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He chuckled softly as he undid the bow tie of his tux. It was the most erotic sight she had ever seen … until he began to unbutton his shirt. Her throat was dry, and she would have given her left butt cheek for some more champagne.
“Well, those kinds of nights lose their shine when you’ve been to too many of them.” He grinned at her. “I was a toddler the first time I went to Lucia’s for a party. Granted, we were in a whole different wing of the house with other children.” He ran his hands through his hair, tussling the sleek strands until he looked a little wild. “I have to admit that I liked seeing it through your eyes tonight.”
She arched a brow at him, skeptical. “Yeah?”
“You lit up every time something happened. I forget to be excited most of the time. You don’t.”
Caroline shrugged. “I guess when you’re going all around the world for your clients, it’s easy to get jaded.”
“I’ve seen a lot of the bad stuff in my line of work. It’s made life …” he paused and frowned. “It’s made life a little darker. I like seeing the good again. You do that. Bring out the good again.” His voice was rough with the admission.
Her breath caught. “Don’t say things like that,” she warned in a whisper.
“Oh? Why shouldn’t I?”
She turned and tried to take off one of her long white gloves. It was difficult to do, and she soon used her teeth to pull at each fingertip.
“Let me,” Ryland said, coming up behind her.
Caroline knew the second she turned, she would be in danger. Not a real danger. Not the kind of danger she had faced when the man in black was chasing her.
This was a different kind of danger altogether.
She was a woman very much in danger of falling for the wrong man.
Men like Ryland didn’t end up with podcasters who were being blackmailed into saving their good-for-nothing brothers. The Rylands of the world ended up with polished one-percenters who understood their world.
But Caroline turned if only to see what Ryland would do.
He gently tugged at each finger before sliding the long glove off her hand. “Why shouldn’t I tell you that I like seeing the world through your eyes.”
“Because it can’t be true.”
“Why not?”
She aimed a withering look at him, but she forgot that she wanted to be angry when he slid the second glove from her hand. The material whispered when he tugged and let it fall to the floor. He wove their fingers together.
There was no mistake about it now.
Ryland kissed her.
Caroline opened her arms and her lips to his embrace. “We shouldn’t,” she said between sips of his mouth.
“Why the fuck not?” he growled as he tugged down one of her dress straps.
“I …” she racked her brain, trying to find a reason why theyshouldn’tbe together for just one night, but she drew a blank. There was no real reason.
So what if he came from a world of riches she didn’t understand? So what if Joan was holding her brother prisoner? Aaron had put himself in that position all on his own.
Why should it beherresponsibility to fix everything for everyone? Shouldn’t she be allowed one night of passion with the only man who had ever made her lose her head?
“You?” Ryland whispered before kissing the long column of her neck. “What do you want, Caroline?”
“You,” she repeated.
Was it a question or a plea? She would never know.
Caroline kissed Ryland as she crushed herself into his arms. One night. They could have one night together. It couldn’t hurt. Could it?
