“There were two.”

“—but. Wait, what? Two? I only knew about the one.”

“I can be very discreet when the situation calls for it.”

She blinked and took a steadying breath. “Right. Well, fine. Then I’m not like the girls you typically date, but I’m good for you—”

“Stop, Paige. Why are you trying so hard?”

A flash of uncertainty crossed her face; then I watched with amazement as all pretense of her shell crumbled. She sagged against the wall, leaning her cheek into my open hand. “Because I know you may need me, but I want you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I want you, too. More than I’ve ever wanted any other woman.”

I didn’t wait for her response or her permission. Our mouths collided, opened for each other in the most carnal kiss I’d ever experienced. Her hands slid into my hair while mine gripped her hips, pulling her against me.

Damn, she fit against me like a dream.

Our tongues tangled, her taste all sugar and champagne, better than any fantasy could have been. I instantly wanted more, harder, deeper, and I took it, giving her a clear vision of what things would be like between us.

I wasn’t sweet and shy. I wasn’t the fairytale prince who made love slowly. No, if that was what she wanted, she’d better know now before we agreed to...whatever this was. I took what I wanted, but I sure as hell made sure I gave back twice as much.

And right now I wanted Paige under me, her supple body reaching for mine, her thighs spread and quivering.

I gripped her ass in both hands and lifted her, groaning as her breasts rubbed against my chest.

“Wait, don’t you want to see a draft of the agreement?”

“No,” I growled, taking her mouth again.

I carried her into the massive suite, every ounce of my concentration torn between the feel of her tongue and not falling on my fucking face. I’d never had a woman strip every thought with nothing but a kiss. Never been so consumed that I seriously debated propping her up on the corner of that dining room table and taking her.

But I’d never had Paige in my arms.

Finding the bedroom, I set her on her feet and spun her in my arms, my fingers unerringly finding the zipper on the back of her dress.

“But there are terms, and I have this...well, bucket list of sexy things I’d like to—”

“Not tonight,” I told her as her dress fell in a soft rush of silk to the ground. “While I’m more than intrigued by any sexy list you could think up with that insanely gorgeous brain of yours, tonight I just want my mouth on you.”

“Oh,” she said as I popped her strapless bra open. Her hands rushed up to hold it in place.

I inhaled her perfume, committing the moment to memory. Then I gently tilted her head to the side and set my mouth to the side of her neck.

She sighed and leaned into me. “God, that feels good.”

“Just wait,” I promised, my voice thick with barely-leashed want.

“Does this mean you agree?” Her voice shook the slightest fraction.

I ran my hand up the flat, toned muscles of her stomach to twine my fingers with hers. “Think of this as an interview. If we both agree that there’s something here, we’ll consider a second round.” Fingers locked, I pulled our hands away, and her bra fell to the floor.

She turned to face me, her eyes wide and luminous in the moonlight that filtered in through the windows. Stepping back, I looked down and sucked in a lungful of air. Her breasts were perfect with pink tips already drawn tight and waiting. Reaching out, I gently cupped one, reveling in its weight in my palm as she sighed.

“An interview,” she whispered.

“Shall we begin?”

Yes or no. She may have said she wanted it, but I needed to hear it from her lips, needed to know this was really what she intended.

“Yes.”

Sweetest word in the English language.

Cupping the back of her neck, I drew her into a kiss. She slid my jacket off my shoulders, and I let it fall to the floor with her dress before I picked her up by her tiny waist and laid her back on the king-sized bed.

I hovered over her, taking in every line of her body, learning with my eyes what I would explore and memorize with my hands, my lips, my tongue. She gripped my shirt and yanked, our mouths meeting in a frenzy of tongue and teeth. My dick strained against my pants, but there was zero chance in hell I was taking them off. I needed every barrier between us that I could get.

Breaking away from her mouth, I slipped kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, and down to her breasts. Her back arched and she let out the sweetest moan as I took one peak into my mouth, gently laving the crest with my tongue.

I’d been wrong before—yes wasn’t the sweetest sound, that moan was.

“You taste like honey,” I said as I moved to the other breast, willing myself to go slowly, not to blow it, both literally and figuratively. She was incredible, her skin softer than satin, and I stroked every inch her stomach, her breasts, her waist, until I reached the sweet flare of her hips. God, her curves would be the death of me.

Her legs moved restlessly as I placed hot kisses to the area her legs joined her hips, my tongue playing with the strap of her red lace thong.

“Rory,” she pled.

I took a fortifying breath and tried to say the alphabet backward in my head as I pulled the scrap of fabric down her thighs, over her knees and slender calves until her panties joined the rest of her clothing and she was finally, gloriously naked.

If this was a dream, I never wanted to wake up.

“Now you,” she said, raising up on her elbows.

“No,” I answered, tasting the skin of her knee, then her thighs.

“But…”

I looked up and nearly abandoned my own plan. Damn, she was sexy, and beautiful, and classy, and everything that definitely shouldn’t be in bed with a guy like me. “If this is going to work, we’re going to have to agree to something, Paige. You might be in control in that boardroom of yours, but I’m in control in the bedroom.”

“But I have a list—”

Without warning, I spread the lips of her pussy wide and ran my tongue from her entrance to her clit.

She gasped, her hands flying to my head. “Holy shit!” Her fingernails lightly scraped my scalp as she held me to her.

“See how much better it is when you stop thinking and start enjoying?”