“Have you made an offer yet?”
“Only about twenty in the past ten years.” Jett’s expression darkened. I sensed a hint of the wrong kind of determination and couldn’t shake off the feeling Mayfield Realties’s reputation was well-earned. The Lucazzone estate was their latest acquisition-to-be, and I was about to be dragged into Mayfield’s strange work ethics, which apparently included not giving up on a project even if that meant trying to change the opinion of an old man who clearly didn’t want to sell.
“Ten years, huh?” I bit my lip, forcing myself to keep my mouth shut, and managed to do so for all of three seconds. “Maybe he loves that house and doesn’t want to part with it.” My gaze traveled up to meet Jett’s gaze tentatively. He measured me up and down, probably considering whether to tell me off for expressing my opinion when I was a mere employee.
Eventually he just sighed and inched closer. His fingers clutched my chin and forced my head up as his dark eyes descended into my soul. “Look, Brooke, I appreciate your input, but this isn’t Sunrise Properties, and I don’t really have a choice. The board members want that estate, and I’m the one who has to make it happen. It’s either getting the old man to sign, or be kicked out of my own company.” His lips trailed down the left side of my face to my ear. “You smell good,” he whispered, his hot breath grazing my skin.
An involuntary shiver of pleasure traveled all the way down into my panties. I held my breath, but a low moan escaped my throat nonetheless, betraying my unsolicited state of arousal. Jett peeled his lips off my earlobe and put a few inches between us, grinning. “I have to make some calls. Catch you later?”
Holy mother of hell, he had noticed. What gave me away this time?
“Yeah, sure,” I grumbled, and looked away—mortified.
“You know I’d help you out if I weren’t too busy. You could ask me to stay and I might be able to squeeze you into my tight schedule.” Jett trailed a finger down the nape of my neck, circling the spot where the tip of my ponytail touched my naked skin. His touch was so tender, yet sensual, it sent another jolt through me.
I wanted him. Badly. But right now I also wanted him to go away so I could gather some self-control to do my work and stop being so unbelievably horny. This whole thing, whatever it was that just made me feel so attracted to him, had to be reined in because it was taking up all space in my head.
“I’ll get the file back to you ASAP.” My tone ended up harsher than intended. His finger flinched away from me and he put a few inches between us. I ignored the sudden urge to reach for his hand and tell him that I didn’t mean to be so abrupt.
“I’ll be upstairs in my private office. Second door to the right.” He barely looked at me as he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.
I breathed out, relieved, and yet not quite able to feel at ease. I doubted I’d ever feel relaxed with Jett in the same room, or with him in the same house. The guy was a mystery. One moment he picked up a drunken woman from a bar and ended up naked in her bed; the next he claimed he didn’t take advantage of women under the influence of alcohol. For some reason I had believed him last night when we were sitting outside on the balcony, right before he helped me get into bed, barely touching me in the process. Either he was inventing and changing his own rules as we moved along, or he was playing some sordid game pursuing the incentive of—
What incentive would that be, Brooke?
I had signed the contract and was willing to sleep with him. What else could he possibly want?
Groaning, I shook my head at my own thoughts. It had always been like this. Whenever a guy I liked showed the slightest bit of interest in me, I couldn’t take it at face value, and my brain concocted some morbid story about everything else he might want from me: attention, getting over an ex, easily available sex. Never just me. I thought they couldn’t possibly want me for who I was. In the end I always ran, and ended up with someone like Sean, an emotionally unavailable narcissist who’d dump everything and anyone as soon as he saw a benefit elsewhere.