“God you smell good,” he mumbled a stretched, delicious moment later, nuzzling her ear and neck. Emma shuddered in pleasure. “Is that the perfume you just put on?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Did Dr. Parodas contact you about our test results?” he asked, his nose in her hair, his lips brushing against her ear and making all the hairs stand on end along her neck.
“Yes,” Emma managed, finding his kiss and the topic both highly intimate in these mundane surrounding.
He looked at her, his expression shifting ever so slightly. If Emma had to guess, she’d say he was very satisfied by her answer.
“I have an idea,” he said.
“What?” Emma asked. He might have suggested they jump naked off the Sears Tower together and she would have done it she was so momentarily enthralled by his eyes and deep, quiet voice.
“I’ll take you to a place where we shop for a few items you’ll need. Then I’ll take you to bed and keep you there until we’re too weak to get out of it.”
A lightning flash of arousal went through her.
“A few items I’ll need for what?” she asked, choosing to focus on the safer topic.
“For your trip.” He arched his dark brows significantly. “To the Côte d’Azur?” he prompted as if he was gently reminding her of something she’d forgotten because she was so clearly befuddled by his kiss and nearness.
“To the French Riviera?’ she asked skeptically.
He smiled, slow and brilliant. She felt that smile at the very pit of her being.
“Now you’re getting it. We leave on Tuesday.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said bemusedly as he took her hand.
“It’s simple. I have to be back in France soon for the buildup to the race and the race itself. We’ll go back in a few days, but when I go, you do. I want you there with me.”
“You do?” Emma asked. She blinked and glanced around at the familiar surroundings of the department store, trying
to ground herself. She’d been flying around in his eyes for a moment. “I can’t. I have work.”
“You’ll take a vacation,” he said, pulling on her hand. She fell into step beside him. “You can call the office tomorrow, ask for time off.”
“Maybe, but it might be kind of tricky getting it on short notice,” she said, scurrying to keep up with his long-legged stride, her heart starting to pound with excitement in her chest despite the craziness of his proposal.
“It’ll be fine. You need a vacation. You’ll love the Côte d’Azur . . . and my house there.” He gave her a gleaming sideways glance.
“Maybe,” she hesitated, swept away by the sheer force of him. “It’s possible I could figure out something for work . . . but what about—”
He shook his head and pulled her in front of him as they neared the revolving doors. “I’m not going to this damn race without you,” he stated flatly. “Now . . . let’s go finish your shopping so that I have you to myself,” he said with grim determination, nodding toward the door.
Chapter Twenty-four
It was easy to be swept away by the power of his personality . . . by his intense attractiveness. By the time she sat in the passenger seat of a fierce-looking, ebony Montand convertible, reality hit her.
“I have a bone to pick with you,” she told him, smoothing her ruffled hair out of her face as he zoomed out of the parking garage. She’d never known a person to make such tight hairpin turns so effortlessly.
“What about?” he asked unconcernedly.
“I found out about you buying my apartment complex.”
He brought the car to an abrupt halt in the garage.
“How did you find out about that?” he demanded, eyebrows slanting.