“Russ, honey, when will you be taking your catfish to the processor again?” Natalie asked with an adoring smile.
“In another two months,” Russ answered simply.
Carly took another sip of her wine, swirled it around in her mouth and wondered if it would taste better as the evening wore on.
Russ went to the podium to present the award for best new business contribution to the community, and Natalie finally acknowledged Carly. “That’s a cute little dress you have on, Carly. I wouldn’t have thought someone with your height could wear that style.”
While Carly tried to decide if that was a compliment or not, Russ returned to the table. Dancing began, and Natalie immediately pulled him onto the floor.
A furrow of irritation crossed Russ’s face, and Carly felt unexplainably consoled. She noticed his warm gaze returning to her throughout the dance. It made her feel attractive, desirable… Carly rolled her eyes. What she really felt was crazy.
“Would you like to dance?” Bob asked.
“Why not?” Carly said with forced enthusiasm.
They shuffled along to the lovelorn song the band played. “She’s kind of overwhelming, isn’t she?” Bob asked.
“Natalie?”
“Yeah. She works for my boss. I didn’t understand why she gave me the big rush about coming to this banquet at first. Now I do.” Bob pushed his tortoiseshell glasses up on his thin nose.
Carly attempted to think of something kind to say about Natalie Conner. Glancing over at Natalie and Russ, she saw the woman press her well-endowed body into him and run her red fingernails through his hair. Carly gave up on saying something nice and switched the subject. “Have you been with National Electronics long?”
“Several years.”
She’d just suggested National Electronics hold their next company social on Matilda’s Dream when Russ cut in.
“You’re not holding up your end of the bargain,” Russ said in a no-nonsense voice as he took her into his arms.
Carly blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re supposed to act like you’re happy to be with me instead of hustling Natalie’s date.”
“Well, Bob’s been a little more accessible. The way Natalie plastered herself against you, I’d have needed dynamite to blow you two apart.”
Carly felt his shoulder muscles tense beneath her hand, but she continued anyway. “Besides, you didn’t say anything about me fawning over you when I agreed to come to this banquet.”
Russ’s voice became very quiet. “If I wanted fawning, I could have Natalie.” His arms tightened, drawing her even closer. “I know it’ll be tough, but for the next few minutes, pretend you find me attractive.”
Her breath hitched in her throat. She wouldn’t have to pretend, she realized. Intellectually, she’d always known that Russ’s body was hard and firmly muscled, but she’d never noticed it as a woman would. In her present position, with her breasts heavy against his chest, her stomach fluttering against his abdomen, and his powerful thighs twined with hers, she was fully, femininely aware of him.
“Attractive,” she repeated in an unsteady voice.
Russ raised her hand to his cheek and nuzzled it. “Pretend you feel possessive about me.” When he lowered his mouth to the vulnerable skin just below her ear and made that same nuzzling motion, her heart jumped into her throat.
“Pretend we’re lovers,” he whispered into her ear.
His words hit her with such force, she would swear both the walls and the floor of the banquet room rocked and trembled. Her knees felt like Jell-O, and her head was cloudier than the sky during an electric storm.
For one brief moment, Carly stared into Russ’s eyes and saw the eyes of a hunter, hungry and predatory. She looked at his mouth and felt an achy emptiness inside her.
Then someone jostled her, and she came to her senses. Heat scored her cheeks. This was Russ.
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked breathlessly. “If you wanted Natalie to back off, you should have picked someone more believable. She’s never been threatened by me.”
“She is now,” he said mildly.
“Oh, yeah?” Carly couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice. “Why?”
“You’ve got me.”
Carly opened her mouth to retort, but to her consternation, no clever words came to mind. She frowned.
The music stopped, and Russ caught her off guard, bringing her hand to his warm mouth. He kissed her bandaged finger. “What’d you do this time?”
A quiver danced through her. She slowly released the breath he’d stopped. “Boo-boo of the week,” Carly said and took another breath. Where had all the oxygen gone? “I had an argument with a paring knife, and it won.” She smiled and removed her hand from his, eager to put some space between them.
Russ guided her back to the table. “I think we can leave now,” he murmured, allowing his lips to brush her ear. “Unless you want to stay?”
Carly resisted the urge to rub away the effect of that distracting caress. Instead, she shook her head.
After a perfunctory goodbye to Natalie and Bob, Russ nudged her toward the exit. When they reached the car, she slumped into the leather seat with a sigh. “Well, tonight won’t have been a total loss if National Electronics starts giving me some of their business.”
Russ revved the powerful engine and backed out of the parking space. “I’m sure Bob will be calling you,” he said none too happily, recalling the interested expression on the other man’s face.
“Good. I’ll be that much closer to my goal,” Carly mumbled and closed her eyes.
Russ’s ears pricked up. “What goal?”
Carly sighed again. “I want to buy out my—” She broke off abruptly and sat up straighter.
“Buy out my what?” He looked at her. She was almost squirming in her seat. “Is it a secret?”
A long silence followed. “I guess it is.”
He didn’t push. From past experience, Russ knew that pushing her was a mistake. “If it’s important to you, then I hope it works out.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her relax slightly.
“It is important. Maybe even vital. And I’ll make it happen or die trying.”
Russ steered the car into a vacant parking space in her small apartment complex. He placed a hand on her delicate shoulder, loving the feel of her warmth and softness. “Well, I wouldn’t want you to kill yourself,” he said with a lazy grin. “But let me know
