As the guy inched closer and Sienna took a visible step back, Ethan swooped in. “The night’s about over and, Cooper, isn’t your protégé waving, trying to get your attention?” As soon as the man glanced over his shoulder, Ethan hooked his arm into Sienna’s and walked her away.
“Oh, thank goodness!” she said, laughing. “I thought he would never stop talking. And he was in my personal space and I hate when people don’t get the hint that they’re just standing too close.” She shivered.
Ethan noticed she hadn’t pulled away when he’d slid his arm into hers and begun walking her out of the room. He wasn’t too close, nor did she dislike him in her personal space, and that thought pleased him greatly.
“Tonight went so quickly!” she said as they waited for the elevator. Nobody else was with them at the moment.
“Have you come to a decision?” he asked.
She sighed. “I’m afraid not.”
“Well, there’s still tomorrow. I’ll show you around Manhattan and you can ask me any questions you still have about the Digital Business Strategy program.”
She beamed up at him. “I would love that!”
“For now, though, I’ll see you home.”
She glanced at him, those brown eyes looking as if they could see right through him and read his ulterior motive – wanting to be with her longer. Something he was having a difficult time admitting even to himself.
“You already sent a car for me. I don’t mind grabbing a taxi or an Uber,” she assured him. “And don’t worry. I won’t tell Ian.”
She grinned at her words, but Ethan was very aware of her brother as a factor in how he treated her. But as he looked at her, it was difficult to care much about Ian or the stadium contract at all. His body, his very being, seemed to reach out to hers with both desire and need.
“That won’t be happening. I’ll make sure you get home safely.” He didn’t think she was aware of the fact that he lived in the same building where she was staying, and for now he kept that to himself.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate that,” she murmured.
As they stepped onto the street, Ethan immediately recognized his driver standing beside the limo, and Ethan nodded at Mason, who had been by his side for years.
He slid into the back seat beside Sienna, allowing himself to breathe in her delicious scent without berating himself for the indulgence. She couldn’t see his throbbing erection in the darkness of the car, and she’d remain unaware of her effect on him.
After he walked her to the door and said good night, he’d just have to self-gratify to the thought of her perfect lips, sexy body, and smart brain. The entire package that was Sienna Dare turned him on beyond belief. He wasn’t used to denying himself, but in this case he had no choice. There was nothing more he could do.
* * *
Sienna sat beside Ethan Knight in the back seat of the darkened limo, a mess of nerves and desire. She wasn’t used to feeling either. The man was the epitome of perfection, from the long hair she hadn’t expected, to the light scruff on his face, to the casual way he wore his expensive suit, the white shirt unbuttoned just enough to tease her with his hint of chest hair peeking through. And the way he smelled? All man with a delicious hint of musk.
The guys she was used to from college were boys in comparison to Ethan Knight, and she more than felt the difference both in her body’s reaction to him and in his response to her. Oh, he tried to keep a respectful distance, but she didn’t miss the way his stare zeroed in on hers when she was with other people, how he watched her with interest in his gaze that had nothing to do with convincing her to attend business school in New York City.
She’d had enough half sisters fall in love for her to be well aware of what chemistry between two people was like. And she and Ethan had chemistry in spades.
Shocking sexual desire made her aware of her body for the first time, caused a slickness between her thighs and a yearning she wasn’t going to find easily in men back home. Ethan was intelligent and aloof, qualities that didn’t put her off because of the type of men in the family in which she’d grown up.
In the past, she’d dated, she’d made out with guys, but ultimately she’d kept her distance, at least from any significant relationships, and for good reason. Sienna’s life had always been serious, from her childhood illness to her family drama, and though she didn’t act or live in the shadows, she wanted someone who could handle everything that came along with her.