Page 11 of Heated (Burned, Inc.)
“Is everything okay over here?”
Relief washes through me like a swollen river. Thank God I’m sitting down, because even though I’ve managed to clutch on to my composure with a clawlike grasp, my knees have given up the ghost.
Oh, Doug. Earlier flirtation with the redhead’s breasts forgotten. And I see a huge tip in your future for this timely save.
I am a woman who’s perfectly capable of rescuing myself, but screw it, I’m not above grabbing hold of this life raft.
I turn, looking over my shoulder. “Thanks, I—”
Holy shit.
Blue. The color of his eyes.
I hadn’t been able to see them in the photograph that day in my office, but the moment he opened the door at his home, I couldn’t help but notice. They’re not your run-of-the-mill blue. His eyes are the deepest, hottest heart of a flame. The brilliant blaze of a sky when the sun is at its highest. Those eyes are dazzling in their intensity, damn near blinding, and difficult to look at. There’s no way I can forget them. Forgethim.
Cyrus Hart. The Cyrus Hart I broke up with on behalf of his girlfriend. Beauty-in-hard-golden-flesh-and-harder-muscles Cyrus Hart, who nearly had me tossing professionality to the wind on his doorstep.
A shallow breath shudders free from my parted lips.
DefinitelynotDoug.
“Is this the night for people not minding their business?” Richard snaps. “There’s no problem. You can leave.”
“I’m not talking to you.”
A shiver that isn’t altogether unpleasant trips down my spine at his flat tone. But then again, I’m not on the receiving end of it. Dick—I mean, Richard is.
Cyrus’s gaze remains pinned on Richard for another taut, silent second; then it shifts to me. And for an insane moment, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from begging him to turn that piercing bright stare back to Dick.
“Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yes.” With a quick glance at my dinner companion, I add, “Now that dinner is just about over.”
“The hell it is,” Dick argues, and damn. When I call my client with an update on the evening, it’s going to really cost me not to be able to congratulate her on being rid of this guy. She dodged an asshole-shaped bullet. “We’re not fin—”
“Yes, you are.”
Again with that flat tone. And this time, Richard pauses, his thin lips snapping shut and his spine hitting the back of his chair. Maybehe’s finally shut up long enough to notice what I did the moment Cyrus spoke in that voice with the faint thread of menace weaving through it. Maybe Richard finally noticed the stark power and animal magnetism that Cyrus’s obviously expensive black slim-fitting suit couldn’t hide. No, if anything, its impeccable ... civility emphasized the perfectly contained male beast underneath.
It’s an intimidating sight.
It’s breathtaking.
And my fingers itch with the need to grab my Canon 90D and snap picture after picture of him, just trying to capture that almost visceral quality of his on film.
I jerk my way-too-fascinated and probably too-revealing gaze away from him. A snort stops just short of escaping. I can stop looking at him, but there’s not a damn thing I can do about the rave happening between my legs—lust thumping and throbbing so loud, so hot, it’s become its own soundtrack.
“Your dinner’s finished,” Cyrus says, that hooded unblinking stare fixed on Richard in a way that hasmyheart pounding. “Don’t bother asking for the check. I have it covered.”
“I can pay for my own meal,” Dick sputters ... even as he throws his cloth napkin to the table and shoves his chair back.
Smart man.
Or one with a strong sense of self-preservation.
After shooting to his feet, Richard fires one last glare in my direction, then stalks off, not stopping until he pushes through the restaurant doors. Only after he disappears through the double door does the tension leave my shoulders, and the tight, thorny knot in my belly slowly loosens, unfurling until I can breathe without drawing tiny painful pricks.
“Is this a habit for you?” Cyrus murmurs, and as he settles his tall wide-shouldered body into the seat Richard just vacated, a new tension infiltrates me.
