“But I didn’t lock it,” she said between gasps.
“Why would you? You didn’t know…” Tension flooded his body. She knew the moment he’d figured out her plans. Eric pulled his hands away and raised his head. His eyes were an intense blue and he glared accusingly at her. “You set me up.”
Her first instinct was to apologize, but she bit back the words. She didn’t have anything to feel sorry about. “I didn’t think it would go this far, Eric.” She could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. “But a deal’s a deal,” she said, her voice quavering. “I get to be a decoy.”
4
ERIC TOOK A STEP BACK and Julie used the opportunity to scurry off his desk. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered dazedly.
She wondered what he meant as she quickly fastened her bra, not looking at him. What couldn’t he believe? She thought as she hastily tied her dress with fumbling fingers. That she had seduced him?
Yeah, she couldn’t believe it, either.
Eric sat down in his chair, his legs sprawled out as if they couldn’t support him. His shirt was creased, his short hair mussed and his mouth was reddened by kisses.
He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Julie wished she could straddle his legs, rip open the wrinkled shirt and go wild on him.
Eric splayed his arms out. “What the hell?” he asked.
The straddling was obviously going to have to wait. Her skin may still be tingling, but Eric wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.
Julie glanced away, unwilling for him to see the lust shining in her eyes. She belatedly noticed that the sash of her dress was a mess and hurriedly untied it.
She didn’t mean to flash him. She really didn’t.
Eric hissed air between his clenched teeth. “Julie.”
“Sorry,” she muttered and tied her sash in a tangled knot before smoothing her hair with her hands. She knew she was a wreck. Like she’d just rolled around the desk with a hot, gorgeous guy. A guy who was still staring at her as if she were a threat.
No one had ever looked her at like that before. She usually went unnoticed and hated it, but this was uncomfortable. Unsettling. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.
Eric leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, as he pinned her with an intense glare. “How far did you plan for it to go?”
Her face heated. If she told him she had been aiming for a kiss, he’d think she was far too innocent for him. “It wasn’t really a plan….”
“I should have known.” A muscle bunched in his cheek. “Reckless as always.”
“It was more of a—” she waved her hand in the air, her limbs felt uncoordinated and jittery “—vague idea.”
“Vague idea,” he repeated dully. Eric closed his eyes and shoved his hands in his hair. “I could have sworn you were with me every step of the way.”
“I was,” she answered hoarsely. “Several steps ahead of you, actually.”
But Eric didn’t seem to be listening as he shook his head slowly. “If the phone hadn’t rung, I would be deep inside of you right now.”
Julie’s legs wobbled as she squeezed her eyes shut. She easily imagined Eric’s long, powerful thrusts into her. Filling, stretching and driving deep. Julie shuddered and opened her eyes to find Eric right in front of her.
She jumped back in surprise and her legs hit the couch. She struggled to keep her balance as Eric towered over her. It was difficult to maintain a distance when she inhaled his scent.
“You shouldn’t tease a man like that.” His quiet tone was at odds with the fierce energy pulsing from him. “It’s dangerous.”
Julie didn’t feel as if she had been in any danger. She felt as if a present had been ripped from her hands just when she had unwrapped it. Hopeful but dissatisfied.
Eric didn’t look hopeful. He stood close but was careful not to touch her. As if a brush of skin, a simple touch, would crumble his restraint. One word, one look, and he was hers.
Julie’s breath hitched in her throat when she recognized she held this kind of sexual power over Eric. She nervously licked her lips and Eric’s hot gaze followed the movement.
“You’re lucky I stopped when I did,” he said, sounding raw.
“Funny—” she tried to drawl the word as her heart pumped ferociously “—I was just going to say the same to you.”