NYU, Mister Armstrong. I’m completely capable of polishing up a presentation.”
He had the nerve to actually grin. “Call me Carter. And I’m sure you’re capable of doing a lot of things, but I’m looking for something more.”
I inhaled a surprised, sharp breath, and I know Carter heard it. We were standing too close for him not to, and besides, the way his smile grew wider gave him away. I couldn’t tell if he was flirting, or just messing with me. Either way, he was enjoying the hell out of it.
He slowly moved closer, erasing the already small space between us, and there went my breathing, again . It seemed like my lungs were having as much difficulty keeping themselves under control as the rest of my body was. I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth to keep myself from saying something stupid while I thought of how I should respond to that. In the end, I decided to keep it simple.
“What do you want? Name it. I’m not saying I’ll agree, but-”
“You’ll agree,” Carter said.
He was so close I could smell him, just a hint of soap and a little aftershave. Subtle, nice. It was a smell that made me want to get closer still.
I let out an indignant huff, but decided to play along. “So, what do you want?” I whispered.
“I’ll let Paige leave, and-”
“And?”
“And you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night. At my place.”
I actually laughed, completely and utterly involuntarily. It was shock and surprise, along with a fair amount of giddiness that I was one-hundred percent sure I didn’t want him to see. “You’re actually serious.”
Carter offered me a crooked, knowing smile. “I never joke about dinner.”
“And I’m just supposed to go to your house, like that’s not the beginning of every cautionary tale known to man.”
He shrugged. “A famous stranger. Besides, if I hurt you? Paige has the power to ruin my life.”
“Can’t risk your stock portfolio,” I joked, laughing.
“Absolutely not.”
My mouth turned up into a smile, and I reached out, the tips of my fingers skimming the tips of his. His skin was so warm, and it felt like every single cell came alive where we were touching. If Carter felt the same thing, he didn’t let it show, but he moved almost imperceptibly closer. The only reason I noticed it was because his lips seemed like they were easier to access, and I was having incredible difficulty not stepping on my tiptoes to, well, access them. With mine. Because I had never wanted to kiss someone as badly as I wanted to kiss Carter Armstrong in that moment.
“A handshake is as good as a signature with your people, isn’t it?”
“My people?” he replied, eyebrow raised.
“You know, the upper crust, the elite, high society…”
Carter let out a soft laugh. “I get it.”
Slowly, he slid his hand against mine, and I immediately wanted him to touch me, well…everywhere. When I finally dared to look him in the eye, I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking, and maybe, just maybe , he was thinking the same thing too. Which was utterly ridiculous, because what exactly would he see in me? I was the poor girl from Indiana who managed to attend NYU thanks to hard work and a scarily large amount of student loans. Dirty blonde, curly hair and brown eyes, I was girl next door kind of pretty, sure, but not snare a billionaire kind of pretty. I had to will myself to stop thinking about it, otherwise I’d talk myself out of this date.
No, not a date, I told myself. Dinner, Chloe. Dinner.
“I’ll have a car pick you up at seven.”
“Okay,” I replied with surprising ease before I took a step back. “I…I guess I’ll see you then.”
He nodded, and it seemed we both could breathe easier with a little bit of distance between us.
I turned to leave and could feel his eyes on me; they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. They made me walk carefully, made me swish my hips a little more
He had the nerve to actually grin. “Call me Carter. And I’m sure you’re capable of doing a lot of things, but I’m looking for something more.”
I inhaled a surprised, sharp breath, and I know Carter heard it. We were standing too close for him not to, and besides, the way his smile grew wider gave him away. I couldn’t tell if he was flirting, or just messing with me. Either way, he was enjoying the hell out of it.
He slowly moved closer, erasing the already small space between us, and there went my breathing, again . It seemed like my lungs were having as much difficulty keeping themselves under control as the rest of my body was. I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth to keep myself from saying something stupid while I thought of how I should respond to that. In the end, I decided to keep it simple.
“What do you want? Name it. I’m not saying I’ll agree, but-”
“You’ll agree,” Carter said.
He was so close I could smell him, just a hint of soap and a little aftershave. Subtle, nice. It was a smell that made me want to get closer still.
I let out an indignant huff, but decided to play along. “So, what do you want?” I whispered.
“I’ll let Paige leave, and-”
“And?”
“And you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night. At my place.”
I actually laughed, completely and utterly involuntarily. It was shock and surprise, along with a fair amount of giddiness that I was one-hundred percent sure I didn’t want him to see. “You’re actually serious.”
Carter offered me a crooked, knowing smile. “I never joke about dinner.”
“And I’m just supposed to go to your house, like that’s not the beginning of every cautionary tale known to man.”
He shrugged. “A famous stranger. Besides, if I hurt you? Paige has the power to ruin my life.”
“Can’t risk your stock portfolio,” I joked, laughing.
“Absolutely not.”
My mouth turned up into a smile, and I reached out, the tips of my fingers skimming the tips of his. His skin was so warm, and it felt like every single cell came alive where we were touching. If Carter felt the same thing, he didn’t let it show, but he moved almost imperceptibly closer. The only reason I noticed it was because his lips seemed like they were easier to access, and I was having incredible difficulty not stepping on my tiptoes to, well, access them. With mine. Because I had never wanted to kiss someone as badly as I wanted to kiss Carter Armstrong in that moment.
“A handshake is as good as a signature with your people, isn’t it?”
“My people?” he replied, eyebrow raised.
“You know, the upper crust, the elite, high society…”
Carter let out a soft laugh. “I get it.”
Slowly, he slid his hand against mine, and I immediately wanted him to touch me, well…everywhere. When I finally dared to look him in the eye, I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking, and maybe, just maybe , he was thinking the same thing too. Which was utterly ridiculous, because what exactly would he see in me? I was the poor girl from Indiana who managed to attend NYU thanks to hard work and a scarily large amount of student loans. Dirty blonde, curly hair and brown eyes, I was girl next door kind of pretty, sure, but not snare a billionaire kind of pretty. I had to will myself to stop thinking about it, otherwise I’d talk myself out of this date.
No, not a date, I told myself. Dinner, Chloe. Dinner.
“I’ll have a car pick you up at seven.”
“Okay,” I replied with surprising ease before I took a step back. “I…I guess I’ll see you then.”
He nodded, and it seemed we both could breathe easier with a little bit of distance between us.
I turned to leave and could feel his eyes on me; they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. They made me walk carefully, made me swish my hips a little more
Similar Books
Carousel
J. Robert Janes
The Weary Generations
Abdullah Hussein
The Dom with the Dark Eyes
Raven McAllan
Gauguin Connection, The
Estelle Ryan
The Deceivers
John Masters
Black Gate: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 4
Michele Callahan
Horus Rising
Dan Abnett
TheCharmer
The Charmer
Charmed
Emily Jane Trent