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He took a seat across from her and settled a stack of papers and a laptop on the low table between them. “I hope you don’t mind. I have a meeting with my board as soon as we land, and I need to have some answers before then.”
Worry lines around his eyes and across his brow grew the longer he stared at the paper he held.
“No, not at all. In fact, we should both work.”
It was way safer doing that than fantasizing about what a man like him would feel like pressed up against all of her.
He stood and slipped from his suit jacket and tossed it over the back of his chair. His broad shoulders pulled at his shirt, the material clinging to all that Texan muscle. Despite all her efforts to the contrary, her gaze drew to the finger he slipped around the knot of his tie as he loosened its hold by a few inches before moving to the cuffs of his sleeves and rolling them to reveal strong, thick forearms.
She swallowed past a dry spot in her throat and took a long drink of the bottle of water he’d handed her when boarding.
“What are you working on now?” He gestured to her planner and laptop.
Eating him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
She cleared her throat and dropped her gaze to the screen trying to focus on the words. “Umm...meal plan options, at the moment. Imagine all the delicacies we can feature.” She brought her eyes back to his. “I might have to rein in Rachael, my in-house baker and chef, on this one. She’ll want to go crazy at first, I know it.”
His warm laughter made her smile. “I’m familiar with the effects summer eating has on belt lines and budgets. My mother and sister turn into a sugar factory as soon as the heat cranks up. Then again for the holidays.” He paused, holding her gaze for a moment. “This job of yours suits you, Juniper. You look like you’re in your element.”
He flashed a grin that was so inherently confident that she nearly forgot to blink for a full minute as he continued to hold her gaze captive. “It gives you this glow. Every time you talk about one aspect or another… I don’t know, you give off a romantic vibe that’s contagious.”
Contagious? That was a new way of looking at it.
“Is that a good thing or bad?”
“Depends on which side of the romance spectrum you sit on I guess. I’ve been known to prefer a lonely dinner poring over contracts and numbers than a night out on the town.”
She gave a slight shrug, relaxing into the chair. “That might be due to not having the right woman to tempt you.”
His brows shot up and her foot went into her mouth. Gah, she was really stepping in it with this man. Why him? Why now? What was it about him that had her so damn mesmerized she couldn’t focus?
“Until now, of course. Stella,” she offered quickly.
He nodded, a sort of cocky grin on his face.
“How about you?”
She blinked, noticing his lack of agreement with her statement.
“Where does a wedding planner sit? You’d have to believe in love and all the trimmings it comes with, I’m assuming.”
“Loaded question. I don’t know. Never really thought about it that way. But I’d have to say you’re wrong. Stacey Banners is proof of that. She’s so damn cold I’m surprised that woman doesn’t have snowflakes coming out of her ass.”
A bark of laughter filled the small cabin and she stifled her own laugh. “It’s true. Terrible of me to say, but, ya know. But for me, I’ve always dreamed of having a summer wedding, that’s for sure. All the white and bright colors. I guess I’m channeling my inner bride here, too.” She tilted her head to the side and considered his question further.
“It just seems like the perfect time to bring two hearts together.” Her cheeks warmed. “Too sappy? Yeah it is, right?” She laughed at herself. “Yeah, just ignore me.”
“I don’t think that would be possible now or ever, Juniper.”
His expression turned heated as her gaze fixed to his.
“What does that mean?”
“Trust me. Even a work-a-holic like me knows that back home, a woman like you wouldn’t last a day without having a ring slipped on your finger. Sure as I’m sitting here, one of my brothers will try to make a pass at you the second they meet you.”
“Oh,” she said a little breathlessly, feeling more than just turned on.
“And what about you?”
