“My escort for the weekend. Ethan Knight of Knight Time Technology? I did some Googling and the photos had his hair much shorter than yours but you do look similar.” She glanced up at him with an inquiring gaze.
He blinked in shock. “You’re Sienna–”
“Sienna Dare,” she said with an engaging smile, the red lipstick enhancing her natural beauty. “I had a feeling I was right! You’re Ethan Knight?” Her light laughter sprinkled above the din of heavy voices surrounding them.
“I did my research, too, and you had blonde hair in your photos online,” he mused, taking in the differences now. The black hair suited her. She’d been a beautiful blonde, but she was a striking brunette.
“Surprise!” she said with an easy shrug. “I tend to grow bored and make changes.” Her astute stare swept over him, focusing on his face. “So do you. Your hair is much longer than the one on the KTT website.”
He admired the fact that she was diligent, looking into who she’d be meeting ahead of time, and he extended his hand.
She shook it.
He wasn’t prepared for the tremor of awareness that reverberated up his arm and went straight to his cock. He blinked in shock. Her red lips parted in surprise, letting him know she’d felt the sexual awareness between them, too.
Worse, as those luscious lips parted, all he wanted was to feel that mouth wrapped around his now raging erection. It’d been a year since he’d wanted sex, let alone one particular woman. Why the hell did it have to be this one? Ian Dare had sent her to Ethan to take care of, not fuck. The man was also the most important client Ethan had had in a long time, and that was saying something because all his clients represented multimillion- and billion-dollar deals.
Ian had made it a point of mentioning Sienna wasn’t going back to business school later in life, as many tended to do. No, she was just shy of twenty-four, which made her way too young for Ethan. Not to mention the obvious wide-eyed innocence and appreciation of the mundane that was the distinct opposite of his jaded thirty-one years.
“Mr. Knight?” Her soft voice pulled at him and she reached out, her hand touching his forearm.
Oh, fuck. “Ethan,” he said on a low growl.
“Ethan,” she said, clearly not put off by his gruff demeanor. “I said it’s nice to meet you and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to take care of me this weekend.”
“You’re welcome,” he said roughly. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick you up from the airport. I had an emergency and couldn’t get away. I figured my sister would take good care of you.” He didn’t want her upset with him and reporting back to her brother that he’d bailed.
She waved away his concern, his gaze falling on the red nails that matched her lips. Jesus, was everything about her appealing?
“Honestly it was fine. Ian is a busy executive, too. I’m used to how things work, and I’m good with taking care of myself.”
He relaxed on that score. Ian wasn’t going to come after him for leaving some frightened girl alone in New York City. This woman knew how to take care of herself.
“So how are you enjoying your time in Manhattan?” he asked. He didn’t want to hit her up with her school and career plans right away and scare her off. Ian had mentioned she was hesitant about going to graduate school, so he planned to ease into that part of the conversation.
“I love it!” Her eyes lit up at the question. “Since I had the afternoon free, I took advantage and enjoyed myself.” She blushed and he wondered how she’d kept busy.
“What did you do with yourself?” He wasn’t usually so talkative, but she was easy to be with.
“I don’t want you to think I’m shallow. I’m here for a business school weekend,” she murmured, intriguing him.
“How about if I promise not to judge you?”
She ducked her head, then said, “I went to Saks and had my makeup done, and your sister recommended her hairstylist and I had a full salon day.”
He took in her gorgeous, expressive features, the makeup that defined her brown eyes, and the lips he wanted to devour and appreciated the effort she’d made. He would have liked to compliment her but knew how inappropriate anything he said would be, so he remained silent.
“But I’m not all about the frilly, girly stuff,” she went on to assure him. “I’m honestly interested in your business and what kind of security you’re doing at the stadium. I’d love to know more about why you feel this school is the right place for me and discuss my future,” she said, clearly nervous about the fact that she’d revealed her more frivolous side.