The consortium was hosting the reception in the panda area of Zoo Atlanta, and the whole idea was to be festive and fun and woo additional investors.
Needless to say, I was not in a festive mood.
“Let me guess. You’ve seen one panda, you’ve seen them all.”
The low voice, soft and smooth and just a little amused, seemed to wrap around me, forcing me to shift my attention from the pandas in their habitat to the man standing next to me.
“I—what?” Not the most coherent of responses, but he’d caught me off guard. I was standing on the veranda that overlooked the panda habitat. I’d come here to escape the mixing and mingling and to lose myself in both thought and worry. The pandas, though undeniably adorable, hadn’t actually been on my mind.
Now, looking at him, all of my work-related frustrations fizzled away as well. Only one thing filled my head. Him. His broad shoulders. His chiseled jaw. The strong lines of his face, softened by just the slightest indentation in his chin.
He looked to be in his late twenties, and he held himself with a self-confidence that could seem arrogant on some men, but on him just struck me as sexy.
His face was angles and shadows, a warrior’s face, and so exquisite it could make the gods weep. As for his eyes, they shone like cut sapphire, blue and hard. But they gleamed when he smiled, and the way the corners of his eyes crinkled humanized the brilliant sheen of those oh-so-perfect features. Like everyone at this outdoor reception, he was dressed casually. On him, however, casual was compelling, and the simple outfit of jeans and a starched white button-down—the top button left open—didn’t seem simple at all.
Looking at him, I felt the earth tilt a little beneath me. I’d never reacted that way to a guy before, and I reached out a hand to grasp the railing, not sure if I entirely liked the feeling.
“Or maybe you’ve been overwhelmed by the cuteness,” he continued, glancing down to where the two roly-poly pandas sat on their rears eating bamboo. “I’m hoping that’s the case, because otherwise you’re going to shoot my ego all to hell.”
“How could anyone hurt your ego?” I blurted, then felt my cheeks go pink. “Sorry. That sounds—”
But I never finished my apology, because my words were drowned out by his quick laugh and the brush of his fingers against my bare arm. “Thanks,” he said. “Ego saved.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I really hate it when I’m upstaged by pandas.”
I matched his smile. “Yeah, but they’re such cute pandas.” I glanced back at the bears as if in confirmation. Of course, they’ve got nothing on you.
He was silent for a moment, and I suddenly feared that he’d read my mind. I filled the quiet by clearing my throat. “You’re here for the reception?” A foolish question, since the zoo was currently closed to the public, and the only people on the premises were staff and Brighton Consortium guests.
“I am,” he said. “You’re not, though.”
I stood straighter. “I most certainly am.”
“I mean you’re not really here. Your mind’s elsewhere.”
“Oh.” Considering I couldn’t argue with that, I didn’t. Instead I turned back toward the pandas, my hands resting on the railing. “Yeah, well. It’s been a rather horrible day.”
“Sorry to hear it.” He moved next to me and took hold of the railing as well. As he did, his finger brushed mine, and I felt that shock of connection. A sizzling kind of awareness that I’d never experienced before and had believed lived only in the pages of books.
Out of reflex, I glanced toward him, then felt my chest constrict when I caught him looking right back at me, the heat in his eyes so intense I thought it would burn right through me.
I looked away.
“No.” His hand gently cupped my chin and he turned my face back to him. “No,” he repeated, and this time I heard a plea beneath the hard sheen of command.
I started to protest, but he shifted his hand so that a finger brushed my lip, firm and sensual, and I wanted to draw him in and taste him. I felt giddy and lightheaded, drunk on the proximity of this enigmatic man who had so easily captured me in his spell.
I didn’t like it. And yet, god help me, I did.
“No argument,” he said. “No protest, no excuses.” He held out his hand to me. “You’re coming with me.”
“The hell I am.” I stood a little straighter as the earth leveled out beneath me. I was not the kind of woman who jumped simply because a man told her to. Quite the opposite, in fact. I was used to being the one in charge. To using a man before he could swoop in and use me.
