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Her lids lowered, shuttering her eyes, but her chin came up. “Reason number two for my departure,” she said quietly. “I’m sure by now you’ve heard all about Paul and me.”
He knew enough, and not just Barrington’s one-sided explanation. A hotel like Las Ventanas functioned as its own small, self-contained world. Gossip circulated like oxygen, particularly when it involved the sudden departure of a popular member of the team. “I heard a few things, but I prefer to get my information from the source.”
r /> She shook her head, and the lights splashed auburn tones in her sable hair. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He stayed silent, because experience taught him when a woman said, “I don’t want to talk about it,” it was exactly what she wished to discuss. The tactic paid off.
“Why in God’s name were you wearing the costume? I ordered the suit for Paul. I never dreamt he’d gotten someone else to play Santa.” She shook her head again. “How’d he talk you into it?”
“Paul didn’t. Someone on my team saw the costume and came up with the idea. Santa generates instant goodwill. Employees of an acquired property always fear layoffs. Since nobody gets pink-slipped by Santa during the holiday party, we thought me dressing the part to announce the acquisition offered a quick and effective way to shortcut people’s worries.”
“Oh.” A little stiffness drained from her shoulders. “That makes sense, I guess.”
“By the time I realized you thought I was Paul, you’d already joined the party. I’m sorry I didn’t react more quickly.” And that was the only thing he was sorry about, so the apology would have to do.
She winced. “Forget about it. Please.”
Well, there was the problem. He couldn’t forget about it. Or her. He leaned in until her sweet, mouthwatering scent teased his senses. “Can you forget?”
A little shiver danced along her shoulders, but she drew back and gave him what she probably considered a don’t-mess-with-me look. He wondered if she knew the dimple appeared in her cheek when she twisted the corner of her mouth. He also wondered what she’d do if she knew it made him want to mess with her all the more. “Can you?” he repeated.
“Yes. What happened was a mistake. I take complete responsibility, but I need to put my mistakes behind me, and focus on the future. So, no offense, but it would be best if our paths never crossed again.”
He thought about the offer he’d made to the Templetons earlier in the day. “I may disappoint you there.” At her irritated glare, he shrugged. “It’s a small world, after all.”
“Not for a man with your resources. You can go anywhere. Do anything. There’s nothing in my little corner of Maui to interest you.”
He lowered his head and brought their faces closer, just to rattle her cage. “Sometimes the little corners hold the biggest surprises. I think we proved that at Las Ventanas.” Against his chest her heart beat hard and fast. Her cage was definitely rattled. “Are you telling me you never think about our adventure in the closet?”
Pink invaded her cheeks. “I don’t.”
“You do, you just don’t want to admit it. You know what else you don’t want to admit?”
“Your time is up, Mr. St. Sebastian.” She said the words, but didn’t move out of his embrace. If she expected him to release her before they’d finished this, she was going to be disappointed.
“Don’t you think we can drop the formalities, Miss Wayne? Our association has been extremely personal, after all.”
“There is nothing personal between us.”
“I beg to differ. In fact, I’m fairly certain I know your deepest, darkest secret.”
“I sincerely doubt that.”
He brought his mouth to her ear. “You knew I wasn’t Paul.”
“No.” The denial, though immediate, sounded slightly breathless, slightly desperate.
She had to have at least suspected, at some point. He refused to believe otherwise. “Not at first. But when I had you clinging to the tables, trembling so hard you could barely stand? You knew.”
“You-you’re delusional. If I’d realized you weren’t Paul, don’t you think I would have stopped you?”
“No. By the time you realized, you didn’t care.”
The crowd around them erupted into a countdown.
Ten… He cupped her jaw in one hand…
Nine… and slid the other down her back. Then lower.
