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“You.” I didn’t break from her gaze and cared even less about returning to the party.
She frowned. “Me? Sorry, I don’t understand.”
“You work here, am I right?” I asked.
She nodded. “You could say so.”
Smiling, I rested my hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Can you tell my friend here where he can find the door that leads from the kitchen to the driveway?”
She pointed away from us. “There’s a long hallway to the right of the stove. It leads to a pantry, and just past that room, there’s a large red door to the outside.”
“Thanks for the directions.” I didn’t move, but Leo got the hint and nodded stiffly, taking off down the hall to check it out.
“You’re welcome.” She stood there, hand still in mid-air above the container lid, probably debating whether to finish doing whatever she was working on before we showed up.
But that was before I’d laid eyes on her and started fighting every instinct to do more than just eye-fuck her. I took in every one of her curves the dress didn’t hide. While the cut was modest—a high neckline and a hem that hit just above her knee—it hid nothing. Not the lush swells of her breasts, the narrow waist or the flare of her hips. While she was only five-five or so, her legs were long and lean. Toned. And in those heels?
Hell, if I had my way, there wouldn’t be one sterile surface in this entire room after we were done blowing off steam.
“I take it you manage the wait staff?”
“Sort of, yes. My company catered tonight’s event.”
Impressive.
“It must be a pain, being stuck back here in the kitchen, away from all the action when you’d just as easily fit in with the party guests.”
She offered a professional smile. One I knew well and pasted on myself often enough. She was being courteous and nothing more. I was going to change that.
“Actually, I do intend to make an appearance. I’ll check on everything in a while. We’re short-staffed tonight, so I’m juggling a few extra tasks.”
“That’s unfortunate…although, I doubt I’d get this much one-on-one time with you if you were out there rubbing shoulders with all those strangers.”
“Strangers like yourself, you mean?” she asked coyly. “After all, we haven’t formally met.”
In my head, I’ve already been intimately acquainted with every square inch of this unwitting seductress’s body, but she wasn’t wrong. “My apologies.” I took another few steps toward her and extended my arm, waiting for her to accept my offered handshake. “I’m Dane.” I angled my head down the hall. “My friend is Leo.”
“Good to meet you, Dane,” she said as she took my hand. “I’m Harper.”
“Harper. Lovely name.”
She grinned now; this time it was genuine. “Thanks.”
I took a lot of pride in reading people, and Harper was no exception. From that handshake, I could tell a hell of a lot about her. First, she was more than mildly attracted to me, the way she let me maintain my grip on her hand for as long as I did. The moan I was sure I heard her let out after she uttered my name didn’t hurt either.
Second, her firm, confident touch told me she was a professional who took her business seriously. Her nails were unpainted and cut short. My palm met callouses on hers. She didn’t just run the company. She worked it.
There was also the look in her eyes as they darted from me, to the double doors, to the food warmers, and back to me. I was in her way, an unexpected, tempting distraction who kept her from providing an exceptional experience to whomever hired her.
Third, she was torn. She didn’t want her staff or her client to find her like this, in the kitchen chatting with me instead of tending to her affairs, let alone in a compromising situation. Yet she couldn’t just tell me to get the hell out so she could get back to work. I made her curious, but also nervous. She had a job to do, and I was in the way.
And fourth, she seemed to be wound so damn tight she needed to be reminded what a good fuck felt like.
I took it all as promising signs of one irrefutable fact: Harper was on the menu for tonight.
Ripe for the taking.
And plenty for both of us.
