A Cinderella Affair. A.C. Arthur
her hands clutched again.
“You still haven’t heard my plans for the house, Camille.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice shaky and unfamiliar. He was only a couple of inches away now and his scent drifted around her, cloaking her until she felt like she was securely surrounded. He was looking at her strangely, his eyes having darkened a bit since when he’d first arrived.
She took a step back.
“I’ve been known to be very persuasive,” he said in a deep, sexy voice.
“I can’t be persuaded,” she breathed and took another step back.
He reached out then and grabbed her shoulders. “Never move backwards,” he warned. “You’ll eventually be cornered.”
And that she was. Behind her was the couch; one more step back and she would have fallen down onto it and as close as Adam was he would have fallen down right on top of her. A position she had no intention of them being in.
She was gorgeous, in a quiet, sneak-up-and-bite you kind of way. Her chin was strong, her body singing every love song in the book to any man lucky enough to be around her. Her lips were small but plump and very kissable. But it was her eyes that held him captive. With their exotic shape and mystical color Adam couldn’t help but be swept away. So much so that he’d forgotten that this was supposed to be business and was touching her in a very personal way. She was small, almost a foot shorter than him. He could have easily picked her up and dropped her in the center of that bed he’d spied upon entering. But he found that pushing her to her limits was much more enjoyable.
He made her nervous; he could tell by the way her eyes watched him closely and her body shifted restlessly. He could ease that restlessness. He could nip the nervousness in the bud if she’d let him kiss her. There was a keen attraction sizzling between them and Adam was willing to bet she was feeling it, too. He wondered what would happen if he pushed a little more.
“What if we started with something a little simpler than the discussion about the house,” he suggested, moving his hands up and down her bare arms, loving the feel of her smooth skin against his.
“What do you mean?” she stammered.
“I mean, what if we talked about something else. Something a little less serious.” She hadn’t pulled away from him, which was a good sign, but he suspected that would be kind of hard for her to do since her legs were blocked by both him and the couch.
“Adam.” Her hands came up to his chest in a small form of protest.
Right through his shirt the heat from her touch burned him until he wanted to rip away the material that posed as a barrier to feel her skin to skin.
She pushed slightly and Adam had to take a deep, steadying breath. Never before had he been this turned on by a woman and never before had his desire interfered with his business. So he counted to three then forcefully pulled his hands away from her. It took another moment or two before he could step away, but he did.
“There is nothing for us to discuss except for the house,” she said.
Adam turned away from her then because to keep staring at her only fueled this growing need in the pit of his stomach. This fierce desire to have her, totally.
“I’m sure you realize how untrue that statement is, Camille,” he said as he turned back to face her.
“No. I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She was fidgeting again, a trait he found strangely endearing. Normally he liked decisive, fun and easygoing women who were down for a good time. He made it a point to stay away from emotionally driven women with too many issues for him to count. So why was he so drawn to her? He’d known her less than twenty-four hours and yet he knew without a doubt that Camille Davis had issues. Funny thing was, he wanted to know what those issues were and he wanted to fix them.
He had to clench his teeth at that one because he definitely did not understand what was going on. What he did know was that two grown adults were standing in this room and that they were attracted to each other. He wasn’t about skirting around any issues like that, business or pleasure. “I’m talking about this thing between us. It’s obvious that we’re attracted to each other. So whether or not we go into business together we’ll still have to deal with that.”
Slowly she brought her hands from behind her back and folded her arms over her chest. If she had any idea how hard that one act made him she would never do it again. Adam didn’t move a muscle.
“There is nothing between us but my father’s house. Anything else is purely your imagination.”
He chuckled. “You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you? It makes you feel safer if you convince yourself that there is nothing else between us. What I don’t understand is why you need to feel safe. Do I frighten you, Camille?”
Her chin instantly went up, her eyes glaring at him as her anger grew. Adam almost smiled. She had some feistiness in her and some passion, he’d seen that in her eyes when he was close to her. There was a lot more to Camille Davis than met the eye.
“You do not frighten me. That’s absurd. This entire conversation is absurd.” She huffed. “The only reason you and I are even in the same room speaking to one another is because you want something that I have.”
That was a vast understatement, Adam thought with amusement.
She was pacing back and forth now. “I mean, I live in L.A. and you live in Vegas, Sin City. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” she ranted. “We are not the same types of people so it’s totally insane to think that we’d be attracted to each other.”
Adam watched her agile movements. He watched every curve of her body move in sync as she spoke. Her arms rotated between being folded at her chest to swaying fitfully at her waist. It was at those times that he glimpsed her perfectly round bottom and those high, enticing breasts. She talked as if she had a lot of things going through her mind at once and she was having trouble keeping them all straight. He sensed it was because she was in fact nervous and unwilling to admit to what he already knew.
She was just as amazed by this instant attraction as he was. Only he was used to physical awareness and sexual tension. He knew just how to deal with them both and boasted a gold medal in doing so. However, he had a sneaky suspicion Camille would not be impressed by that knowledge.
He had no choice but to touch her again; if not she would have worn a hole in the floor. Besides, he had no problem putting his hands on Camille and hoped to do it more often. But for right now he wanted to calm her down. She was working herself into a fine fit and he needed to nip it in the bud. He caught her waist on another one of her trips past him and pulled her back against his chest. Keeping one arm around her waist he braced the other around her arms to keep them still.
“Camille.” He breathed her name into her hair and struggled to keep from doing more. “I am a man. And you are a woman. Everything else is inconsequential.”
Camille’s heart beat erratically. She’d been so surprised when he grabbed her that she’d clamped her mouth shut, almost biting off her own tongue. He was too close and he was holding her and she couldn’t breathe. But then she could breathe, his scent, that smell that both teased and tortured her.
She felt a little faint and wondered what she’d eaten today besides the partial salad at dinner. She was light-headed because she hadn’t eaten three meals like she was supposed to. That’s probably why she was going off the deep end in front of this virtual stranger.
“Dammit, you’re shaking,” Adam said as he spun her around to face him. “What’s wrong with you? And don’t tell me nothing because I’m not going to believe it.”
He was speaking loudly now. That deep voice that she’d initially thought was sexy was now too loud and causing a pounding in her head. “Stop,” she said slowly. “Please let me go.”
“No.