The ping of the elevator and voices starting down the hallway finally broke through. She pulled away, still standing in his embrace. He was no longer only holding her neck. His arms were wrapped around her, pulling her against his hard body and she shivered even as she pulled away.
With wide, frightened and confused eyes, Naya stepped out of his arms and turned on her heel. With a grace she’d never known she possessed, she moved down the hallway and into the still open elevators, ignoring the startled glances of the other sales team as they led a group of agents into the other units.
The doors closed but not before she turned and saw Luke’s green eyes watching her. Promising more.
She trembled the whole elevator ride down, wishing she’d ignored the desire to attend the presentation here this afternoon. So what if it had been the talk of the real estate industry for the past two months? Her sanity was much more precious than selling one of the luxurious condominiums in this building.
With shaking fingers, she pushed the button to release the locks on her car. Diving into the driver’s seat, she sat there for several minutes, trying to catch her breath. And her sanity!
Wow! She’d never been kissed like that. She’d dated over the years, but never had she felt that kind of surge of…passion? Desire? Lust?
It was embarrassing. And overwhelming.
“No,” she whispered into the dim interior of her car. “Not going there! That man is dangerous!”
Turning on her car, she backed out of the parking space carefully and made her way back to her small cottage house. She dumped her purse and logged onto her computer. Feeling better, safer, she answered e-mails, set up appointments, and did all of the small things that normally occupied her day.
She felt safer once she was back into her routine.
Unfortunately, for the first time in her life, when she slipped on her walking shoes that night, she also put on a hat and sunglasses. Not analyzing why, she walked in the opposite direction of her normal route.
Perhaps it was that her stomach was still fluttering in a wild and crazy fashion. Or maybe it was just that she needed to be alone, not talk to anyone. Either way, she walked and walked, not stopping, not smiling at anyone. She wasn’t even aware of others moving by her as she walked as if demons were on her heels.
When she stopped and looked out at the barges passing by, she didn’t even see them, didn’t wonder what might be in all of the metal crates that were stacked up six and seven stories high.
All she could think about was that kiss, that wonderful, amazing, crazy, and terrifying kiss.
She never reacted to men like that! She was always the calm and sensible woman that men flirted with but they weren’t really flirting. Not seriously. She was the kind of woman that men thought of as a friend. Not as a lover.
And she preferred it like that.
Relationships were bad news, she reminded herself. She didn’t want to spend her life coming home to an argument because someone didn’t put the toilet seat down, someone overspent on the monthly budget, the dishwasher had to be emptied – or replaced and there was no money to replace it.
Not that there was any relationship potential with a man like Luke Steele, she reminded herself. The man was a player with an enormous number of options to choose from. The women flocked to him and she couldn’t blame them. He was charming and handsome, most likely crazy wealthy, so there would never be any argument over how to replace the dishwasher.
The arguments with Luke would more than likely be about infidelity.
Not that there would be any long-term relationships with that man.
Goodness, she was creating a mess in her mind about something that wasn’t even an issue. She looked around, suddenly noticing the other people milling around on the wide sidewalk. She’d walked all the way down to Pike’s Place Market. She was way out of her normal walking range.
With a sigh, she turned around and…
“Hello, beautiful.”
Naya reared back, startled when the man who had been occupying her mind came closer. Had she thought he was handsome in a suit? Good grief, the man was sex on legs in a pair of jeans that hugged his thighs and a sweater that perfectly displayed those broad shoulders.