Then she grabbed a paint can and sprayed his T-shirt before he could react. She was covered in orange, he was splashed in teal. He grabbed for the can she was holding, but she darted away. And he took aim at his wall.
Again, she jumped in front of it at the last moment, so he covered her back in paint instead.
“Now you match back and front,” he teased.
Laughing, she turned on him to try to grab his can. As he held it out of her reach, she stretched for the spray paint in his hand, her body plastered to his. She squirmed against him, pulling his arm, trying to get the can.
Just that quickly, everything shifted inside him, making him forget all the things he shouldn’t do. Everything he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t even think about, let alone act on.
But one touch was all it took, her heat against his wet shirt, spreading through him. His arm snaked around her as if it had a mind of its own, anchoring her to him. The scent of her hair, some fruity shampoo, stronger than the smell of paint, mesmerized him.
Relax.
And he felt himself relaxing into her, wanting her.
Delic’s booming voice broke the spell. “Hey, you two, no spray-paint fights.”
Cal loosened his grip.
Even as he wanted to hold on to her forever.
* * *
They took the Tube back to the hotel. No taxi driver would allow their paint-splattered bodies on his seats.
“If we put ultraviolet light on you, you’d be psychedelic,” she said with a laugh.
Cal’s hair and face where he hadn’t been covered by the goggles and mask were a spray of color, as was his T-shirt.
He put a hand to her forehead, leaving a streak of heat from his touch. “You look like a blue-and-white fairy. Except for the orange.” Smiling, he laid his palm against her stomach.
She almost gasped at the contact. She was right back there on the street, her body plastered against his as she struggled to get the paint can, the feel of his arm across her back like a brand. Right back at the moment where she’d been unable to think about anything except kissing him. Right back at that moment when she’d forgotten all the reasons why she shouldn’t, even if his touch had been purely accidental.
All too soon, he held up his hand. “You’re already dry.”
She put her hand on the teal splotch she’d sprayed on his chest. She could feel his heart thundering. “You’re dry too.” Her voice was too husky, too sultry, and she broke the tension with a smile. “You look like a kid with those goggle marks.”
He traced the goggle lines around her eyes. “So do you.”
The train lurched to a stop at a station, jostling them together. People crowded on, and she pressed against him. She relished the crowded train. It gave her an excuse to once again feel his body along the length of hers.
Far more quickly than she wanted, their train ride ended. Unfortunately, their closeness ended abruptly too. Cal didn’t exactly shove her away, but he kept a good distance between them as they made their way out of the station.
Back in the suite, he barely looked at her, suddenly seeming distant despite all the fun and laughter they’d shared during the day and the triumph with Dane Harrington. “I’m going to shower and wash off all this paint.” Then he turned at his door. “I enjoyed myself today, Lyssa. More than I thought I would.”
She saw something in his eyes then. A momentary lapse of his steely self-control, maybe? But he quickly regained it. “I’ve got a mountain of emails to get through and some phone calls to make tonight. I’m sure I’ll need to work through dinner, and then I have several meetings for my other businesses tomorrow morning, so I’ll meet you in the lobby tomorrow ninety minutes before our flight.”
Just like that, Cal was gone, his door closed behind him.
* * *
Cal stood beneath the rush of water, the hot spray sluicing away the paint. His thoughts spiraled down the drain right along with it.
He could still feel Lyssa’s body against his, still feel the heat of her palm on his chest, still feel every jostle and jerk of the Underground as it threw her against him. He could smell her sweet scent, feel her heat. And he remembered the look in her eyes that seemed to say he wasn’t the only one feeling the attraction between them.
If he’d dipped his head, their lips would have touched. He could almost taste her right now, simply from the force of his imagination.
No, damn it!
She was the Mavericks’ little sister. She was his employee. He was too old for her. She was completely off-limits.
He let those reminders run over and over in his head.
But it didn’t stop the desire.
* * *
More than anything Cal had wanted in a very long time, he’d wanted to have a bottle of champagne sent up to their suite last night and to dance with Lyssa again. But doing that would have decimated what was left of his waning self-control. So he’d used the excuse of going through emails and worked in his room, not even emerging to order room service.
But that night she’d consumed his dreams anyway.
The next morning, he left early for a couple of meetings. Even as he was talking business, he was thinking about Lyssa. He’d never let a woman crowd into his thoughts while he was working. But somehow he couldn’t seem to push Lyssa away.
When he returned to the hotel, she was waiting in the lobby, looking beautiful in a slim-fitting skirt that hugged every curve. Unbidden, he found himself fantasizing about stripping her out of it, covering her in spray paint, and taking her up against the wall.
Instead, as they got in a taxi, they made small talk about what they’d both accomplished since they’d last seen each other the night before. He wasn’t sure if he was the only one who felt their conversation was stilted, no longer as easy as it had always been.
Once on the plane, they waited for Delilah to show up. He was surprised when a text came in fifteen minutes after their scheduled flight time.
Im so so sorry mr danniger but I met the most fabulous englishman here and hes asked me to stay so Im going to
There was no punctuation and no capitalization. At least she hadn’t used heart emojis.
“I’m afraid Delilah won’t be making the return trip.” So much for having a chaperone to help him remember all the reasons why he needed to keep his distance from Lyssa. “I’ll have to call for someone else.”
“Actually,” Lyssa said, “we don’t need to wait around for someone else when I can use a coffee machine.”
How long would it take to find a replacement for Delilah? They could be delayed for hours. But if he didn’t find someone, that meant he and Lyssa would be alone on the plane for hours…and he didn’t know if his self-control could withstand it.
Silently, he cursed. He’d never been led around by his body parts. He wasn’t about to start now. He could do this, damn it.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
She looked at him like he was missing a screw. “Of course I’m sure.”
“All right, then.” Telling himself to stop acting weird, or she was surely going to figure out that something was up with him, he picked up the phone. “Captain Greer, we’re ready to go without a crew member.”
When they were both buckled in, Lyssa asked, “Are you going to tell me why she’s not coming?”
“She met an Englishman who asked her to stay here with him. It sounds like it all happened pretty quickly.”