Hint: It had nothing to do with impressing investors.
With a defeated sigh, I pushed my hair back off my face and threaded a pair of gold hoops through my ears. My makeup was minimal, as usual, because it was hard as hell to do anything fancy with glasses on, and I couldn’t see anything without them.
The dress would do most of the work tonight, though. I’d complimented my hair with a figure-hugging forest green number that had cost more than I’d ever confidently spend on myself. The sweetheart neckline toed the line between modest and daring. I loved it. Professional and classy in a way I just couldn’t pull off day to day.
Some lavender essential oils on pulse points to help with anxiety and to smell pretty, and I was ready to go.
As I searched my closet for my black stilettos, a knock echoed through my apartment. The clock read seven PM. Nice to know Cian O’Leary was a man of his word. Stepping into the foot-prisons, I grabbed my purse and hustled for the front door. Just before I opened things up, I realized my cell was still on charge.
“Hey, come in, I just have to grab something,” I said, heading for the bedroom before I’d pulled the door all the way open.
“Okay.” The door clicked shut behind him.
Cian O’Leary is in my apartment.
Putting on a little more speed so he wasn’t left to his own devices for too long, I grabbed my phone, almost tearing the charger out of the wall in my rush. As I stumbled, my shoe slipped off, hitting the floorboards with a clatter.
“Nice place,” he called from somewhere over near my sofa.
“Oh, thanks. It’s not much, but it’s enough.” I hopped a few steps, trying to slip my foot into the shoe. My body tipped on my single point of balance and I threw out a hand and slapped the wall to avoid a face plant.
I hated dressing up.
With a sigh, I slid the stupid shoe on and straightened my dress, then went to confront the night I’d somehow committed myself to.
My footsteps announced my arrival in the sitting area, the clipping loud in the open space. Cian looked over from the photo he’d been studying—one of me in pee wee hockey—and smiled.
“I thought you might have played.”
At least… that’s what I thought he said. My mind had gone blank at the sight of his stupidly pretty face and body jacked into a freaking tuxedo. His beard was neatly trimmed and his hair slicked back like a young Colin Farrell. This was exactly why he was dangerous.
“Are you ready to go? You look…” His eyes traveled down my body in a sweep that seemed to catalog every one of my faults.
“Yeah, I know. I did the best I could. Come on, let’s go.”
I headed for the door but was pulled up short by a grip on my elbow.
Cian was far too close, his eyes burning with something I didn’t want to read into.
“You look amazing, Blair. Really pretty.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged out of his grip and stepped out into the hall, waiting for him to follow me before I locked up.
We took the stairs in silence, our footsteps echoing in the tight space, and as we stepped out into the evening air, I breathed in deeply. This was my favorite time of day. When the sun was close to the horizon and the heat of the day had banked from searing down to something that felt comforting. Cozy. We were close enough to the Colorado River that the musty, slightly fishy smell lingered on the breeze.
“I’m over here.” Cian gestured toward a huge black truck that I’d seen in the parking lot enough to recognize.
“Compensating for something?” I muttered, eyeing the door and wondering how the hell I’d be able to climb up in my dress. The gasp behind me was as unexpected as the light hand that cupped my elbow almost solicitously. “Why, Miss Kennedy. I am shocked and appalled that you would question my manhood. Besides, we’re still getting to know each other. I’m notthatkind of girl.” Ridiculously long lashes framed his comically–widened olive eyes, and if it were anyone else, I would have laughed. Instead, I pushed him away, feigning irritation, and closed the distance to his truck.
“Do you have a stepladder for this thing?”
He reached past me to unlock the passenger door and wrapped his hands around my hips.
“No, but I can lift you.”
His grip was warm and overly familiar. Long fingers that almost met at my belly button made me feel almost dainty. This close, his cologne filled my nose. A spicy scent that made me a little dizzy and a lot aware of his proximity.
With an ease that I refused to admit was a turn on, he lifted me into the passenger seat and stepped back, eyes intense on mine.
