“I can’t quite make out the scent.”
“Cologne?” He said it as if it were a cussword, prompting her to look at him again. He was fiddling with a window, and her gaze went straight to his butt. The man filled out a pair of jeans quite well...both front and back. “I wouldn’t wear that crap if you paid me.”
That snapped her out of her preoccupation. “Well, that’s a problem.” She really did need to lose her jacket before she passed out from heatstroke.
“How so?” After forcing the window open, he turned to her, his gaze lingering on her breasts as she struggled out of the blazer.
She could hardly object after staring at his ass. Which she unabashedly did again when he bent to bring two beers out of the fridge. He twisted off the cap and held one out to her.
“No, thanks. Water or iced tea would be great, though.” She glanced around for a place to hang the jacket, then just draped it over the arm of the couch.
He’d exchanged the unopened beer for a bottle of water that he passed to her. While she took a sip, he tipped the beer to his lips.
“Take the couch,” he said, straddling a chair at the table. “Stick to the right side. There’s a lump on the left.”
She twisted around to check it out before she sat.
“It’s clean.”
“That’s not what I was—” She sighed and sank into the cushion. This was the good side?
“You wanted to talk. I’m listening.”
Lexy met his watchful eyes. They seemed darker now, more green than gold, and for all his easygoing manner, she had the impression that he missed very little of what went on around him.
“I have something I need you to do. We,” she quickly amended. “The Worthington Group.”
“My contract was with Sundowner.”
“Your contract is actually with the holding company, and we have you for ten more days.”
“Ah, you own my ass I believe is how you referred to my indenture.”
Lexy smiled at the term he’d chosen. He possessed his own brand of charm and she could see why women found him attractive. Perhaps this silly errand wouldn’t be as big a pain as she’d expected. “Yes, that might have been an overly ambitious statement. However, it seemed appropriate at the moment.”
His slow grin made her heart speed up. He took another pull of beer, his eyes staying on her face even as his head went back. He lowered the bottle, then used the back of his wrist to wipe his damp mouth. “Where are you from?”
“Oklahoma.”
His brows went up. “Born and raised?”
She nodded. “Outside of Oklahoma City. Why do you seem surprised?”
Tanner’s broad shoulders moved in a slight shrug. “Your family ever been ranchers?”
“Quite a few generations back. Then they struck oil and eventually branched out into several different businesses.” Hard as it was to believe, he honestly didn’t seem familiar with the far-reaching Worthington Group. Most people would recognize the name. “I’ll get to the point. We’ll be introducing a men’s fragrance line next year and we’re looking for a spokesperson.”
She paused to take a sip of water. A second later, her stomach rumbled loudly, but she willed herself not to react. When she looked at Tanner again, it was as if another man had taken his place.
His mouth had pulled into a tight, thin line. Wariness and scorn darkened his eyes. “So...what’s it to me?”
“I’m not saying we’re asking you to be that person but—”
“Good.” He stood and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna take a shower. Wanna join me?”
“Oh, so we’re back to you trying to scare me off.” So interested in his smooth, muscled chest, she almost missed his cocky smile.
“Definitely not what I had in mind.” He deliberately ran a gaze down her front. “Why not have a little fun before you go?”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“Wanna bet?”
Lexy thought for a moment. Of course he was only taunting her but it could work in her favor. “Sure. Five hundred bucks. Unless that’s too rich for you.”
He got to the last button and yanked the shirt from his jeans. “I’d feel real bad taking advantage of you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She sounded too confident, she realized. The goal was to win that five hundred off him. Later she’d give it back, tell him she’d been joking, but she could use the cash now. Dear God...what had become of her? Her father would just— “Do we have a bet?”
He shrugged out of his shirt and she had to watch. He had a fine chest. Great shoulders, too, well-defined muscles bunching and releasing with the movement of his arms. When her gaze finally made it back to his face, he looked a little suspicious.
“You know I didn’t mean an actual bet,” he said, walking past her to drop his shirt into a basket near the bed. “But you seem all fired-up sure you can take five large off me. That’s got me curious.”
“And worried.”
He let out a short laugh. “Nothing you can say or do will make me pimp your perfume.”
“Men’s cologne.”
“Hell, call it whatever you want.”
“You haven’t even heard the details.” She’d noticed the three-inch surgical scar on the back of his shoulder. The other one below his ribs was jagged and definitely not left by a surgeon’s knife.
“Don’t need to.” Tanner unbuckled his belt.
“Really?” She leaned back, got comfortable and stared at his fly. Oh, he did not want to play chicken with her.
His only answer was to unsnap his jeans and pull the zipper down halfway.
“Let’s see what you got. I should know what I’m peddling.”
He narrowed his eyes, then laughed. “I knew you were a whack job from the get-go. I should’ve ditched you in the parking lot.”
“Yet here we are.”
Tanner studied her face, the amusement gone, replaced by annoyance. As though he couldn’t figure her out. “Last chance.”
She smiled and kicked off her shoes.
He unzipped the rest of the way, and receiving no reaction, pulled off his jeans. She hoped he
