wrong. Tessa Monroe didn’t fall for any man. Especially not one so used to stepping over the bodies of his groupies to welcome the next conquest.
Who cared if he was the sexiest man she’d ever met in her entire life? The promise of incredible sex would never be incentive enough to give any man the kind of power Gabriel demanded with a single look.
“Three in the side,” she muttered through clenched teeth.
Hell, she made her living understanding the influence of sex appeal. The lure of engaging the opposite sex. The delight of flirtatious interplay. She was an expert. Well, sort of an expert.
At least expert enough to know that this...
She took a deep breath, trying to shake off the needy feelings clutched low in her belly as she attempted to put a name on whatever it was she felt.
This thing she was feeling for Thorne was just a chemical reaction. Not a big deal. After all, sexual sparks were as easy to come by as a good Wi-Fi connection. All it took was tapping in to the right signal, a password or a clever hack and voilà. A world of possibilities, right there at a girl’s fingertips.
Tessa straightened, leaning on the pool cue as she inspected the table. The sound of laughter and chatter filtered through her focus, reminding her that the cocktail party was heating up in the rooms beyond. Figuring she had another three, maybe five minutes max before she’d be missed, Tessa bent low again, planted her feet in their five-inch heels and arched the small of her back in order to see the shot she wanted.
“Seven, side.” The words were barely a breath of air as she took aim. As the ball spun toward its target she felt a little more of her tension ease and control reclaim its place in her body.
She’d simply forgotten his appeal over the past five months. Out of sight and all that. Which was proof enough that she had nothing to worry about. If she could so easily dismiss a man’s sex appeal—and, oh, baby, did he ooze sex appeal—then he clearly wasn’t a threat to her peace of mind.
By the time she’d lined up the ten ball, Tessa’s nerves were as rock solid as her aim and her mind calm.
All she had to do was remember that she was in control. She didn’t have to make changes at the magazine if she didn’t want to. And as for Gabriel? Well, there wasn’t a man alive who’d gotten the best of her. So why should this one be any different? Before her mind could begin a litany of warnings of why he was already different, she took aim and sent the cue ball sailing.
Just because he oozed the kind of charm that promised to leave her grateful when he broke her heart didn’t mean she was going to let him. Silly man; he had no idea who he was dealing with. If he did, he’d know what every man had ever said about her since she’d turned fifteen was true—that Tessa Monroe’s body might be hot as hell, but her heart was as cold as ice.
Ice, baby, she reminded herself with a chilly smile.
By the thirteen ball, she was comfortably confident again. Damned if she wouldn’t enjoy putting Gabriel Thorne back in his place, she decided. She knew plenty of women who’d want a man like that at their feet, who’d want to make him into a pet just to prove they could. Not Tessa. If she wanted something slobbering on her feet, she’d get a bulldog. Nope, the only place for a man like that was away from her. Far away.
Back in control, enjoying the inner peace that came with it, Tessa added a little hip wiggle to her next shot, letting her body zing with the delight as the balls cracked together.
“There’s nothing prettier than a woman who’s mastered the art of body English.”
Damn it all to hell.
Tessa’s heart jumped. She couldn’t stop its silly reaction, but she made sure it didn’t show. She didn’t straighten. She didn’t let her expression change. She simply lifted her gaze from the soothing expanse of green felt to the disturbing view on the other side of the pool table.
Dear lord, Gabriel Thorne took tall, dark and handsome to unbelievable lengths. From the broad expanse of well-muscled shoulders to the tips of his size-fourteen boots polished to a high gloss, he exuded strength. The sharp angles of his face, with its knife-edged cheekbones and golden skin, contrasted against hair so black it gleamed blue, and his eyes were just as dark.
Why did he have to be so freaking perfect?
Good-looking guys were a dime a dozen. Tessa was so jaded that sex appeal barely registered anymore. Power? It still inspired a little ping of sexual awareness in her belly but it was easy enough to ignore if she wanted.
But all three in a single man?
Almost irresistible.
Almost.
Gabriel Thorne, or Romeo as he was more suitably called, had one irredeemable strike against him.
He was actually Chief Petty Officer Gabriel Thorne.
US Navy SEAL.
Her stomach churned.
And the only thing higher on Tessa’s off-limits list than a military man was a man so dedicated to the military that he devoted his life to becoming the best in order to serve in it.
“I came in here for a little privacy,” she finally said, slowly straightening. As she did, she knew the draped neckline of her dress gaped, most likely offering a clear view all the way down to her skimpy pink panties. She reluctantly gave Gabriel credit when his eyes didn’t shift from her face. Most men—no matter how well intentioned—couldn’t resist a peek at the goods. “Why don’t you be a doll and give it to me.”
She waited for him to barge through that opening with a tasteless comment, actually hoping he would so she could find a solid, pinpointable reason to dislike him.
Because the excuse that he made her edgy wasn’t working very well.
“C’mon, angel, don’t you want to say hi after all these months?” he invited, his palms wide as if to invite her to c’mon over and do just that. Probably by wrapping her legs around his hips and planting a hot, juicy kiss on him. Or maybe that was just her little fantasy hello.
“That’s the funny thing about distance. It doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder,” Tessa mused, leaning one hip on the pool table and swinging her foot. The move hitched her short skirt a little higher on her thigh, catching Romeo’s eye. This, apparently, was on his approved list to ogle because his gaze heated as it skimmed over her smooth skin from the edge of her skirt to her hot pink toenails and right back up again.
“Now you’re going to break my heart,” he teased when his eyes met hers again. “Are you trying to say you didn’t miss me?”
Despite his almost overwhelming appeal, Tessa was able to say quite honestly, “Nope, sorry. I didn’t at all.”
He gave her a long look, his eyes dark and almost spookily intense, as if he had some sort of power to see into people. Tessa lifted her chin, daring him to accept what he saw.
And waited, as her stomach clenched, to hear his opinion.
“I never took you for the type who hid at a party,” he said instead, leaving Tessa to ignore the weird disappointment clenching her belly. “If I’d have had to
