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How many times was she going to surprise him? he asked himself as they got off the elevator, then headed for his office.
Of course, his lust-filled brain instantly twisted the question up as he wondered, would he be surprised by the softness of her skin beneath his fingertips? Would the taste of her lips against his tongue be as sweet as he imagined? And what would she sound like as she came apart beneath him? Whimpers? Gasps? Or would she be too breathless for either?
Business, damn it. He needed to keep his mind on business. “Do you have any questions about the schedule my assistant sent you?”
As she pulled a folder out of her bag, her scent played effortless havoc with his quickly diminishing self-control. “Just one.” Holding up the three pages that detailed the next twelve hours of his life, she asked, “When do you get a moment to take a breath?”
“Breathing is usually scheduled for just after lunch,” he replied, before he could think better of teasing her.
Her eyes widened for a moment before she began laughing. “I’ll make sure to pencil it in.”
Her scent and her nearness were destroying his restraint moment by moment. Boundaries. He needed to make sure the boundaries between them were clear—not just to Tatiana, but in his own head, as well.
But before he could lay down any ground rules, she said, “Like I said on Friday, not only do I not want to get in your way this week, but the best way for me to learn is to see you do whatever it is you would naturally do throughout the week. I truly intend to fade into the background, so please don’t give me another thought.”
She went to sit down on the couch, but he stopped her with one incredulous word: “How?” He made a sound of obvious disbelief. “You can’t even get away with a disguise outside. So how do you think you could ever fade into the background in my office?”
“Blending into the wallpaper is one of the first things you learn in acting class. And I’ll have you know,” she said with a confident smile, “that I can play a mean wallpaper.”
“I don’t care how good you are at acting like wallpaper, you’re a star.” A stu
“You’re right that your colleagues will probably react at first because they’ve seen me in a movie or two, but it won’t take them long to realize that I’m just a person. And that I’m no different from anyone else.”
But couldn’t she see? She was different. So different that he’d been off his game from the first moment he’d met her.
His assistant knocked on the open door. “Good morning, Ian. Ms. Landon, it’s lovely to see you again.”
“Please, call me Tatiana, Bethany. And, actually, if it’s all right with you and Ian, I was hoping at some point this week that you and I could sit down together so that I can ask you some questions for my research?”
“Absolutely, Tatiana.”
Ian’s assistant had met plenty of famous and wealthy people over the years she’d been working with him, many of them from his own family. But he could see from the huge smile on Bethany’s face that she was especially excited about getting to spend some time this week with his beautiful, sparkling shadow.
“Mr. Thomas has just arrived and is waiting in reception, Ian. Would you like me to bring him in?”
“No, I’ll go greet him myself.” Before he did, he turned to Tatiana and explained, “Fly
He held the door open for her, and when she headed down the hall in front of him, he was cursed with a view of Tatiana’s perfect hips covered in navy wool.
Wallpaper. Was she completely nuts?
“Fly
In his late twenties, Fly
“It’s very nice to meet you, Tatiana,” Fly
Tatiana flushed at his compliment. “Thank you. I hear you’re brilliant, too.”
What the hell? Were the two of them flirting?
Rationally, Ian knew it shouldn’t matter one bit who Tatiana flirted with, and yet he couldn’t quite bank his irritation as they made their way into the conference room where Bethany had set out an array of breakfast food and drinks.
Fly
Fly
“This is my new offer.”
Fly
Ian nodded. He’d spent the entire weekend doing just that, as a matter of fact. “They’re as enthusiastic as I am about working with you and your company.”
Fly
Ian sat back in his chair to make sure Fly
Finally, Fly
“I’m committed to you and your company, Fly