Even though she had the insane urge to check her teeth, she resisted and somehow tore her gaze away to stare at the elevator doors. As they stood there, she could feel his gaze on her.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
When the elevator doors swooshed open, he motioned for her to enter. And as they stepped into the elevator together, whatever that subtle, sexy masculine scent was wrapped around her. She tried not to sniff like a weirdo as she pressed the button for the top floor. “Which floor?” she asked, too nervous to meet his gaze again.
“Same one,” he said in a deep, delicious voice she felt all the way to her core.
Damn, that voice should be bottled up and sold. But only to her. Clearly she hadn’t had sex in too long because she was starting to fantasize about some stranger in an elevator. And at that thought, she started thinking about elevator sex with this particular stranger. The man with pale blue eyes, dark hair and broad shoulders. Shoulders she could easily imagine holding on to as he pinned her up against this elevator wall.
Oh my God, stop it, she ordered herself. Get it together! After she’d caught her asshole ex cheating on her—freaking tale as old as time—she’d sworn off men for a while. But Tall, Dark and Mouthwateringly Hot was making her rethink that. As if drawn to him, she tried to sneak a peek at his face again and found him looking directly at her.
Their gazes clashed but he averted his almost immediately and looked forward again, his posture stiff.
As the elevator dinged, he made a motion for her to step out, depriving her of that sexy voice again. And a peek at his ass.
She felt self-conscious, especially since he was in a very expensive suit and she was wearing jeans, a green T-shirt that said Hulk Mode On and sparkly green sneakers. She wasn’t sure why she was fantasizing about this guy when she had no doubt she wasn’t his type. He probably went for tall, leggy women who dressed in pencil skirts, silk tops and five-inch heels.
When they both turned left into the hallway, she said, “I take it we’re going to the same place.” Then she inwardly cursed herself for her nervous chatter. Clearly they were going to the same place, Captain Obvious.
“Looks like it.” He glanced at her, his gaze sweeping over her quickly before he glanced back ahead.
Finally, blessedly, they reached the end of the hallway. As they stepped into the only office at the end of it, her friend Chloe—who she was meeting to go book shopping with over her friend’s lunch break—stood suddenly.
“Mr. MacArthur, you can go on back. He’s expecting you.” Then she nodded once at Kathryn before picking up the phone intercom. “I’m off to lunch but Mr. MacArthur is here for you. I’ll see you in an hour.” Her mouth curving into a smile, she grabbed her purse. “I’m ready to do some damage on my credit card.”
Kathryn grinned. “Me too,” she murmured before flicking a glance at the man whose name was apparently Mr. MacArthur.
He hadn’t gone very far, and instead was watching her with a sexy sort of intensity she felt all the way to her core. Oh wow. Heat curled inside her from just one look from him. She wondered what he could do with more than that.
Somehow she tore her gaze away and joined Chloe. They were heading to a bookstore downtown owned by one of their friends—and then probably hitting up a shoe sale Chloe had been talking about. “So who was that?” Kathryn murmured as they reached the elevators. She didn’t care that they were far out of earshot, she still didn’t want to talk too loud in case he somehow overheard her.
“Who was who?”
“The man you called Mr. MacArthur. What’s his story?”
Her friend shot her a sly look. “Why?”
“Because I have eyes and he was sexy as hell.” Her cheeks flushed even as she said the words. It wasn’t like he could overhear her, but still, they were in the same building and it felt weird.
Chloe’s dark eyes widened slightly. “I thought you’d sworn off men.”
She lifted a shoulder as they stepped into the elevator. Things changed.
“He’s single as far as I know—not that I know much. He’s always very polite, not the creep type if you know what I mean.”
Of course she knew.
“I’ll find out more about him if you want?”
She shook her head. “No way. It’s not like I’m going to see him again. I was just being nosy because he was hot and it’s been far too long since I’ve had sex.” Besides, if she wanted to know more about him, she could find out on her own.
“Whose fault is that?” Flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, Chloe gave her a tart look as they stepped off the elevator.
“I feel like the answer you’re looking for is mine.”
“It is your fault. You get asked out all the time.”
“Whatever. Let’s go get some new books.”
“And shoes.”
“Definitely. I need some new sneakers too.”
Chloe just snorted as she eyed Kathryn’s sparkly ones—probably because she had like sixty pairs of sneakers—but then she grinned as they stepped out into the sunshine. “We need to get some kayak time this weekend.”
Kathryn groaned slightly.
“What? The weather’s gorgeous.”
“You’re always trying to make me get outside.”
“Yeah, you need the vitamin D.”
“Unlike you, I have to slather sunscreen on every inch of my body when we do.” The curse of her redheaded coloring.
“We’ll go early, then.”
“All right.” She actually didn’t mind kayaking, but Chloe was way more outdoorsy than Kathryn. And she ran marathons.
That was something Kathryn would never understand—running for fun. The only time anyone would catch her running is if she was being chased by a rabid pack of dogs. She much preferred yoga and swimming.
By the time they’d made it back to Chloe’s job, they were a few minutes late—so Kathryn gave her a quick hug before Chloe made a dash for the glass doors.
“This weekend, kayaking, don’t forget,” Chloe tossed over her shoulder before she hurried inside.
“You like kayaking?” The deep male voice made her turn around.
She recognized the voice instantly—she’d only heard it once but now it was etched into her brain. She found herself looking up into the handsome face of Mr. MacArthur. And she really wished she knew what his first name was now. “Ah, sort of.”
“You sort of like kayaking?”
She glanced around, surprised this sexy god was talking to her. There was a car idling along the curb and she guessed it was waiting for him. A few people walked past them but the street was otherwise pretty quiet. Yep, he was talking to her. “Yeah, sort of. But I love my friend so I go with her. I mean, it’s good exercise and she swears the vitamin D is good for me.”
He chuckled slightly, giving her his full attention. Which was kind of unnerving. “What kinds of things do you like to do?”
Oh, she could think of a slew of things she’d like to do—to him. Wait, had she said that out loud? He wasn’t looking at her weird so she must have kept it to herself. “Um, yoga, swimming, drinking too much chai and going on historic ghost tours.” Oh God, this was like the worst dating profile description ever. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she have given a normal answer? Yep, he was going to walk away now.