Page 9 of Turn Me On

I still can’t read what’s behind his gorgeous greens, and it’s driving me crazy.

“First time you hit on a client, you say?”

I swallow roughly. “Yes.”

“And what made me your first, Maddox?” The way he says my name sounds like sex and heat.

Maybe that’s a sign I’m forgiven. “Do you really want me to go there?”

His stoic expression doesn’t shift, but his eyes darken with bedroom intensity. “Yes. Go there, Maddox.”

He’s giving me a goddamn command? Gritting my teeth, I resist the shudder that whooshes down my chest. But itisan order, delivered quietly and clearly, and I obey. “You’re just…” I pause, collecting my thoughts, before I speak the truth. “Kind of irresistible.”

The corner of his mouth quirks up. “Only kind of?”

I’m so damn close to exoneration, but now he’s tempting me. Maybe he wants to know I’m the type of agent who’s unafraid of risk. “Fine. I suppose you’re all-the-way irresistible.”

Zane leans back in the booth, smiling, his big frame taking up ample space. “Relax,” he says, all sultry, maybe like he’d say it in bed. “Of course I want to work with you.”

Thank fuck.

I breathe a huge sigh of relief then draw an excited breath. There’s so much opportunity for Zane Archer, and I relish the chance to bring fantastic sponsorships to the rising star. “Good. Because I can deliver for you,” I say. “I’m going to make you serious money.”

His green eyes look pleased. “I look forward to seeing what you can do.”

“I look forward to showing you.” At last, my shoulders relax, and I let go of most of the tension I’ve felt since we left the bar. “I know I said I’m good at reading people, but you’ve been a hard man to read through dinner. You’ve been like stone since we sat down.”

Laughing, his eyes drift to his lap. “You’re telling me.”

“I walked into that,” I admit, laughing too. I steal a glance toward the other side of the restaurant, checking that Vance and Adriana are still out of sight.

He follows my gaze, then turns closer to me, then closer still. His smile disappears, and I stop laughing.

“You want to know why I had to go all ice age on you?” he asks.

So fucking much.“Yes,” I say, sounding a little desperate. Feelinga lotdesperate.

He drops a hand to my thigh and squeezes. My breath hitches.

I was not expecting him to touch me again, and I like it too much.

“Back at the bar, I was consumed with this desire to take you back to my home and fuck you senseless,” he says, and I can’t fight off a shudder this time. “The only way I could get rid of those images of you naked, spread out and tied up in my bed, was to get into the zone.”

He might be in the zone, but his confession knocks me right out of mine.

5

HYPOTHETICAL FUCK

Zane

As dinner wraps up, I take a private vow.

I won’t whisper filthy nothings to Maddox anymore. I won’t touch my new agent again. And I definitely won’t steal a private moment with him at the bar once this meal ends.

Because Icouldask him for a nightcap. Two single guys grabbing a drink while the parents among the crew hit the hotel hay. Parents always want extra shut-eye on the road.

But do I suggest a drink when Maddox signs the receipt at the table and snaps the leather folder closed?