Captivated by the Tycoon (The Whittakers #4)(13)
Author: Anna DePalo

She didn’t want to think about the extent of Matthew Whittaker’s prowess as a lover. She didn’t want a reminder of how much she came up short in that department.

She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she found herself on the small dance floor with Matt.

He was a good dancer. Their height difference didn’t even register as he guided her across the dance floor with the subtle pressure of his hand at her back.

He smelled of soap—some clean, fresh scent undoubtedly targeted to men—and his skin looked smooth, newly shaven and inviting to the touch. She itched to run her hand along his jaw.

She purposely looked away and tried to focus on the fact that her mission tonight was to expose Matt to romance in all its flavors. She couldn’t have him talking numbers with all his dates, after all.

“I like your friends,” he said, drawing her attention back to him. “They’re a tight-knit bunch.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” she muttered, thinking of the personal comments she’d been getting all evening.

“What?” He searched her face.

“They like you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Haven’t you heard? I’m supposed to be great in bed.”

Her face flamed. “Er—”

“What I want to know,” he said, his lips twitching, “is why I should be learning all this dating etiquette when my skills as a lover are speaking for themselves.”

The word lover caused her nerve endings to riot. Since there was no safe response to his comment, she said lightly, “You can fox-trot and waltz with the best of them twice your age.”

His eyes twinkled, as if he saw right through her attempt to change topics.

“When we were little,” he said finally, “my mother enrolled us in dance class.”

“You’re joking.” She had a passing acquaintance with all the Whittakers, and she couldn’t imagine Matt and his brothers, macho guys all, practicing the box step.

“It was a monumental effort getting me and my brothers to behave.” He grinned. “My brother Noah decided to engage in guerilla tactics by sabotaging himself, tripping over feet and hoping to get booted out of class.”

“And did it work?”

“No.” He laughed. “But he earned himself a trip to the pediatrician when my mother worried he was having trouble with his balance. That, and he got a reputation as the class clown.”

“I loved dance class.”

He eyed her. “I bet you were one of those girls who wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up.”

“From the first to the fourth grades,” she said wistfully. “I only wish my legs had grown longer.”

He leaned to the side, pretending to examine her, then his eyes met hers again. “There’s nothing wrong with them, as far as I can tell.”

The air between them crackled.

“Thank you, but I was like those girls whose feet you and your brothers were stepping on.”

He gave her a fixed look. “I doubt I’d have tripped over your feet,” he said in a low voice. “I may have tried other things to get your attention, but not that.”

After a moment, she was the one to finally look away.

This close, she could feel the heat emanating from his hard body. Her br**sts tingled in response. Everything tingled.

It had been a mistake to have him accompany her today. It had taken five years, but her life was nice and well ordered now—just the way she wanted it. She was unprepared and unwilling to open the door to emotions from her past.

She needed to find him an appropriate woman and fast, so he could make a clean exit from her life. Everything else was too messy to contemplate.

She promised herself that, as soon as she got back to her office, she’d reapply herself with zeal to the task of finding Matt potential dates. And she refused to dwell on why that thought was depressing.

Unfortunately, Matt seemed unwilling to cooperate with the plan she’d just concocted in her mind.

He chatted with the other guests, made them laugh and, in response to probing questions, did nothing to dispel the impression he was more than her client.

In short, he was a hit with the Pine Hill crowd, and she was left to wonder at this side of Matthew Whittaker—a side that was charming and polished and easy to talk to, and emphatically not on display five years ago.

At the end of the evening, as they chatted pleasantly with the newlyweds before saying their goodbyes, Matt slid an arm around her waist.

“We can’t recommend Lauren enough to you,” Veronica said. “I’d never have met Albert otherwise. After his first wife died, he left his house only to play golf and visit his grandchildren.”

“I’m glad Lauren invited me along today,” Matt said. “It was a beautiful wedding.”

“You should try getting married yourself,” Albert countered.

“I intend to.” Matt winked. “In the meantime, I’m getting polished.”

Before Lauren could react, Matt leaned down and brushed her lips with his own.

Five

Three weeks later, as Lauren restlessly waited in her office for Matt to arrive, she relived the kiss even as she knew their showdown this evening was overdue.

This wasn’t the first time, of course, she’d replayed the kiss in her mind. But she told herself it happened when she was in bed at night, and at odd moments when she let her mind wander.

The kiss had been the merest brush of lips, but its effect had stayed with her. His lips had felt warm, smooth and tempting.

Of course, for the Pine Hill residents who had witnessed it, the kiss had been the last proof they needed that she and Matt were heading to the altar.

For her part, she’d been forced to acknowledge her attraction, however inadvisable. But she’d told herself any woman would find Matt attractive. He was attractive.

At the same time, since they’d attended the wedding together, she’d been running possible candidates by Matt with a vengeance. She was determined to find him a wife—the type of woman she thought he was looking for.

Each time she set up a date for him, though, she felt depressed imagining him wining and dining—not to mention, kissing—another woman. On those nights, she kept herself busy, even if it meant scrubbing the bathroom, in order to avoid going crazy over thoughts of him with another woman.

It was a classic case of cognitive dissonance—pursuing two contradictory goals at once. Her body clamored to jump into bed with Matt, but her mind refused to let her repeat the mistakes of the past. She was both trying to set him up with another woman ASAP and giving in to an inexcusable flirtation herself.