Blaze scrambled out of the car so fast he nearly fell over himself, though he managed to make the moment look graceful, thanks to his natural athleticism- the only thing his parents ever gifted him with- and the fact that he worked out five times a week.
When Colette spotted him, her eyes changed. He hated that those otherworldly, steely orbs grew wary. She blinked hard though, eyelashes that were thick and impossibly long without any mascara, and it was obvious that she wasn’t backing down or changing her mind.
Thank god for that.
She might not have opted for much makeup, but her scarlet red lipstick and the slight amount of blush she’d applied to her high cheekbones only magnified the creamy flawlessness of her skin.
Her eyes flicked over his clothing, appraising him openly and unafraid, which wasn’t her usual style, as though their conversation in his office the day before had opened up a thousand different doors for them and they were now on a new, far less formal, level.
“Do you like what you see, or should I run home and change?” He grinned wickedly at her before he winked. He knew how to disarm most of the female population with a single gesture, but big surprise, Office Baby didn’t budge.
“It’s fine,” she said, tight lipped. “I hope that dinner is better.”
“Better than me? I’m wounded.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Expensive clothing isn’t exactly my jam, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Oh, he’d noticed. He also noticed how her eyes swept over him, head to toe, lingering on a few select places before they flicked away, and a tender heat flared up beneath her blush. She thought he wasn’t looking. That he wouldn’t notice her once-over, or how her unaffected air was just an act.
She was nervous.
He could scent it on her, and that scent drove him fucking wild.
“You rented a limo,” she stated flatly when she raised her head. “Why am I not surprised? I figured you’d take corniness to a new level.”
“I’m sorry. If you’d like we can ditch it and I’ll take you to dinner on my bike so that your hair is ruined and you’re hoarse from screaming.”
Despite herself, one brow arched daintily. “You don’t really have a bike.”
He didn’t, but she didn’t have to know that. “Or maybe you’d prefer one of the many sports cars I own, just so that your teeth are ground down from all the hairpin turns by the time we make it to dinner.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Still not impressed.”
He shot her a wicked glance under lowered eyes and literally heard the intake of breath she no doubt didn’t want him to notice. “You will be when you find out why I chose the limo. It wasn’t just to try and steal your breath or woo you. I realize that you’re too… modern and advanced for the idea of courtship to be appealing. I do have my reasons, for wanting to go hands-free.”
As impossible as it was to believe, Colette really was a virgin. She blushed at his words, but she obviously didn’t get their full meaning, which meant that not only was she a virgin, she was also incredibly naïve.
Blaze stood back and watched while Colette held her head high and walked past him like he was the gunk she’d just scraped off the bottom of her shoe. It was rich, considering she’d blatantly asked him to do this for her.
Her spirit though… it was one of the things he found most attractive about her. That and apparently, she didn’t give a damn about him. She’d never even let on that she’d noticed him other than a cursory glance in his direction at meetings, which was always professional. She always appeared unaffected, and god, if that didn’t drive him nuts.
He whipped his head around and followed just in time to see Colette bend, one hand holding her skirt down to the backs of her thighs, as she got into the limo. It didn’t matter. He still got a nice view of her beautiful ass. His cock agreed with his brain one hundred percent that she had the best ass he’d ever seen and gave her a salute from his pants before he slammed his hands in his pocket and joined her.
Once they were seated in the back, the door closed, the driver slowly steered away from the curb. He had his instructions. The restaurant he’d booked for their dinner- an expensive place that required you either know the owner or make reservations a month in advance- was located on the other side of the city, so the drive would be just long enough for what he had in mind.
It just so happened, he’d gone to college with the guy who bought the place, so reservation was a word that wasn’t in his vocabulary and he didn’t even have to grease a single palm with a few extra thousand.