Love Me by Diane Alberts

something?”
    She clenched her teeth. “No.”
    “Then why? Business ethics? Forgot your hair appointment? House on fi—?”
    “I was embarrassed!” she snapped, her voice hitching. She slapped her hand against the desk hard enough to make her pencil cup bounce. “I told you. I don’t normally do that. It was humiliating.”
    “There is absolutely no reason to be humiliated by what happened last night.” He captured her hand and turned it over. Her palm was reddened from the force of her slap. Gently, he traced the tip of his thumb across her lifeline; her breath caught, and her fingers curled. Even holding her hand caused a rush of happiness and possessiveness to pump through his blood. He knew then that what he was about to say wasn’t true. It was what she needed to hear, but it was a big fat lie. For the first time since Nicole…he’d opened himself up to a woman. With Brianna, it was more than sex. And the thought both terrified him and exhilarated him at the same time. The conflicting emotions fighting within him made the room spin. “We’re adults, Brianna. Sometimes two adults like each other and decide to have sex. It’s just sex .”
    “I know that,” she murmured. “But I’m not most people.”
    He glanced up from her hand and caught her eye. Even if she was still flustered, still blushing, a hint of a smile played at her lips, barely there.
    “ I know.” He shifted his grip on her fingers until his hand fully enfolded hers. “I like that about you.”
    She dropped her gaze to their entwined hands and cleared her throat. “It wasn’t just that we— I mean, we were in the parking lot, then the elevator, and up against the door…” She let out a groan and dropped her face into her free hand. “Oh God.”
    She shouldn’t do that. Whenever she turned shy, it only made him want to push her more, tease her, make her blush as deeply as she had when her legs were wrapped around his waist and she was tearing at his hair. “And you’re used to strictly missionary, is that it?”
    “Something like that…” she mumbled through her fingers.
    He leaned forward and carefully pried her fingers away from her face so he could meet her eyes. “Do you ever shut off?”
    “Yes. No.” Her gaze darted to the side. “Maybe.”
    “That’s a no, then.” He tucked a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear. “Bree.” Her eyes widened, and she stared at him. He teased the lock of hair against her cheek. “I get it. I do. I’ve worked with dozens of successful businesswomen— Ah.” He caught her before her mouth could do more than open, raising a hand to forestall the sardonic anger in her flashing eyes. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t sleep with a single one of them. But I know how it is. I know how you have to always be on your guard. But after hours, it’s all right to let go and be a woman. Just as I let go to be a man. My suit and tie aren’t all that I am. That marketing asshole smile? I practice it in the mirror. I hate it.”
    “I’m not fond of it, either,” she admitted.
    “It gets to be a habit.” He looked down at their entwined hands. Hers was so small inside his. “The point is…there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
    She pulled her hand free from his. He glanced up and met her eyes, bracing for the tirade. But she leaned in and kissed his cheek; he caught the faint scent of coffee on her breath, and as those velvet lips grazed his skin the oddest feeling tightened in his chest.
    “I didn’t know you had a mode other than the successful marketing executive you’ve shown me,” she said softly.
    “I’m working on that, too.” If he turned his head just a little more, he could kiss her again. But he restrained himself. Barely. He wasn’t here for just another kiss. It wasn’t until the words were leaving his lips that he really realized what he was here for. Her . “But I still intend to use your shoes to bribe you into another date with me. A real one. We’ll