Sophie didn’t need the words. She could tell by the way Nigel kept close to her side, the way his eyes would roam over her as if he knew exactly what she looked like out of this sultry red dress that fit her every curve.
When she’d seen all of the options for her to try on, she’d fallen in love with this one immediately, unable to stop herself from imagining how Nigel would respond to the sight of her in it. He hadn’t disappointed. She should’ve turned him down, she should’ve stayed focused on her task and not gotten swept up in all of the glitz and glamour and limo rides with a sexy man.
Yet here she sat in the back of his car as they maneuvered through the city streets. He shifted in his seat and his leg brushed hers, as if she needed the reminder of how close they’d been all evening.
Throughout the entire night, Nigel had constantly touched her in some way—his hand on her lower back to guide her, his thigh aligning with hers beneath the table at dinner, a simple hand holding hers as he led her to and from the car.
“There wasn’t a man in that ballroom who wasn’t mesmerized by you,” he went on. “I’m glad you were my date.”
“So this was a date?” she asked, trying to search his face as the flashes of the lights off the streets and buildings slashed across his features.
“What if it was?”
Be careful.
The voice rang through her head, but she ignored it. There was nothing careful about being this close, this attracted to the man she was deceiving.
She’d never misled a single person in her life and here she was lying to the one person she actually wanted to get to know on a personal level.
But there was so much chaos going on in her life, how could she even think about something personal with Nigel? Their lives were worlds apart and he didn’t even know her real name.
“I thought you didn’t get mixed up with employees,” she countered.
He slid his fingertip along the slit in her skirt...the one that extended all the way up her thigh. Sophie shivered as her eyes darted from his hand to his face.
“I never have,” he agreed, with a level gaze. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind...if you’re interested.”
Up and down that fingertip went. He touched her nowhere else, but she couldn’t suppress the arousal that spiraled through her. She needed to put a stop to this... She’d needed to stop him long ago, such as when he’d asked her to join him for dinner or when he’d stared at her in the penthouse office like she was the most delectable thing and he was a starving man.
“Nigel—”
His finger stilled. “Should I stop?”
Sophie pursed her lips as a silent sparring battle took place between her awakened wants and common sense.
But she’d put her career ahead of her personal life for so long. Couldn’t she just take what she wanted? Just this once? Who said she had to save herself for the right man? What if that perfect one never came along? What if Nigel was the right man?
“You’re thinking,” he murmured. “I can practically see you arguing with yourself.”
“Sometimes I just want to ignore what’s right, what’s expected of me.” Her thoughts spilled out before she could keep them inside. “Do you ever have that guilty feeling that you’re being selfish?”
Nigel’s eyes dropped to her lips. “Every decision I make is on purpose. So, no. I don’t have regrets.”
Of course, someone as powerful and confident as Nigel wouldn’t second-guess his actions. He likely had his life all laid out to perfection with no worries of consequences.
Sophie had always prided herself on her own strength, but sitting in the back of a dark car with her faux boss had her willpower shrinking. Even before tonight, he?
?d mesmerized her and made her wish for and want more than she’d ever allowed herself.
Why couldn’t this be easy? Why couldn’t she have met him under different circumstances? Why did she have to choose between holding true to her legacy and the promise to her brothers and going after what she desperately wanted?
Before Sophie could say anything, the car came to a stop and moments later, her door opened. The driver extended his hand to assist her and as soon as she stepped out, she realized they weren’t at her penthouse, but back at Green Media.
She glanced back to Nigel as he exited the vehicle.
“That will be all, James.”
The driver got back into the car and drove away.