His lips quirked and those gorgeous eyes flashed with amusement. “It’s not my thing at all. I’m more of a take-it-off than a try-it-on guy.”
Adie smiled at his joke.
He cleared his throat and Adie forced her eyes to connect with his. Those eyes darkened, turned intense.
“Gorgeous,” he stated, his eyes not moving off hers. Adie wasn’t sure whether he was referring to her or the lingerie or both. “I’d like to see it in its more natural setting...”
And she’d have no problem wearing it for him. She could easily imagine a huge bed, luxurious, sweet-smelling cotton sheets, a bottle of Moët in a silver ice bucket, fado music—expressive, passionate and melancholic—playing in the background.
And the late afternoon sun falling on the bed, turning his hair to burnished gold...
Adie quickly lowered her eyes, took a fortifying sip of whiskey and placed her glass on the table, grateful when he resumed his slow stroll down the tables, those light, intense eyes darting over her inventory. He picked up a hand-blown glass Christmas tree ornament, holding the gorgeous peacock design up to the light.
“It’s mouth-blown and hand-painted. The crystals on its plumage are diamonds.”
He didn’t react but simply sipped his drink and looked down at the open box displaying Christmas crackers. “And these?”
Adie looked at his profile, wondering whether his wavy hair was as soft as it looked. She inhaled his woody, sunshiny smell. It took all her processing power to make sense of his question.
“Uh...handmade in the UK from eco-friendly luxury paper. They are tailor-made and the prizes can be anything you want. I had a client who bought each of his children a new car for Christmas and we inserted the car keys inside.”
His lips quirked up in a half smile and Adie desperately wanted to know whether his mouth was as skilled as it was sexy. She really should have sex more often; this reaction was ridiculous. But, like relationships, random sexual encounters weren’t her thing.
But she was seriously considering making this man the exception to her rule.
“I take it those kids didn’t receive entry-level models.”
Of course they didn’t, her clients didn’t understand the word entry-level. “Porsches and Lamborghinis.”
He whistled and moved on.
“Are you in the market for something special?” Adie asked him, trying to judge whether he was a serious spender. His pants were quality, his shoes were expensive, but she couldn’t tell if he was a billionaire or a millionaire or just rich. Unfortunately, if he was just rich, he wouldn’t be able to afford what she was offering. Her products were aimed at the multimillionaire to billionaire section of the marketplace.
“Just looking.”
Those words, she’d come to learn, were often code for I-like-it-but-I-can’t-afford-it. Oh, well, he might not be good for business, but he was lovely to look at. Adie glanced down at her watch and noticed that it was past eleven and she still had a couple of hours of work ahead of her. She had a long day packed with meetings tomorrow and it was time to hustle Mr. Delicious along.
“No way!”
At his outburst, Adie’s eyes flew to the object in his hand and she grinned. The centerpiece of the object was a 3.5-carat heart-shaped diamond, and more round diamonds studded the crocodile leather band.
“Is this a dog collar? For three hundred thousand?” he demanded, sounding and looking outraged.
“Gorgeous, isn’t it?” Adie took the collar from his hand and examined the intricate work.
“How can anyone spend so much money on a dog? I’m mean, don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but this amount of money?”
“My clients adore their animals,” Adie explained.
She put down the dog collar and stacked the boxes of handmade chocolates and moved them to the side, giving her enough space to sit on the heavy table, her legs swinging. It felt so good to get off her aching feet. Picking up a sample dish of chocolates, she held it out to him.
He shook his head. “I rarely eat chocolate.”
“You’ll want to eat this,” Adie assured him. “Have you ever tasted bacon and Mexican chili in chocolate?”
“That would be a no.”
“It’s rare, rather wonderful and...”
“Ridiculously expensive,” he finished her sentence and smiled.
Adie snapped her fingers and pointed her index finger at him. “You’re catching on.” She watched as he slid the chocolate into his mouth, wishing it were her lips making contact with his, her tongue sliding against his. Adie wiggled in place and released a frustrated breath. Needing to do something with her hands, she picked up another chocolate truffle, looked at it and bit down on the bittersweet treat.
Gorgeous...rich, creamy and, hell, hot!
Adie chewed, swallowed and waved her hand in front of her mouth. She looked into his laughing, fog-colored eyes, and blushed. “Wasabi. Not what I was expecting...”
“Want some of mine?”
Adie looked at the half-eaten truffle in his fingers and wondered if he was going to feed her the rest of his chocolate. Suddenly desperate for some contact with him, any contact, she slowly nodded.
He seemed to hesitate, his eyes skimming her face. It was obvious to her that he was testing the waters, wanting to make sure he was interpreting her signals correctly.
He was.
His eyes held hers, fascinating and mysterious, as he placed the chocolate in his mouth and his hands on her knees. Heat skittered up her spine as he gently pushed her legs apart, stepping into the space he’d created. Adie held his eyes and her breath as he lowered his head...closer and closer until his lips were a whisper from hers. Unable to bear the suspense—she wanted his kiss more than she needed to breathe—she lifted her hands to his chest and placed her lips against his. Soft, hard, both at once and when his hot tongue on the seam of her lips cajoled her to open up, she willingly followed his lead. But instead of his tongue entering her mouth, she tasted bittersweet chocolate, a hint of chili, the rush of salty bacon. She moaned in delight.
Adie, wanting more—wanting everything—curled her hand around the back of his neck and held him in place, enjoying the chocolate-covered strokes of his tongue against hers, the way his fingertips pushed into the skin on her hips, his other hand cupping her jaw.
Adie heard him moan and then his hands were on her waist, hauling her closer so that the vee of her legs connected with his rigid erection, her feet curling around the backs of his knees.
Adie felt like she’d dived off a cliff into a warm, deep pool of delight. She ran her hands down his strong, muscled back, over his spectacular butt—and it felt as good as it looked. Her fingers danced over the backs of his thighs. She wanted this, she wanted more...to see him naked, to taste every inch of his hot, masculine skin.