Tempting the Billionaire (Love in the Balance 1)

Outside on solid ground, the night air welcoming and cool, Crickitt sucked in a quiet, clarifying breath. Shane easily kept pace, his long legs eating up the same distance in half the steps. He reached for the door of the limo and popped it open, gliding his palm along her back again as she slid inside.

If he made her body hum by raking her with the briefest touch, what could he do if he really took his time? She clambered inside, straightening her curls and her clothing in one nervous gesture after the other. Shane climbed in and sat beside her, at a respectable distance, but still, too close. Heat leaped to the surface of her skin, burning her cheeks, flushing her neck and chest.

His aftershave had long faded, but the crisp fragrance of his laundry soap combined with his pheromones mingled in her senses. Twice she heard an intake of breath and twice she turned in anticipation, but each time his breath ended on a sigh as he focused on the landscape whizzing by the window. Crickitt spent the remainder of the ride staring out her own window, the dead air between them stifling.

The limo door opened in front of her apartment. Shane got out first, offering Crickitt his hand. She took it, shuddering as his long fingers grazed her bare flesh.

“I’ll walk you up,” he murmured, taking her canvas bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

Heart thundering in her chest, she fumbled with the keys, grateful to have something in her hands. At the door, it took all of her willpower to keep the key steady as she pushed it into the lock. She could feel Shane standing behind her, the heat radiating off his big body surrounding her like an embrace.

Finally, the key slid home and she turned the knob. If she faced him, he’d see every ounce of desire on her face, every bit of longing reflected in her eyes. She kept her back to him and focused on opening her front door. “Thank you for dinner.”

But he didn’t let her get away with it.

“Crickitt?”

She took a deep breath, tried to mask her expression in nonchalance. But when she turned, she found Shane close enough to touch, his face bathed in the pale porch light, his perfectly formed mouth edged in a day’s growth. Moving her eyes from his face didn’t quell the urge to devour him where he stood.

His suit was creased, his collar open, giving her a generous view of his bitable neck. His tie, harmlessly dangling from his jacket pocket, filled her head with fantasies she’d never had before.

Tempting. The word echoed in her ears, making her wonder how long Eve was able to resist before caving in and sampling the apple.

She finally managed to dredge up her voice. “Did you forget something?” she asked.

He scanned her face, his nostrils flaring. Her heart sped and she sucked in a breath and held it, waiting for his answer.

“Now would be the perfect moment,” he said, leaning a palm on her door frame and causing her to press her back against the door, “for me to say yes.” He reached out and toyed with a button at the top of her shirt. “And kiss you good night.”

Her fingers convulsed around the doorknob.

Please. Please do that.

“But…” He pushed away from her, his fingers leaving her shirt. “I wouldn’t want to be the first to break our pact.”

“Our pact?” she squeaked, her voice tight with longing.

Shane stepped away, and Crickitt’s breath left her as if he’d taken it from her lungs. The moment evaporated, lost in the span of that single breath. Shane handed over her bag and she took it, unable to hide the shake of her fingers.

“Let me know,” he said, watching her as he backed down each of her porch steps, “if you want to revisit that agreement.” Rolling one shoulder, he added, “Make an amendment.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it ineffectually. At the moment her muddled brain couldn’t recall what, exactly, an amendment was. She knew it had something to do with the Constitution.

At the limo, Shane tortured her with one final sexy grin before sinking into the limo. “Sweet dreams, Crickitt,” he said, then shut himself inside.

When her brain sent the message to her hand to wave, the limo had pulled out of her street and disappeared behind a thatch of trees. She wrestled her keys from the knob and shut the door, pressing her forehead into the solid wood until it ached.

Let me know if you want to revisit that agreement.

She pushed herself upright and let out a groan that sounded like a mix of longing and defeat. Trudging to her bedroom, she tossed her bag aside and collapsed onto her multicolored comforter.

She should be relieved. There were a hundred reasons why getting physically involved with her boss was a bad idea.