Mine to Hold (Mine #3)(3)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Than dead.

“And to think,” he murmured as he advanced in that little space, “you look so…deceptively delicate.”

Claire was tall, about five foot ten, but she still had to tilt her head back a bit to keep meeting his stare. “Appearances are always deceiving.” She’d learned that lesson at sixteen.

His mouth hitched into a half-smile. A smile that made her heart race too quickly. He was definitely a handsome bastard, she’d give him that. And the fact that he could make her heart jump so easily—

That tells me to be careful with him. So careful. The last time she’d fallen for a man with a heart-jumping smile, she’d nearly paid for that mistake with her life.

“You remembered my offer,” Noah murmured.

How could she forget?

The last time that she’d seen Noah York, Claire had been at her sister’s funeral. Grief had nearly choked her as she stared down at Sara’s coffin. Noah had been there. Right at Claire’s side. I want to help you. His words whispered through her mind. He’d slipped his card into her hand. I owe you. I owe your sister. If you ever need me, I’m a phone call away.

When the funeral had ended, Claire hadn’t stayed around to talk with Noah or any of the others at that gut-wrenching graveside. She’d run away from them all. Claire had gotten good at running.

But there was nowhere to run now. She needed him. A week ago, she’d lost the job that she’d counted on, and Claire had forced herself to come to Noah. Even though he scared her.

“My, what big eyes you have,” he murmured. His smile slowly faded as he searched her gaze. “I’ve never seen anyone with eyes quite like yours. That deep blue is really quite incredible.”

Her lashes lowered, hiding the blue in question. She found herself staring at his throat. At his tie. At anything but—

His fingers slipped under her chin. Claire jerked at the contact and tried to back away from him.

Her elbow rammed into the wall of the elevator.

“I don’t…I don’t like to be touched.” The words were sharp. They were also true.

Normally.

But she hadn’t jerked away from Noah because the press of his fingers brought the usual cold fear.

She’d backed away because his touch had scorched her.

“It’s a pity,” he told her as his hand dropped back to his side. “Because I think that I could enjoy touching you.”

The elevator had stopped. She just realized that. How long had it been still? “Ah, why aren’t the doors opening?”

He glanced at the control panel. “Because I haven’t opened them.”

So he wanted the two of them to be trapped together in that elevator?

“Are you afraid of small spaces?” Noah asked her suddenly.

Claire shook her head.

“Good to know.” He inclined his head. “I’m making a list, you see.”

She was totally lost. “A list?”

He pressed a code into the control panel. The doors opened seconds later. “I’m finding out what scares you. What you like. What you don’t like.”

She hurried from the elevator, but then hesitated on the lush carpet in the hallway. “Why does any of that matter to you?”

He shrugged. “Because it does.”

Talk about an incredibly vague answer.

“We’re almost to my suite.” He headed down the hallway.

Claire didn’t follow. “I’d expected that we’d meet in your office.” Not in his suite. If she hadn’t been so nervous on that elevator, she would have brought up this point sooner.

Noah glanced over his shoulder at her. “I can get the best privacy in my personal suite.”

They were having the meeting in his personal suite? The breath that she sucked in felt icy, but Claire soldiered on. Noah opened the suite door for her. She slipped past him, casting a quick glance up at the chandelier that hung in the entrance way. The huge chandelier gleamed, casting light all over the massive foyer of the suite. A suite that is way bigger than the home my family used to have down in Alabama.

Noah shut the door behind her.

“Do you always have business meetings in your suite?” She asked him, not buying the privacy line for a minute.

“I didn’t know we were going to talk just business.” He slid by her. Not touching, but close. He headed into the next room. She did, too, then momentarily lost her breath at the stunning view she discovered. The New York skyline was spread out before her, on perfect display thanks to the floor to ceiling windows that lined the wall. Just to the right of that wall, Claire saw a glass door that led out onto a balcony area. When she’d been staring up at the hotel, she hadn’t even noticed the balcony. She glanced back at Noah. He was watching her.

Noah motioned toward the windows and said, “I saw you.”

Her shoulders tensed.

“You stayed across the street for so long. I was wondering when you’d get the courage to come to me.”

She crossed to the windows. Stared down. They were up so high. “How could you see me clearly?”

“When it comes to you, Claire, I can see plenty.”

Now she looked back over her shoulder at him.

“Want a drink?” he asked her.

“No, I want a job.” Okay, those words had just blurted out. She’d meant to broach the subject of her employment in a much more elegant way. She was sure that had been her plan. But when she got nervous, elegance tended to vanish from her repertoire.

Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s a problem.”

Oh, damn. She’d had such high hopes. Keep your pride, Claire. It’s all you have. Her chin notched up. “It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just something temporary. You’ve got dozens of hotels, I’m sure that you can—”

“I don’t f**k with my employees.”

Wait, what? Her jaw dropped.

“And I very much want to have sex with you.”

She shook her head. Claire wasn’t sure if she was denying his words or just—“You didn’t just say that to me.”

His lips quirked. Amusement flashed in the depths of his golden eyes. “I assure you, I did. I believe in honesty.”

She didn’t know what to say. “I’m not…” Okay, this was getting way past her control. “I’m not here for sex. I’m here for a job.”

“Do you feel it?” Noah asked as his gaze seemed to heat with emotion. “Or is it just me?”