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“Not a one. So I make up for it now.” She gave him the smile that hadn’t fully materialized moments before—when she was still digesting his algorithms—pleased that he’d recalled how many brothers she had. Kev couldn’t even remember their names after three years together.
While Ryan made himself comfortable on her couch, Maxi went to the wet bar and collected the Glenlivet and two crystal tumblers. She set out the glasses on the coffee table before retrieving the silver ice bucket, along with a pair of tongs.
“How many cubes?” she asked, knowing Ryan would be precise about how he took his scotch.
“Two, please.”
“Good answer.” She dropped ice and splashed two fingers of whisky into each of their glasses. She handed over his cocktail, clinked her rim against the tumbler he held, and added, “To your very spectacular day. I have to admit, I feared for your life this morning. But it seems you got everyone thinking and moving in the right direction. Maybe even a little excited about turning things around before it’s too late.”
“It’s not too late,” he assured her, with a piercing gaze that lit her insides. Startling her, because she was trying really hard to get all her riotous emotions under control.
This was serious business. Maxi owed it to her staff, and to Staci, to remain focused and diligent.
Not to mention, her insanely immediate and seemingly all-consuming attraction to Ryan was way, way misplaced.
First of all, he now worked for her. Office romances were never a good idea, in her opinion.
Second, Einstein was way out of her league intellectually.
A hint of insecurity swept over her. Regardless of what she’d said about being able to decipher some of his shoptalk, so much of what he said really didn’t resonate in her mind so that she found herself spending an exorbitant amount of time breaking it all down and processing his conjectures.
Plain and simple: He was too smart for her.
But goddamn, was he sexy as hell!
Honestly, Maxi could simply close her eyes and listen to him spew theory after theory—and likely get off on his voice alone.
Now that was a scary reality.
God forbid she should get lost in a fantasy when he delivered his next presentation.
Career. At. Stake.
Right.
Eye on the ball, Maxi. Eye. On. The. Ball.
Ryan was saying, “My computations are accurate enough to make changes on a dime—to our benefit. The fact that we’re collectively coming to terms with the issues and looking for the most sensible and viable opportunities to fix what’s broken will drive our success.”
Maxi took the seat next to him and crossed her bare legs. Twisted her dangling ankle to work out the kinks and sipped her drink. She said, “It’s amazing how quickly and thoroughly you’ve embraced this situation.”
His eyes fixated on her foot for a few moments. Possibly on her crimson-painted to
enails. He snapped out of his trance and picked back up on the conversation. “That’s what I do. When someone hires me for a job, I—”
“Ryan.” She gave him a compelling look, her blood humming in her veins at how he seemed to catalog everything about her. “Just accept the compliment.”
He pulled in a long sip of scotch. Nodded his head. “Sure. Right. Thank you.”
His accent did wicked things to her libido, no doubt. A resurrection she’d not anticipated.
Although it was a dangerous scenario for all the reasons Maxi had just considered, she felt a little thrill over how Ryan seemed to juggle whatever academic thoughts consumed his mind with his apparent attraction to her.
“We all appreciate your help,” she told him, ignoring the hint of sultry she heard in her voice, similar to the tone his erotic kiss had left her with earlier. “Myself included. At the top of the list with Staci, actually. This job is everything to me, for a lot of reasons.”
“Why?” he implored, his dark eyes boring into her, despite the glasses he wore, which she was damn tempted to strip away. Along with his suit jacket. His tie. His shirt.
When she’d been in his arms, she’d felt all the muscles concealed behind his clothes. Now she wanted to see them. Touch them. Drag her tongue over all the hard ledges and corrugated grooves.
