Mogul (Page 12)

A moment passes and Bryn seems to notice my shock.

But shock doesn’t come close to it.

Because never in my whole life has my heart leapt so far and fast. It feels as if it’s ripping out of my chest. I can barely force my legs to move for fear of hearing my knees knock together. I struggle for air, but it feels like someone cut off my windpipe connecting my nose and lungs.

He wears a white dress shirt and black slacks, and his face is chiseled and brooding. The real shock lies in the intensity brewing in his dark eyes as they stay locked on mine. My heart speeds up as I hold his gaze. The city bustles around us. Making eye contact is not something I do often, living in a city of millions, but I can’t take my eyes off him.

The memory of having him inside me returns with a vengeance.

Bryn begins to introduce us. “Um. Ian, this is—”

“Sara. We’ve met,” Hot and Dirty Workaholic interrupts with a stiff smile.

Our eyes meet, and for a moment it feels like nothing else exists.

His name is Ian.

Fucking Ian, with his serious, handsome face and shiny, black hair. He’s as lit as I remember. Straight out of a Suits episode, and I am dying from the happiness of staring into his hot-as-fuck face.

Suddenly too nervous to be so obvious, I turn my attention back to Bryn, feeling like I’m going to vomit, my stomach is clutching so tight.

I feel a little light-headed and a lot self-conscious, and I would hate for him to notice, so I try my best to act otherwise. Confident, that’s me.

Except when I’m caught off guard by my sexy Workaholic.

I can tell by the expression of total shock in Bryn’s eyes that she’s just had a light-bulb moment. She knows I’ve just found my one-night-stand man. And she seems as shocked about who he turned out to be as I am. But she looks excited to get us talking, and to be honest, I’m just as happy to get this man to myself and shoo off Bryn to her Christos.

“Ian is Mrs. Ford’s grandson,” she explains to me. Then she tells Mrs. Ford, “Sara is going to take over so I can prepare for tonight. I’ll talk to you guys soon,” and I watch her leave.

So now what? What do I say? He’s Mrs. Ford’s grandson. I can’t just grab his dick and tell him how much I’ve dreamed about it. And him.

Milly barks and I realize Ian, too, is looking at me. With a thoughtful frown and a wicked, devious glimmer in his eyes.

Is he thinking of our evening in 1103 too?

“Here, give me that,” he gruffly tells Milly, and he grabs Milly’s toy and tosses it relatively close and tells her to fetch.

I become aware of Mrs. Ford looking at us in interest.

I give her a smile, hoping that it looks innocent, and quickly occupy myself with Milly.

“Do you two want to walk Milly around while I relax?” Mrs. Ford asks Ian and me. “You can get to know each other. Sara is one of my favorite girls, Ian, and Ian is my favorite grandson, Sara. There is no other man in the world for me.”

“I’m your only grandson, Gran. And I’d love to get to know Sara more intimately.”

He winks at her, looking charming and much more of a good guy than the guy I fucked in room 1103. Mrs. Ford chuckles and pulls out a book, as if that is that. As if the word intimately didn’t mean a whole other thing to me than it probably does to Mrs. Ford.

Ian—my Workaholic, my one-night stand, my perfect lay—watches me daringly while he takes the leash. His gaze meets mine as he motions me forward. I start down the path with wobbly knees, aware of him and Milly stepping in beside me.

“How have you been?” he asks, voice low.

“Good. I’m glad to see you.” I smile.

He smiles too, and my eyes almost hurt by looking at the Face of My Dreams up close again. “Can’t say I wasn’t disappointed when I checked in today to see you gone,” he says.

I’m shocked to hear this, something his dark gaze seems to easily drink in.

“Yeah, Sara. I noticed.” He leads Milly to a shady area surrounded by trees. “Did I have anything to do with you leaving?”

“No.” I really don’t want him to worry, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t like having affected my job that way. “They’re making cuts and I was probably the worst concierge they had, so they let me go.” I roll my eyes as if they’re so silly to have done that.

“That’s not accurate.” Ian tuts and shakes his head. “You went above and beyond for their customers.”

“Not really. Just one of them.”

As my words fill the air around us, suddenly we’re both staring at each other, the chemistry between us so on fire I worry for the trees nearby.

“I should change hotels,” he says mischievously, a twinkle in his dark eyes.

“No. You shouldn’t.”

“Absolutely I will. If they can’t value you, then I’m not interested.”

“Your company sends you to that hotel. You and other execs.”

“You don’t think I can persuade my company to change hotels?”

“I’d hate to lose you and your company’s business if I were them. But!” I reach out and steal Milly’s leash from his fingers, then twirl around and face him, backing away from him as I narrow my eyes. “I think you’re bluffing to make me feel better. I’m fine, though. Trust me. I’ve got this.” I point toward a sniffing, tail-wagging Milly. “I also have a job helping my roommate with her new business.”

“You find that rewarding?”

“I find my salary rewarding.”

There’s a slight quickening in my pulse when he smiles. “And the job?” he asks, tilting his head in curiosity.

“I’m grateful for it. I can’t say I don’t still look at casting calls in the city, but… it’ll do.”

“Shouldn’t be hard to find plenty of those. This is New York, after all.”

“I know.” There is more to my story, though, and I’m surprised when I say it out loud. “I was so close to landing the gig of my dreams years ago. My body failed me terribly. Bad body,” I chide.

“What happened?” He frowns, but the look he gives my body isn’t exactly one that agrees with me about my body being bad.

“Shit. A lot of shit. I ended up as a concierge.”

“Can’t say I regret that decision or turn of events.” There’s that smile again.

“Really. Our one-night stand was that profound to you.”

“I’m about to make it two.”

As I keep backing away and he keeps walking forward, I catch him glancing at my lips.

He doesn’t even try to hide it.

It turns me on.

My hungry body recognizes him as the last guy to pleasure me, and my hormones are flooding my system in response. I start feeling my heart pound and I can barely suppress my crazy, out-of-control reaction. I can almost taste him on my mouth, can almost feel his touch, like I did in room 1103.

Exhaling, I spin back around so that Milly and I are walking a few steps ahead of him, and I tuck my hair behind my ear and try to ignore my erratic hormones.

Seeing him again, his gorgeous face, his sexy designer slacks and that crisp white shirt, inhaling his intoxicating scent, I’m reminded why I haven’t stopped thinking about him since that night.

This guy makes me hungry. Hungry like someone who hasn’t eaten for days and is standing before a chocolate buffet, and chocolate is her favorite.