Lead Me Home: Home is Where the Heat Is, Book 2 by Candi Wall Page A

deliberately running a finger down the bare skin at her cleavage. “Twenty hours, huh?”
    He nodded, taking a step closer until the heat of his body caressed her skin. “Yeah. At least. Though I think you owe me more for leaving without at least saying goodbye.”
    “Why is it men can do the one-night-stand, or rather two-night-stand thing, in our case, when you’re the ones to walk away. But God forbid when the woman does the walking.”
    “You don’t know my walk-away tactics, doll.” He growled low, the sound hotter than hell in her office with so many places to potentially get fucked. “I say goodbye. No woman leaves wondering.”
    For some strange reason, she believed him, He’d been a straight shooter from day one, so why would she think otherwise? Which didn’t make her feel any better for having left without so much as a thanks for a great time . “Nick I told you—”
    The soft touch of his finger on her lips stalled her words. “Yeah, I know. Nothing but sex.” The lines around his eyes softened. “Is it really that simple for you?”
    No, and yes. She’d experienced regret when she left him. And she’d hated it. “I don’t do goodbyes.”
    His brows furrowed. “You don’t kiss, don’t give any real feelings and you don’t have the decency to say goodbye? New York really has burned itself into you, hasn’t it?”
    That hurt. A little. Somehow the way he said it made it sound awful. She’d never doubted her ways before. And she didn’t want to start now. Still, she wanted to ease the hurt she saw in his eyes. “I was going to call you.”
    His I-can-smell-bullshit expression exacerbated the foolishness she suddenly felt for even having said it. He looked ready to say something but let out a heavy sigh instead. Then, he just walked out. Chloe dropped into her chair.
    Shit. Could this day get any worse?

Chapter Seven
    Nick stared at the firm line of Chloe’s back, his hand itching to touch the skin her dress revealed. What the hell was she doing wearing something so sexy, anyway? Who wore shit like that to work? And for what purpose?
    He looked away, focusing on the photo shoot, or whatever this three-ring circus was supposed to be. At the moment, Cash stood to the side of a stage with a huge scene of the desert hung behind it. Lights erupted at odd intervals. People talked incessantly.
    The corner where Nick stood lacked much light, but he didn’t mind. Everyone ignored him. Including Chloe. Damn her. She’d left without so much as a “thanks for a great weekend”. If he didn’t know better, he’d almost question if she’d enjoyed their time together at all. But he did know better. She’d responded to his touch at every turn. Even the picnic lunch they’d shared on her last afternoon in Texas had brought real smiles to her face. It had ended the way all their encounters did—in bed, on the table, against a tree—but he knew she’d had fun.
    So why no goodbye?
    Unable to keep his eyes off her, he watched her in action, in her element.
    She was a shark, carving a path through numerous workers and barking out orders that somehow brought the chaotic room into order.
    “Last chance to offer suggestions, ladies and gentlemen.” She waited, every eye on her.
    Nick couldn’t resist. She was so stiff and severe, he had to try to bring a bit of the Chloe he met in Texas. “How ’bout a few more lights? Wouldn’t want the camera to miss a moment of my brother’s debut.”
    She whipped around in his direction. So did most of the people in the room.
    Chloe smiled, but it wasn’t anything close to the expression he was used to seeing. “Nick, you didn’t see the staff meeting where I pointed out that there is a difference between making helpful suggestions and creating time sucks that StyleU can’t afford.”
    That was a bit snarky. She was in rare form today. He took a step forward. “I’m guessing my suggestion landed in the time-suck category?”
    “Clever cowboy,” she