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Chapter One
Kaitlyn Storm felt like a voyeur
Standing outside Belle Saisons, Brett McGregor’s art gallery, she watched hi into her throat and nearly strangling her He stood with his back to her, leaning over the counter talking to Marie, the receptionist Tailored black slacks hugged his fir to his muscular back Her throat went dry She licked her lips, suddenly very thirsty Only one thing could quench her thirst One thing she couldn’t have
Why did he always ue-tied and in the first throes of lust? That was a long tio
But the feelings had never gone away Just looking at hi ago outgrown her teenage crush After all, he’d h he was a er now But he had been and alould be a friend of the Storm family and her brother Aidan’s best friend, too
He was also the one er that refused to dissipate, despite the years and life events that had kept them apart
He’d kept theure out why Even at seventeen she’d tasted the hunger in his kiss, the way he’d crushed her against hiht on the spot But then he’d pushed her away, and had left Married so in his wife Amanda’s death, he still avoided her
She shook her head and forced the unwanted thoughts away Business She was here on business and nothingafter a man who obviously didn’t want you was a lesson in futility
He walked through the double doors leading into the gallery Inhaling sharply to cal open the front door, the soft tinkling of the little bell a welco reminder of theMarie at the front desk, she waved and stopped there first, engaging the wo back toward the gallery
Shehallway toward the gallery Polished wood floors shone like brand new, the white walls deliberately stark to take nothing away fro of her favorite French Quarter patisserie Art was her passion, the only thing other than her job as Events Coordinator for the Rising Storm Hotel that made her breath catch and her heart race
This painting caught her eyesparkled under a midday summer sun Casually dressed patrons sat at tiny round tables Matching black wrought iron chairs peppered the fenced-off exterior the occupants of the chairs sipping café au lait and eating French confectionaries that ined that first bite into her favorite war off the flaky crust and into herwould burst froue, the ashed, licked her lips and
“Makes you hungry just looking at it, doesn’t it?”
Startled, she whipped around at the sound of Brett’s deep voice
No, it wasn’t the pastries He hten, her nipples harden and herhauled against his chest and kissed with a passion she hadn’t known existed still flamed so deep it was like she’d been branded His one kiss had burned a o away
How could it? Soor was one of them And he teased her with it, tantalized her with potentit like the proverbial carrot Pretended he had no sexual interest in her when she knew damn well he did Men like him should be outlawed
And she had no business staring at hiht up like a bonfire just fro at him
Then again, he had no business being so da his dark brown hair grow a little too long,her itch to brush it away froed whiskey, the kind that burned a hole through a wo a perfect six-foot fra her crazy like this for all these years
She was getting tired of playing this game
Using her anger as a shield, she arched a brow “Well, you’re still alive after all,” she said, forcing cal a polite, businesslike smile on her face
He arched a brow and offered a half-smile “Was there ever any doubt?”
Even his voice sounded like sex by candlelight
“You’ve broken three appointments in the past teeks The art council fundraiser is drawing near and I need your input, since you are the fundraising chaire of this event”
“Isn’t that why I hired you in the first place? To take care of all the details so I wouldn’t have to?”
Cheap shot, but she wasn’t going to fall for it “Yes But unless you want s I have no business doing, you’ll give me some of your time”
“Blackmail? Kait, I didn’t know you had it in you” He arched a brow and offered a half-s to have a profound effect on her libido Her heart fluttered and her nipples hardened She pulled her jacket across her breasts
Really, Kaitlyn, you’ve got to get a grip
“Come on We’ll talk in my office” Heher to step in front of hi her
by resting his hand on the s up her spine She hurried forward, breaking the contact, wondering if he did that on purpose to unnerve her
As she moved ahead of him, she wondered if he watched her ass when she walked like she watched his? If he did, would he get hard like she got wet? God, did she really want to know the answer to those questions? Staying focused on business was difficult enough
She stepped into the office, sat and watched as he rounded the desk, unable to resist a quick peek at his ass
“You really don’t needhimself “I write the checks You do all the detail work That’s why I selected the Rising Storm for the fundraiser You’re the best event coordinator in the state, Kaitlyn”
She wasn’t about to let his cos you need to decide, Brett I have a list A really long list The menu hasn’t been selected, nor have the hors d’oeuvres You need to choose one of the three chaive ements You still haven’t selected what music you’d like to have, or where you’d like the auction ite auctioned And I’ to make those kind of est, if you really want this fundraiser to happen at the Rising Storm, you’d better clear your calendar for the next teeks We have a lot to do”
He grireed to chair the art council fundraising committee”
“So not my problem We’re stuck with each other” Why did she have to ith Brett? She’d just gotten to the point where she could exist knowing he lived in the same city, and fortunately they only ran into each other on occasion But the next teeks would be a lesson in self-discipline for her Unless she decided to chuck all efforts at being polite and straddle hirabbed a freaking clue that she wanted him
His half-lidded eyes and full lips both coiven her nals, just like he did now He avoided her like the plague, then turned those sexy brown eyes on her like he wanted to eat her alive Then again ination
“I can give you this now,” he said, handing over a printout “This is the inventory list of the art we’ll be showcasing”
Grateful for the distraction fro to cal her weak and jittery God, she really needed sex Too bad the one and only man she craved it asn’t the least bit interested