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And she wanted him to teach her how to attract some other guy?Fuckno.
“Leo,” she said, smoothing her little cocktail napkin on the table before her. “Listen. It’s simple. You need me, and I need you.”
“You don’t need me to learn how to be attractive, Amelia.”
“Ah, see, that’s where you’re wrong.” She stuck her index finger in the air. “Idoneed your help with that.”
Jaw clenched, he cast an eye over the sheer, loose, cream-colored blouse she wore. The top few buttons were undone, and he caught a glimpse of something lacy underneath. The blouse was tucked in the front of her jeans, which were tight enough to make him want to peel them off. Her little brown booties had clip-clopped over the bar’s polished concrete floors when she’d walked toward him five minutes earlier.
“You’re plenty hot, Amelia,” he growled.
She blinked, then narrowed her eyes. God, he wanted her. Notoncehad she engaged in the usual flirtation with him. She hadn’t giggled or playfully smacked his arm. She hadn’t tried to gaze at him seductively or start any of the usual dance steps that usually led him to a horizontal position with a woman. Every time she spoke to him, he almost forgot who he was. With Amelia, he wasn’t Pestilence. He wasn’t the shameless flirt. He was just Leo.
She made him feel like a better man than the one he knew he was.
“Be that as it may,” she said, smoothing her cocktail napkin again, and again, and again. “This is my offer. I’ll go to your work retreat and pretend to be your fiancée if you help me improve my dating and seduction skills.”
Stubborn little minx. Fine. She wanted to play this game? He’d entertain it. He leaned back in his chair and picked up his glass. Ice clinked against the walls of it as he tilted it this way and that. “That’s a very vague target,” he said. “How will we know the objective has been achieved?” The next words, he had to force out. “Is there a specific man you have in mind to seduce?”
The pulse jumped in her neck. Her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink, and Leo’s heart began to pound. Therewasa man. Was it that barista? That scrawny little jerkoff? He should have punched him when he had the chance.
“No,” Amelia finally answered. “There’s no one specific. But, well, recent experience has indicated that my skills are lacking across the board. So, I’ve created a rubric.” Her expression brightened on the last word, and she pulled out the tablet she’d used to run Maggie and Emory’s wedding from her purse.
“A rubric.”
“A curriculum, if you will.” She swiped up on the tablet and tapped a few times. “This is what I’d like to learn.”
Leo pulled the tablet toward him, watching Amelia swallow nervously, then dropped his eyes to the device. “I’m surprised you don’t have a full binder with labeled tabs and everything. You seem like the type of person who would have a color-coded binder.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the twenty-first century. An electronic copy is far superior. I have a color-coded spreadsheet.”
He bit back his grin and looked at the file. “‘Section One,’” he read. “‘Flirting.’”
She leaned closer, and he caught a bit of her scent. Something fruity and sweet, different from Saturday—her hair? Shampoo?
Determined to see this charade through, Leo ignored the way his body tightened in response to the smell and read through the line items in the first section. “‘Topics of conversation. Laughing and/or giggling. Physical contact—how much and where? Eye contact—how much is too much? Bedroom eyes.’” He huffed, looking at the woman beside him. “What is this shit? You don’t need this! ‘Bedroom eyes?’ Seriously?”
She straightened, and Leo knew he’d offended her. She closed the cover on the tablet and shoved it back into her bag. “These things might come easily to you, Leo, but not all of us have such alengthyresume of conquests.”
She made to leave, her cheeks fully red now, but Leo caught her arm. “Wait.Wait, Amelia. I’m sorry.”
“This was such a stupid idea. Forget it.”
She wouldn’t look him in the eyes, and he hated it. “Hey,” he cajoled. “I’m sorry. It’s just—you’re an attractive woman, Amelia. I can’t believe that you think you need me to tell you any of this.” Still holding her arm, he slid his hand down and brushed his thumb over the pulse point of her wrist. Her skin was so soft. Touching her like this, even when she wouldn’t look at him, settled something inside him. Ever since he’d held her hand before the wedding, he’d craved the feel of her skin against his. He knew he didn’t deserve her, knew he should stay away—but he couldn’t help himself. He brushed his thumb over her wrist once more, studying the fine tremor that passed through her body.
“You can stop saying that, you know,” she said softly.
“Saying what?”
She flicked her gaze toward him, then rolled her eyes. “I know I’m not some sexpot, okay? I’ll never be a bombshell, but I still think I deserve to find someone who cares about me.”
Her words made his chest ache, which was odd. He didn’t like that feeling at all. He tugged her closer and spun her around, gently touching her hips until they were face-to-face. She stood between his spread knees, watching him suspiciously.
“All right,” he gentled. “Why don’t we see what we’re working with?”
Her suspicious look intensified, and Leo had the urge to laugh. Not in a mocking way—not at all. But she was so cute and leery of him, every skeptical thought written right there in her quicksilver eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Hit me with your best bedroom eyes.” He made a little “come at me” gesture with the fingers of both hands.
