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“Any man who looks at you and only sees a bank balance is an idiot. How could anyone miss how truly amazing and unique you are?”
Her eyes rounded, his compliment hitting its mark. Except, it had been genuine. He wasn’t trying to seduce. Wasn’t trying to play. Still the words had come out and he knew they had worked. They were drawing her in.
If you want her, you can have her.
No. He wouldn’t.
Still, the temptation burned so hot he was nearly consumed with it. To know what it would be like to take everything he wanted. To explore all her softness. Her innocence.
That was the true shame. It was her innocence, his desire to tear off her armor and expose all that soft sweetness, that called to him and it was those very things that should keep him from ever touching her.
And yet, were she another woman, more jaded, more purposefully seductive, he doubted he would have felt a thing.
It was her differences. The very things that made her forbidden. That was what made her call to him.
“You really think they’re missing something?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, knowing he should stop. Knowing he should cut her down as effectively as he’d just built her up. Something to get her to stop looking at him with those round blue eyes. Looking at him like he was some kind of hero.
“How can everyone have missed it, Ferro?” she asked. “What is it about me? I don’t really go out of my way to hide the good things about myself. Why does everyone see something wrong with me? Why do people just want to take things from me?”
“The truth? I think you’re too smart for most people. You’re intimidating. And it’s clear you wouldn’t be able to connect with someone who isn’t somewhat exceptional. You’re a challenge, and that frightens some men. Or…makes them want to subdue it.” She flinched when he said that. “Also, I think you don’t really want any of the men who haven’t shown interest in you. I think you’re more in control than you think.”
“Do you?”
“You’re the kind of woman who knows how to go out and get what she wants. A billionaire before age twenty-one, a leader in the technology industry. An amazing feat for your age. Nearly unheard of for your gender. I think you’re in much more control than you give yourself credit for.”
Julia looked down into her champagne, and back up at Ferro. He was impeccably dressed, the lines of the custom suit skimming his physique, a physique she’d seen quite a lot of this morning. Ferro did a good impression of a man who was civilized, and yet, she knew he wasn’t. Not really.
She’d seen beneath the suit this morning. And she was more than a little intrigued.
And he thought she had more control than she gave herself credit for. What would happen if she tried to seduce Ferro? If she went for what she wanted?
He wanted her, too. Well, maybe he did. He had kissed her like he was drowning and she was air back in California, and he’d said that those who didn’t see why she was special were stupid. Which meant he had to think she was.
That was even beside the point. She didn’t need for him to think she was special, she just needed him to want her.
She was ridiculous. A twenty-five-year-old virgin letting so many fears and insecurities hold her back. He was right. Her armor was total bull. She was still just living in fear, living to protect. She wasn’t fortified by her image. She was hiding behind it.
But if she was with Ferro…she could break through the wall. This one big wall of fear that surrounded her. And he would make it crumble. Because Ferro Calvaresi was a master of the game. The kind of man who made women lose their minds for a chance to have his body.
There was a thought.
If you wanted to learn about a subject, you learned from a master. That was just common sense. So if she wanted to learn about sex…
She took a drink of her champagne. Fortification. Much needed. Then she took a step toward him and put her hand on his arm. “And do you like women who are in control?” she asked, going for a sultry tone, though she was pretty sure she sounded a little raspy.
Something in his eyes changed. Darkened. “No.”
“Oh.”
“I like to be in control.”
