He stepped back and shrugged off his tux jacket. “Right here, Ivy. Just you, me, and a couple of dinosaurs. What do you say?”
She blinked and looked past him as if she’d forgotten where they were or why they’d come.
You kissed me because you wanted to. Not for your funding.
Hope surged and he tossed his tux jacket aside.
Ring! Ring!
Alarm bells echoed in the dark hallway. Her eyes widened and she jumped away from the case. He whipped his head and pointed to the full-size Tyrannosaurus rex fossil mounted in a stalking position. The T. rex stood with his head low and jaws parted to reveal his six-inch long teeth.
And his tux jacket dangled from the predator’s mouth.
She glanced at him. Thank you, Jesus, her eyes shone with amusement, not what have I done.
“Just you, me, and the dinosaurs?” she called over the alarms. “I would, but—”
“Hold that thought, beautiful.” He took her hand. “Right now we need to run.”
Chapter 13
Ivy rested her head against the museum’s exterior wall. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. She fought back another outbreak of giggles. They’d evaded museum security, plus a potential run-in with police. The situation wasn’t funny.
She pressed her hand to her mouth, hoping to trap the inappropriate laughter inside. Her lips pressed together beneath her fingers.
The same lips Carter Burke kissed beside a world-famous, extinct carnivore.
The giggles turned to a soft moan as her body recalled how he felt pressed up against her. How he’d outlined the space between her breasts…how he’d kissed her as if proven scientific needs like oxygen didn’t apply to him. He could kiss and kiss and kiss…
She glanced over at her partner in crime, the man who’d pushed her to the verge of stripping off her gown beside the fossils.
Carter stood next to her with his hands in his pockets. He appeared relaxed. But then maybe her billionaire boss always spent his nights rushing from one pulse-pounding activity to another.
No, he’d defined his world earlier—spreadsheets and profit statements. This smart, driven man consistently chose work over fun.
Just like her.
Except for tonight.
He’d made an exception. He’d taken one look at her and decided to take a chance on adventure, and on her.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. The ground felt cold despite the warm spring night.
“Ivy?” he asked. “Are you all right?”
“I left my shoes in the museum,” she murmured.
“There’s a T. rex inside who has my tux jacket dangling from his teeth,” he reminded her.
Her eyes widened. “Did you leave a business card or your phone in the pocket?”
He shook his head as he withdrew his cell from his pants pocket. “They’ll never know it was us. I can have my tailor make another jacket.”
&
nbsp; She looked down at her feet. “But I can’t walk around Manhattan barefoot.”
His smile faded as he raised his cell. “I’ll call for my driver—”