She walked into the room and found he’d stepped around his desk to offer her his hand.
“Morning, Ms. Reynolds.”
“I think we’ve moved beyond formalities at this point, Conner. Please call me Nichole.”
He shook his head. “Bold as ever.”
“Did you really think I would have changed overnight?” she asked. “Maybe you aren’t as savvy as I gave you credit for being.”
He laughed, and the sound made her want to smile. He was fun. If they’d met under different circumstances … maybe. Maybe, what? she asked herself. They would never have met if her friend Gail Little hadn’t decided to go to a matchmaker, which had ultimately led to the TV show.
Gail had decided to give matchmaking a try after she’d struggled to find a guy she wanted to really date. As the owner of a PR firm she was busy and didn’t have time. When she’d told Willow and Nichole about the service, Willow had jumped on the idea of filming Gail’s experiences for her next TV show.
“I’m sure I’ll still surprise you,” he said.
She was sure of that, as well. “So have you decided to give in to me and just do the interview? Think how refreshing it will be to get it out of the way.”
“Please have a seat,” Conner said. “I think you must be getting light-headed if you believe that an interview would be refreshing for me.”
She walked to the leather armchair placed in front of his desk and sat down. She leaned back and crossed her legs while he watched her. She shifted on the chair and let the hem of her dress ride a little farther up her thighs to see his reaction.
His pupils dilated and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. Now she knew that she hadn’t imagined the attraction between them last night. It had been so strong and so potent she was almost afraid that she’d been dreaming.
“Have you thought more about being my mistress?” he asked.
“I thought I made it clear that I wouldn’t do that … I was hoping you’d have come to your senses,” she said.
“There is nothing wrong with any of my senses … I’m a man who goes after what he wants, Nichole, and I always get it.”
“You’ve met your match,” she said. “I never lose.”
“Never?”
Not unless she counted her rather nasty childhood, but Nichole never did. That was the past and she’d been too young to know how to deal with it.
“Not in recent memory,” she said. “I’m sure we can come up with something—”
“I already have. I want you. You want me. We both have something the other desires. Now it simply comes down to figuring out how far each of us is willing to go to get it.”
She knew he was serious. She could see it in his eyes. “I’m willing to keep the kiss-to-question ratio.”
He shook his head. “I’m not. I can’t believe you’d be satisfied with that scenario. I’m not the kind of man who multitasks that way. When I have you in my arms I guarantee that you won’t be thinking of questions.”
A warm shiver slid down her spine. She wanted to be in his arms and she knew it would take very little for him to do what he’d said. She could just give up on the interview and have an affair with him. It would be like lightning hitting dry ground, striking hot, causing a fire to burn out of control until it was put out.
Then he’d go his way and she’d be left alone. She leaned back in the chair, uncrossing and recrossing her legs because she knew it would distract him and give her time to think. But the extra time didn’t make her path any clearer. She wanted more than an affair.
She could find white-hot sex if she wanted it, but this interview was once in a lifetime. And she doubted that Conner would want her if she just gave in. She was going to make him chase her.
“I don’t think so, Conner,” she said. “You seem like a very competent man and I am more than confident that if you put your mind to it you could answer my questions easily … unless you’re afraid of what you might reveal if your guard is down.”
She saw that her comment hit its mark as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. Where before he’d been leaning forward to engage her, now it was as if a barrier had come down between them. Here was the Conner Macafee she’d expected to find.
He didn’t like that she’d already found a chink in his armor. He knew the only way to handle Nichole was to show her the door and get on with his life. But he wasn’t used to losing and didn’t intend to start now. She wanted him and she wanted her interview and he thought it was about time she learned that Conner Macafee didn’t back down.
He was going to have her and she was going to acquiesce to his demands. No other solution would satisfy him.
“I have no weaknesses, Nichole, but you are welcome to keep looking for them.”
She shrugged delicately and uncrossed her legs again. His eyes immediately tracked the movement. He liked the bit of thigh he kept glimpsing with each shift she made in the chair. He sensed that she was doing it to distract him and probably to turn him on, but he didn’t mind.
He liked that feeling of being on the edge of control. It made him work harder to keep his focus and not let her win this round.
Or any round. He didn’t like losing and he hated that she was using her innate femininity as a weapon. He knew she was aware of it—well, at least suspected she knew how much she affected him. Duh, right? He’d offered to make her his mistress. She knew he wanted her.
“Everyone has weaknesses, Conner, and I’ve already figured out one of yours,” she said.
“And that would be?”
“You like to be in charge, and if someone threatens that control you don’t like it,” she said.
He shrugged. “That’s not an unusual reaction.”
“No, it’s not. But you know that I have something you want and I’m not going to give it up easily,” she said.
“I’m very glad. I don’t like things that are easily attained.”
She smiled at him then and he knew that she was savoring the sparring as much as he was. In another world he would have enjoyed knowing her as a woman, not just as a sex partner.
“Good. So here’s my thought. We start with my questions—”
“Not happening, honey. No matter how many times you cross and uncross your legs, you aren’t going to get me hot enough to agree to that.”
“What would get you hot enough?” she asked.
He shook his head, unwilling to reveal that her flirting with him would be enough. “Become my mistress and you’ll find out.”
“I’m trying to avoid that,” she said.
“Why? We both know it’s what you want,” he said.
She nodded. “It is. But I have my professional integrity to think about.”
“Integrity. I didn’t know that crashing a party had any high moral value.”
“I came as a plus one,” she said.
“Whose?”
“Um …”
“That’s what I thought. I admire that you’re willing to go to any lengths to get this interview,” he said.
“How can you be sure of that?” she asked.
“You are sitting here,” he pointed out. “As I was saying, I admire your guts. But I think you need to acknowledge that all of your cards are