I’d gotten the impression Dean liked feeling like a big, important man, so I was really hamming it up. “I don’t think I could ever do a night dive,” I told him, shivering dramatically. “So scary!”
“I could take you,” he told me, grinning. “Keep you safe from all the things that bite down there.”
And there it was-the fine line between being an entertaining companion and crossing over into murky flirtation. I’d misjudged it, apparently.
Before I could come up with an appropriately soft refusal that wouldn’t offend the other man and ruin my boss’s business chances, Jared’s hand slid across the back of my chair. “She’s not going diving with you, Dean.”
The heat of his arm seared across the top of my shoulders. I felt every inch of his nearness: the arm across my back, the hand he curled around my shoulder, the press of his knee against my thigh as he leaned closer. He smelled divine, and he was too close. I leaned forward and grabbed my glass of water to take a sip in the hopes of cooling myself down.
Dean grinned. “I think the lady should speak for herself.”
I painted a grin on my lips and said, “The boss has spoken.”
“Is he always this possessive of you?”
“Only when deep-sea creatures are involved,” I said, laughing as I gave Branson a side-eye. He met my gaze steadily and said nothing. Heat curled low in my stomach, and my thighs clenched. There was something about this man’s attention that made me want to melt. When he focused on me, it made me feel almost giddy and breathless. Special.
And wasn’t that just the silliest thing in the world?
He shifted his gaze to his potential client, and I let out a breath. The moment passed, but Jared’s arm stayed on the back of my chair for a while longer. By the end of the meal, it sounded like a deal had been struck.
But Jared didn’t seem happy about it.
As we exited the swanky restaurant, I nudged him with my elbow. “You okay?”
He arched a brow at me. “Yes. Why?”
“You’re doing that scowl-till-I-scare-small-children-away thing again.”
“I do not scare small children.”
“What about that little girl just outside the restaurant before we walked in? When you got out of the car, she stumbled back and clawed at her mother.”
“That was the pigeon’s fault.”
I laughed. “Seriously, Branson. Why the face?”
He faced me fully, standing in front of his waiting car. “Did you want to go scuba diving with Dean?”
Startled by the question, all I could do was blink. “What?”
“Did you,” he asked slowly, “want to go scuba diving with Dean?”
“No,” I answered.
“It sounded like you did. You talked to him for the better part of an hour.”
“Yes, because that’s my job.”
“You were batting your eyelashes and giggling, Little.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard what I said,” he gritted out.
Okay, that pissed me off. I planted my hands on my hips and glared. “Have you forgotten that you hired me to sit beside you and make pleasant conversation?”
“That’s right. I didn’t hire you to flirt with other men right in front of me. You’re there to be with me.”
“I was not flirting. I was showing interest in his hobbies. What else was I supposed to do?”
“Talk about-I don’t know-the weather.”
“The weather.”
“Men look at you laughing at their jokes and they think they’ve got a chance.”
I let out a snort. “Right. Isn’t that the point of having me at your side?”
His jaw clenched. “I didn’t like it, Little. Don’t do it again.”
“You got the contract, didn’t you? Would you rather I sit there like a wet sock and drag the mood down?”
Eyes flashing, he stared me down.
But I wasn’t intimidated. I took a step closer, so we were nearly nose to nose. “I made him laugh and stroked his ego so you could come in and close the deal. That’s the whole reason I’m here. And, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m really, really good at it.”
I poked him in the chest for emphasis with every word until he snatched it before I could finish the last poke. His fingers dwarfed mine as he clasped my hand, clutching it between us. I could feel the calluses on his palm, the heat of his skin against mine. My breath caught.
He stared into my eyes, then dropped his gaze to my lips. I felt like a doe who’d just realized she was in the hunter’s crosshairs, trembling and ready to bolt.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.