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“It’s really neither here nor there.”
Her gaze lifted and met his. “I beg to differ. Unless she was a zombie, exactly how did she not comment on, ogle over, or keep her hands off all of those chiseled-to-perfection muscles you possess?”
Ryan groaned over the subject matter.
Maxi set her wine on the coffee table. She sighed. “Let me guess. Frigid?”
“Ice cold,” he concurred.
“Oh, that’s bad. Worse than a zombie, because there’s actually blood pumping through her veins.”
“Indeed. But Elizabeth’s entire attention span, and her every waking thought, is wrapped around her personal image. Moving up at the hospital, publishing medical journal features that rank higher than her colleagues’ articles, hosting dinner parties for all the right people, being invited to social engagements…by all the right people. She is a woman coiffed, dressed, and made up to absolute perfection at any given moment. She delivers all the appropriate lines, is Miss Manners personified, and everyone adores her. Well, except for Staci.”
“She mentioned something in passing, but didn’t elaborate. What’s her beef with Miss Manners?”
“I met Staci through Elizabeth, who was Staci’s gynecologist, initially. Elizabeth invited her to a few cocktail receptions, some charity fund-raisers, which was how I became well acquainted with Staci and her shoe company. She t
hen became a bit of a regular in our social circle. But that all came to a screeching halt when Elizabeth released me from fiancé detail.”
Maxi’s heart constricted. “I can’t tell if you’re being funny…or if you’re crushed.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve sufficiently bounced back.” His gaze swept over her. “And let me say, there is no finer representation of what I really want than you.”
A smile tipped her lips. But Maxi could see in his dark eyes that he hadn’t fully reconciled the split.
Yet…she could help him with that, couldn’t she?
Taking his glass from his hand, she placed it on the coffee table next to hers. Then she leaned in close—close enough to press her breasts to the hard ledge of his pecs. Her lips swept over his, and the intimate touch jolted her to the core of her being.
She whispered, “You are fantastically sexy, Ryan. Ridiculously gorgeous. And I want you.”
Chapter Seven
Adrenaline replaced the blood in Ryan’s veins.
“Consider me thoroughly captivated” he said, as his gaze raked over her.
Her breasts were plumped up so that they nearly spilled over the edges of her bra. She had a defined rib cage that gave way to a flat, delicately sculpted stomach. The gentle slope of her hips led to those long, silky legs he couldn’t get enough of. Despite them being partially encased in thigh-high boots—which he found incredibly, devilishly sexy—he’d long since committed every inch of tanned skin and toned muscle to memory.
“I do like how attentive and observant you are,” she whispered.
“Be assured, I’m not missing a single detail. You are by far the most seductive woman I have ever known.”
“Now that’s a compliment.” Her long fingers skimmed over the buttons of his shirt, merely teasing him at first as her lips continued to brush softly against his. She kissed the corner of his mouth and murmured, “I want you naked.”
“No argument here.”
She laughed sweetly. “And I want you insanely erect. For me.”
“I’m there. Since the moment you opened the door. And I won’t even bother to mention the riot you incited in my groin when I walked in on you this morning, bent over the conference room table.”
“Did it make you want to push my skirt up and fuck me?”
“Hard.”
The mere thought ignited his insides. The visual had stuck with all damn day. And he’d had to put an extreme amount of effort into keeping his cool, because the idea of Maxi in that position, with her skirt hitched up, sparked myriad fantasies. And since he already knew she wasn’t the least bit inhibited—sure as hell not frigid—he had the strong suspicion that she wouldn’t mind him taking her that way.
Which ratcheted his internal temperature several degrees. Made his cock surge with excitement. Made his blood sing.
