ‘chance’ touches yesterday, things had gotten so intense, she was actually relieved he and Mike were gone this morning. With the two of them at the company offices in Boulder for
the day, she could work at the conference table without the coiled knot of awareness tightening her muscles whenever he was in the room.
Especially since she’d be working in his bedroom later this morning. His new furniture was scheduled to arrive, and she needed to pack up his clothes so she could bribe the delivery guys to move the old bed and dresser to the room down the hall before moving the new stuff in.
Lord knew if Dean showed up to see how things were going, she’d probably tear off his clothes and toss him on the bed herself.
No, she wouldn’t dare. She was too chicken.
But it was fun to imagine the look on his face if she did. And what would happen after. She paused, propped her chin on her palm, and closed her eyes as she let her imagination have a little fun. When her body started thrumming with anticipation, she opened her eyes and pressed her hands to her heated cheeks.
Liz appeared in the doorway of Dean’s home office, making Gina jump at the conference table as if she’d been caught naked.
“What time did you say the delivery truck is coming?” the redhead asked.
“Ten.” Gina glanced at the clock and closed her laptop. “Shoot, that gives me a half an hour. I better get upstairs.”
“At least it’s before the storm is supposed to hit.”
A national weather advisory had been issued that morning. With a cold front pushing the temperatures down, freezing rain and sleet were predicted, with up to a half-inch of ice accumulation. Power outages were likely, and they’d warned everyone to get where they needed to be and stay off the roads after three. She planned on leaving by no later than one, just to be on the safe side.
“Are you going home early?”
“Probably by noon. I don’t have a lot to do today, so maybe even sooner.”
“Any fun weekend plans if the ice allows?” Gina asked as she grabbed her water bottle and started for the stairs.