Was Cole Crawford flirting with her? She wasn’t looking for it, had never expected it, so it would come as a bit of a shock…but the signs were all there.
The way he’d angled his big, broad shoulders toward her to totally focus on what she had to say, as if he planned to do nothing but listen.
Or how his gorgeous eyes held her gaze just a moment longer than necessary. Then there was the teasing about finding dirt on him.
Cole had teased her when they were in high school, but it hadn’t been like that. Sensual. His voice had never lowered, his glance never flicked to her lips as his playful actions elicited shivers down her back.
“Oh, I’m sure you could find something.”
Her nipples hardened. He’d accepted the challenge.
A young woman, who looked fresh out of college, knocked on the open door of the conference room.
He reluctantly looked away from Jessie. “What’s up, Penny?”
“Bad news. Nicole wanted me to let you know our guest for to day’s show just bailed. So should we do another Eve chat?”
“Eve chat?” Jessie asked.
“That’s when Eve walks into the audience and they ask questions and chat,” Penny explained.
“You’re kidding! That’s what you do when someone doesn’t show up? I figured those shows were only aired on Fridays.”
“We also work them into the schedule when this comes up. You never know when a guest will cancel at the last minute.”
Jessie sat back in her chair. “Wow, you’d never guess that. Eve seems so natural.”
“That’s why she’s so good at her job,” Cole told her.
“So, what do you want me to tell Nicole? Go with the Eve chat?”
Cole glanced Jessie’s way, and her shoulders suddenly tensed. She knew by the change in his expression, the speculation that entered his hazel eyes, that he was contemplating asking her to fill in. Being on TV seemed like a great idea, but at such short notice? And on only a few hours’ sleep?
Contemplating the purchase of a vehicle GPS location tracker when the new money started rolling in was all fun and games until the reality of appearing on TV hit her. She could look a total fool. She could babble. She could freeze. Something could be hanging from her nose and she wouldn’t know, but everyone else in Atlanta would have seen it. Who would hire a P.I. who had stuff coming out of her nose?
Jessie took a deep breath. She grabbed the Coke can and swallowed a large mouthful of pop.
“You up for being our guest today?” Cole asked. His eyes held a daredevil challenge.
No. “Sure,” she said with a forced shrug. She wanted this. Her business needed this. She had never backed down from anything in her life, and she wasn’t going to start now. She’d just make certain she looked in a mirror before stepping in front of a camera.
Jessie straightened her shoulders and placed the Coke can on the conference table with resolve. Sure, being in a situation where she could humiliate herself and have it remembered for years to come, not to mention bring shame to the Huell family name, was a possibility…so why would she want to turn that down?
“I’ll tell Nicole,” Penny gushed.
Jessie turned toward Cole. “I’m looking forward to it.”
A slow, sexy smile spread across his face. “Thought I might have lost you for a minute there,” he said.
Hmm. She was usually pretty good at schooling her features. In fact, she was proud of her ability to hide from people what she was thinking. And feeling. Was she slipping?
Or maybe Cole could read people a lot better than she’d given him credit for. She’d have to remember that.
“I’ll take you over to makeup.”
Cole stood and escorted her down the hall. He’d grown taller since the last time they’d walked side by side. His shoulders were broader, too.
So many things had changed since he was her high-school fantasy.
Lines fanned from his eyes, indicating he still liked to laugh. But deep grooves circled his lips, proving he’d experienced some of life’s harder times. And what had happened to his wife?
With no other obstacles in their way…
Would this be Jessie’s chance?
Her chance to finally touch him, kiss him, be with Cole the way she’d wanted to since she’d first seen him on that loud, rusty motorcycle her dad had hated so much.
No. No, for some reason she liked her fantasy and wanted to keep it intact. Knowing Cole’s true flaws would be a letdown. And every gal needed at least one unattainable dream to make life interesting.
“Do I have time to run home and change? I wasn’t expecting to be on the air today.”
His gaze scanned her body. Her skin heated as it moved from her face, down her neck, to linger on her chest. Her nipples began to bud and her stomach tightened as his eyes moved lower. And lower.
All the green was gone from the hazel when his eyes met hers once more, betraying a raw desire. “You don’t need to change,” he said, his voice low again and husky. With a nod, he indicated the door marked Makeup, then he turned and left.
Jessie leaned against the wall as she recovered from her body’s reaction to the lust in his eyes. The fast heartbeat, hitch in her breath, the perspiration…they were all there. And suddenly she realized she was wrong.
Maybe knowing the real Cole would be more than enough. More than enough to give up on her fantasy man. With a smile, she headed into the makeup room.
Fifteen minutes later, she was sitting in the makeup artist’s chair, trying to hold her tongue. It was hard. Jane’s nonstop talk about her new boyfriend had put Jessie at ease, but it took everything she had not to blurt out her typical warnings. “You hooked up in Vegas?” “How easily can you replace that wall between your two condos?”
Ordinarily, Jessie wouldn’t have anything in common with the fashionable blonde, but Jane was obviously so happy and made her feel so comfortable, she couldn’t help but like her right away. But Jessie hated to see anyone’s heart stomped on, so she thought maybe just one small word of caution about men would be in order.
She’d have to break her in easy. Maybe start with a quick suggestion of a simple Google search before she moved on to credit checks and criminal background reports. “Do you have a computer at home?”
With a flick of her wrist, Jane spun the chair so Jessie could finally see herself in the mirror.
And she forgot all about tips on securing a man’s social-security number. “Wow.” She moved her head from side to side. “I have cheekbones.”
Jane laughed. As if she had this kind of response to her abilities every day, but still loved it.
