bloodâthe bluer, the better. Not fromââ He halted abruptly. âNot from where I come from. And now, thanks to you, everyone knows where I come from.â
âWell, I donât see how they can assume youâre Ethan from that passage,â she hedged. âI wrote that Ethan is a captain of industry. What you do isnât industrious. Itâs an import business.â
âIndustry, import,â he repeated. âThe two words are very similar. The same way the names Gavin and Ethan are.â
âSimilar sounding maybe, but theyâre not the same thing at all. The careers or the names.â
âStill, you have to admit, now that youâve heard about my circumstances, what you wrote about Ethanâs background is almost identical to mine.â
It wasnât identical. Sure, there were some similarities, but a lot of men in Gavinâs position could have backgrounds similar to his. Many men like himâand women, for that matterâhad started with nothing and built empires. Todo that, of course, they would have had to do everything themselves and learn what they could and fight their way up the ladder. It was all the more proof that the character of Ethan was a blend of many people, someone sheâd created after reading books and articles about dozens of self-made millionaires.
âThere are a lot of people who built their businesses the way you did,â she pointed out. âThat passage doesnât prove anything. Besides, you said hardly anyone knows your history that far back. So why would you think anyone would draw the conclusion that youâre Ethan based on that description?â
He said nothing in response to that, and Violet hoped maybe that would be the end of it. Then, without a word, he dropped a hand to the top button of his suit jacket and pushed it slowly through its hole. Then he unbuttoned the other one. As he walked toward Violet again, he began to shrug out of it, something that made a funny little sensation fizz in her belly. He draped the jacket over one arm and went for his necktie next, loosening the knot at his throat enough to unfasten the top two buttons of his shirt, as well.
For a moment, Violet thought he was undressing forâ¦forâ¦for something â¦something he really shouldnât be undressing for, not in his office, and not when she barely knew him, and not when she had already been having thoughts about him she absolutely, unequivocally should not be thinking. But he stopped when a good foot of space still lay between them, and when he reached for her, it wasnât to pull her close. It was toâ
Offer her his jacket? But that was such a gentlemanly thing to do, she thought, confused. And he was no gentleman. Besides, it wasnât cold in the office. In fact, it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter with every passing minute.
She shook her head, not even trying to hide her puzzlement. âI donât understand.â
Somehow, he seemed to know the wayward direction her thoughts had taken, because his smile was full of mischief. And wow, when he smiled like that, as if he meant it, he was really kind ofâ¦slightlyâ¦ratherâ¦
She bit back a sigh that came out of nowhere. Breathtaking. Thatâs what he was when he smiled like that.
âThe label, Ms. Tandy,â he said. âCheck the label in the jacket.â
Her brain still a bit foggyânever mind some of her other body parts that had no business being foggy in mixed companyâit took a moment for her to figure out what he meant. âOh. Right. The label.â
She took the garment from him and turned it until she found the designerâs name stitched to the lining beneath the collar. âCanali,â she read. Just like Ethanâs.
âAnd what kind of fabric?â
She searched the jacket again, this time looking for the smaller label on the inside seam that would offer the information. âWool and
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