Some Like It Hot by Louisa Edwards Read Free Book Online

mouth.

    “What are you doing?” he demanded. It came out less sharp, more hoarse, but he couldn’t do anything about that.

    “I wanted a moment alone with you.” She never lost that look of calm, detached amusement, and just like on the plane, it set Danny’s temper on fire.

    “Next time, you might think about asking.”

    “I was pretty sure you’d say no,” Eva returned calmly, her gray eyes flashing silver with amusement.

    As much as Danny might have wanted to refuse to spend a moment alone with this woman who shook his composure and made him forget himself … “You’re one of the most powerful people in the restaurant industry, plus you hold the fate of this competition in your lily-white hands. You really think I’m dumb enough to blow you off?”

    Whoops. That came out a bit more aggressive than he’d intended.

    One dark brow winged up. “I didn’t peg you for someone who cared a lot about authority,” she said, mildly enough considering the tone he’d been using. “And I know you don’t have much respect for me, regardless of how much power I supposedly have.”

    Danny took a deep breath, trying to loosen the pressure in his chest, get back some semblance of his usual control. “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you or whatever.”

    That stung a little, but it was worth it if it kept her from forming some kind of grudge against his team.

    Instead of looking grateful for the apology, however, the minx had the balls to laugh at him. “Nice. You’re not sorry you were rude—you’re just sorry I didn’t like it, right? Well, you can relax, Mr. Manners. I’m not that sensitive, and I’ve been looked down on by bigger men than you and come out on top in the end.”

    It was more of an I-am-woman-hear-me-roar speech than a flirt, but somehow she said the words in that smoky honey voice of hers and all Danny could picture was the two of them laid out on the nearest available surface, with Eva straddling him like a pony.

    He swallowed hard. “What, exactly, did you trap me in here to talk about?” With some extra jaw clenching, he managed it without sounding like a sex-starved teenager or something.

    “Actually,” she said, with that half-smile that made it look like she was enjoying a joke no one else was in on, “I wanted to apologize again to you for holding up that plane. I noticed the way your friend—the fish cook for the team, right? I could tell he didn’t like being in the elevator, and it made me wonder if the airplane upset him the same way. And then I thought maybe, before, you were worried about him and that’s why you were so annoyed that I held up the departure. Because you’re the one who takes care of everyone on your team, I think. I bet if you were the one with claustrophobia, you wouldn’t have even come up to the front to complain to the flight attendant. Anyway, I wanted to say I was sorry for making it harder for you to keep your team calm and happy. But we got off track, somehow, and you ended up apologizing to me. Sort of. Sorry!”

    Against his will, Danny stiffened. Her unexpected insight struck way too close to the bone and left him feeling raw and exposed. “So. That’s one for me, and one for you. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even now.”

    Eva sent him a knowing look from under insanely long, curling lashes. “Are you sure you won’t let me make it up to you?”

    Without conscious volition, Danny’s feet carried him forward, slowly closing the gap between them.

    Eva didn’t move, just tilted her head, her steady gaze never wavering for an instant. This was a woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go out and get it.

    They were so close now, they were sharing the same air, passing one breath back and forth between them in a long, heated moment of suspended time. He could smell the heady sweetness of her perfume, but underneath it was something even more addictive—the warm, earthy tang of clean skin and woman. It