“Do you steal from your office and bring home the good pens?” He smirked. “I do. All the time. Of course, I own the company, so they’re mine anyway, but still. I take them home with me by accident, and my secretary has to order more and complains about people taking them. I never tell her it’s me. I let her wonder and suspect everyone else, because it’s funny.”
She choked on a laugh. “That’s horrible.”
“I know,” he admitted, smiling wider as his heart picked up speed for no explicable reason. “Yet, I still do it.”
Shaking her head, she smiled. That smile?
It lit up the fucking room.
“You’re incorrigible,” she said, but the smile softened the words.
“I know,” he said, shrugging. “And stubborn.”
Snorting, she nodded. “I see that.”
“Tell me one of yours now,” he urged, sitting on the chair that faced the fireplace and the bar on an angle. “Anything. Small. Big. Whatever.”
She stared, and he sensed her retreat before she even took a step. But she surprised him by saying, “I haven’t had sex with a man in a year.”
“How about a woman?” he immediately asked.
She narrowed her eyes on him. “What? No.”
“Just checking. I mean, you did say ‘man,’ so…”
Crossing her arms, she bit her lip. “I like men. I’ve just been too busy with my stuff to date.”
“Me, too,” he said. “But we can be busy and naked together for a few days, on our first and only date.”
She shook her head. “Screw it. Where’s your bedroom?”
Relief and victory crashed through him, giving him a rush stronger than he’d ever experienced before—even stronger than the time he’d cliff-dived in Colorado. “Down the hall, to the left. There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink of the bathroom you just showered in. Help yourself. Your clothes will be here in the morning.”
“Whose robe and toothbrush am I using?”
“Technically, my sister’s, but she’s never actually used the toothbrush, just the robe once.” He paused, frowning at it. “I’m going to have to buy her a new one. She can never wear that robe again or even see it.”
She played with the ties on the robe. “Definitely.”
“You can keep it once we’re done,” he added. “It suits you.”
“I’m basically Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman,” she said, more to herself than to him. “Am I seriously going to do this?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “But don’t worry, I’ll make it worth your while tomorrow.”
She frowned. “But not tonight.”
“Not tonight.”
Shaking her head, she headed for the bedroom. “You’re weird, Taylor Jennings.”
Grinning, he called out, “You have no idea, Sam Matthews.”
Chapter Nine
On a scale of stupid to idiotic, staying overnight at Taylor’s place topped it. Sam’s dreams and goals didn’t include moving into Taylor’s apartment because he’d promised her some pretty amazing sex as a reward. And yet, here she was…
She’d texted her neighbor, who would feed her cat while she was away, and had let her know she’d gone on a spontaneous trip. She’d left out the part about the trip being to one Taylor Jennings’s delicious body. Lifting her chin, she walked out of his bedroom, shoving aside everything that had kept her up last night. He was nowhere to be seen.