his head. “Bride and groom want this thing in the bag. Least we can do since they worked so hard to take care of what we couldn’t.”
“You know, one of my staff could give the okay on this location stuff just as well as I can.”
“Not good enough.”
“Look, Sam—”
“Come with me or the agreement’s null.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I can’t believe you’d stoop so low.”
“Sure you can.”
Avra looked down at the carpet where she stabbed it with the heel of her lavender pump. “There’s something you enjoy about giving me a hard time, isn’t there?”
Appearing to contemplate her words, Sam tapped his fingers to the seductive curve of his mouth and smiled faintly.
Avra felt helpless to direct her gaze away from the gesture.
“I think you’re right,” he muttered.
“That’s a first.”
Any more that she might have said was silenced when his mouth crashed down on hers and he proceeded to kiss her hungrily. Resisting never occurred to Avra. She was determined to find out whether or not his build was credited to great tailoring or genetics.
Quickly she discovered it was all him. Heatedly she participated in the kiss, caressing his tongue over and under as she moaned unashamed.
Eventually it was Sam who pulled back, but only briefly. When he spied the wetness on her mouth, he couldn’t resist another taste of her.
Faintly—very faintly—Avra realized she wasn’t refusing him. She didn’t want to refuse. Sam realized it, as well. Big hands cupping her delicate face, he drove his tongue deeper, craving more of her unique taste.
He ordered his need to cool and broke the kiss, stroking the tips of his thumbs across her moist, swollen lips. He waited until she brought her eyes to his. The smile he directed her way wasn’t gloating, but tender. “I’m gonna have to work on changing your perception of me.” He left her alone soon after.
Dazedly Avra stumbled back to her desk and leaned on one corner. It was some time before her breathing slowed.
Chapter 2
“Damn him.” Avra blurted the words and shoved aside the file she’d been trying to review since she got up that morning.
Memories of the kiss with Sam Melendez that previous afternoon had her mind and everything else reacting to it. How dare he kiss her? How dare she want it? She despised the man, didn’t she? They’d known each other for two years as business associates. Before that she’d known of him. He was the son of one
of her father’s oldest friends. From scores of female acquaintances she’d heard he was built, with looks to die for.
Once she’d officially met him, she realized those accolades were well deserved. But he shouldn’t have kissed her. She shouldn’t have wanted it and more still after he’d walked out of her office.
The fact that he wanted her in his bed was no secret. He’d been up front about that from a few days after they’d first met to work on the Machine Melendez account with the Ross Review.
Avra cursed again. She had railed too long and too hard against strong, commanding men to give any part of herself to the likes of Sam Melendez. Strong, commanding, chauvinistic, politically incorrect men like Sam Melendez, she added. If he was simply one of her many male friends, she could find amusement in his lack of decorum and sexist nature. As it was directed toward her and he was ever so confident about taking her to bed, those less than admirable traits of his only grated more heavily on her nerves.
She stooped to the floor and began to collect the papers from the Wade Cornelius file that were scattered around the settee in her living room. She wondered if Sam knew how much of her hard-hearted approach was an act. It was unfortunately the only way she could ignore the way her body reacted to his presence and all the other things he did to get under her skin.
Sadly she’d devised no other method for resisting a reaction to his touch. If yesterday afternoon was any example, she was in serious trouble if he did that again.
Closing her eyes, she settled back against one of the settee’s claw-footed legs and surrendered to a delicious shiver that raced through her body then. To no one else would she admit how very much she wanted him to kiss her again. When the phone rang her out of her daydream, Avra snapped to and decided that was the last thing she should be wanting.
Papers gathered though haphazardly arranged inside the manila envelope, Avra put the file on the settee and went to answer the phone. She laughed, noticing the name on the caller ID and cheerfully greeted her soon-to-be sister-in-law.
Setha Melendez sounded equally cheerful on the other end of the phone. That was to be expected, of course. Still, Avra felt the need to interrupt some of the cheer when Setha kept going on and on about the fun they were going to have when she came to stay at Sam’s place.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Well, I… Well, it’s all set for you to come and stay here for the shower party.”
“Setha…who told you that?” Avra didn’t need the answer. She already had it.
“Well, Sam said it was pretty much a done deal. Humph,” Setha grunted, understanding the problem all too well. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just don’t expect me out there.”
“Uh-uh. No way, Av,” the bride snapped. “I’m sorry Sam didn’t tell you, but you can’t back out now.”
“Why the devil do you need me there?” Avra massaged the curls that tapered at her neck while pacing the short distance between the settee and the phone table. “You’ve got tons of friends—have one or all of ’em stay out there with you. Sam would love that.” She grimaced over the thought.
“Don’t bank on it,” Setha muttered.
Avra stopped pacing. “Honey, what are you up to?’
“I’m hoping you can take Sam’s mind off whatever’s got him so edgy.”
Avra had to laugh and it felt good to relieve a bit of the tension she struggled with that morning. “Honey, he’s edgy over me, as usual.”
“Avra, I honestly have no clue how he feels about you. I’m not so quick to say his feelings are bad, though.”
There was another quick flash in Avra’s mind about the kiss. The way he felt next to her—the way his mouth felt on hers, his tongue… She shook her head and quietly told herself to forget it.
“Besides, we can talk about the contract while you’re here.” Setha made the comment regarding the contract detailing the advertising renegotiations between the Ross Review and Machine Melendez airily enough but couldn’t completely dismiss the urgency from her voice. “You can review it once more to be sure we’re all on
