Rising through the ranks, using her maiden name, had taken guts and hard work...how dare he imply she lacked courage?
Finn’s green eyes were locked on hers. “Let’s think about this logically, Beah.”
Implying that he was always logical and she was not... Grrrr.
“Beah, in three months we are going to be holding the spring sales and auctioning off the Mounton-Matthews collection. The PR is about to go into overdrive and you are going to have a hundred questions for me from about as many collectors regarding the various items up for sale. We both know this is the most important collection to be auctioned in a generation, maybe two. We can carry on exchanging cold, quick emails or we can get over ourselves and try to be friends, establish a working relationship that actually works. We were married a long time ago. Don’t you think it makes sense for us to try to find a new normal?”
Beah suspected he was using the collective “we” when he actually meant her. And it really irritated her that he was acting like the attraction was all one-sided, as if his eyes never went to her lips, to her breasts...pretending he had absolutely no sexual interest in her at all.
Oh, he might be a Murphy owner, might be one of her bosses, but holy crap, he needed a reality check.
She wasn’t riding this roller coaster of lust by herself, thank you very much.
Beah walked over to the bank of elevators, hit the button and waited for the doors to slide open. She could either call him on his statement or she could sit through a drink, maybe two, and make small talk. They could discuss the upcoming auction, art, their clients and what she thought they would be interested in, what the art market was doing these days.
Yeah, they could do that...she would do that. She would not let Finn Murphy suspect she still craved him, that she missed his sexy body, that she occasionally woke up at night, her body flushed, on the edge of orgasm because a naked Finn had visited her in her dreams.
She never missed her uncommunicative, emotionally distant husband, but damn, she did miss her skilled lover.
The elevator doors slid open and Beah stepped inside, conscious Finn was right behind her, his big body dwarfing her. Two couples stepped in after them and then another couple, and she found herself wedged into the corner of the elevator, Finn’s huge body shielding her from the other occupants of the tiny space. Her breasts brushed his chest and her dress flowed over his strong thighs.
Then Beah made the mistake of lifting her eyes upward, noticing the strong cords of his neck, his soft blond stubble. His sexy mouth should be registered as a weapon. Looking into those eyes, edged with long lashes and framed by strong brows, could prove addictive.
He was all man, heat and sex and desire.
Finn’s eyes darkened and his hand came to rest on her hip, his fingers pressing through her dress to burn her skin. His thumb brushed over her hip bone and his eyes darkened, took on a golden hue. He wanted her.
Beah could see it in his eyes, in the way he kept looking at her mouth... Oh, and the hard ridge in his pants was a solid clue, too.
Finn lifted his other hand to hold the side of her face and Beah held her breath as his mouth descended toward hers. She needed to know whether he still tasted the same—sex and sunshine and wind and heat—and she placed her palms on his chest, her fingers curling around the lapels of his jacket. If he didn’t make the connection, she would.
Beah closed the last inch of space between them, standing on her toes to close the gap. His mouth brushed hers and she released a tiny, just-for-him moan. She felt his smile, inhaled his scent and then his lips covered hers, his short beard tickling her lips. Beah felt his hand slide around her to her back, and he pulled her closer so her stomach pushed into his erection. Dizzy from lust and want and need, she opened her mouth and Finn’s tongue slid inside to tangle with hers, heating her from the inside out.
She was lost, in his smell, in memories, in the sheer masculinity of this man she’d never been able to forget...
From a place far away, Beah heard the doors to the elevators slide open, the chatter of guests leaving. She should pull her mouth off his, put some distance between them, but it had been so long and he felt so damn good.
Finn pulled his mouth off hers, half turned, and Beah peeked around him to see a family heading toward the elevators, determined to join them. She needed to get out of here, walk across the lobby and go home.
This was foolish, a special type of stupid.
But Beah couldn’t move, and not only because Finn’s bulk caged her in. She knew that if she gave him the slightest push, if she even hinted at feeling uncomfortable, Finn would back off; he would release her and let her be on her way.
But she didn’t want to go anywhere. Right now, being in Finn’s arms was exactly where she needed to be...
Finn used the side of his fist to hit a button and the doors to the elevator immediately responded, sliding shut on the astounded faces of the family heading their way.
Finn looked from her to the panel and back to her. “Three choices, Bee. I can open these doors again and you can step out into the lobby, or we can go to the bar and have a drink.”
Beah looked up at him, touching the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue. “And choice number three?”
“My room,” Finn said, his voice raspy with need. He placed a finger into the band of the bodice of her dress and tugged. “And the instant you step through the doors to my suite, this is coming off. Everything will come off.”
She shouldn’t. This was such a bad idea, but she’d been a good girl for a long time. “You promise?” Beah asked, dropping her hand to his waist and sliding it under his jacket. She tugged his shirt from the waistband of his pants and she sighed when she finally felt hot skin covering hard muscles.
Yeah, this. Finn.
“As long as you get naked, too.”