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He shrugged massive broad shoulders. “Don’t know why not. We’re sexually attracted to each other. Just want to know what I’m dealing with when we decide to go for it and take the edge off.”
Go for it? Take the edge off? Layla shook her head, clearly missing something. She knew they were attracted to each other; she got that. What she didn’t get was him thinking that attraction meant they would eventually decide to “go for it.” She had no intention of going anywhere. She was here to do a job and not indulge his fantasies...or her own, for that matter.
“I think you need to explain what exactly you’re getting at. We agreed to keep sex out of this, Gavin.”
“I didn’t agree to any such thing. You suggested it but I didn’t agree to it. Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” she countered, not understanding his way of thinking.
He leaned back in his chair and her gaze watched his every movement. Restrained and controlled. She wondered if his actions were intentional, to put her off-kilter. When he picked up his glass of tea, her gaze automatically shifted to his hands. They were large and callous. They were the same hands that had sent shivers up her spine last night.
Memories of their kiss suddenly bombarded her and then her gaze shifted to his mouth as he took a swallow of iced tea. She was drawn to the way his mouth covered the rim of the glass and the way the liquid flowed down his throat. But what really got to her was the way he licked his lips afterward. When he caught her staring, those penetrating eyes darkened as they held hers.
“Want some?”
She snatched her gaze away. The lump in her throat thickened. She was glad to be sitting down; otherwise it would have been impossible to stand on both feet. The look he was giving her had her weak in the knees.
Somehow she managed to clear the lump in her throat and hold up her glass. “No thanks, I have my own.”
His eyes blazed as they continued to hold hers. “I wasn’t offering you any of my tea, Layla.”
She sucked in a deep breath. He couldn’t have set her straight any plainer than that. There was no need to ask what he was offering. That was the moment she knew Gavin Blake intended to be a problem. One she needed to deal with here and now.
“You never did answer my earlier question. When was the last time you were with a man?”
She set her glass of tea back down on the table. “And you never answered mine about why you wouldn’t agree to keep sex out of it.” Feeling flustered, she added, “We need to talk.”
A smile touched the corners of his lips. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”
There was no way he could have thought that. What he was doing was deliberately getting her all unglued. If he thought for one minute his arrogant behavior would make her run, then he didn’t know her very well. “There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding here.”
“Is there?”
“Undoubtedly. I’m here to do a job...that is, if you let me stay to do it. But under no circumstances am I here for your pleasure, Gavin. I don’t play those kinds of games. Evidently just because we shared a kiss last night, you’ve gotten the wrong idea about me. I need to set the record straight now. So hear me and hear me good.” She leaned part of the way over the table toward him. Although his face was void of any expression, she was certain she had his undivided attention.
“I am not here to engage in an affair with you, if that’s why you want to know about my sex life.” Or lack thereof. But that was something he didn’t need to know.
* * *
Gavin didn’t say anything. He knew she assumed his attention was on her words. In truth his attention was on the mouth delivering those words. Her lips were perfectly shaped with a little cute dip in the center. He liked the play of that mutinous tip whenever she frowned and how those same lips folded pensively when she appeared in deep thought. But more than anything, he couldn’t forget how those lips felt beneath his. Their lushness. How delicious they’d tasted. How sweet.
When she got quiet after delivering her spiel, he figured she thought she had set him straight. Far from it and it was time to let her know where he stood. “Are you finished?”
She seemed surprised by his question, but nodded nonetheless and said, “Yes, I’m finished.” She then straightened in her chair, her posture a lot more relaxed than it had been moments ago.
“Evidently, there’s a lot you don’t understand about sex, Layla.”
Her body tensed again. And somehow those gorgeous lips looked even more sensual. “What’s there to understand?” she asked.
Gavin continued to study her. He saw her nonchalant expression and noted her features had taken on a blasé look. Her apparent indifference to this discussion of sex could mean only one thing. She’d been cheated of something he considered as vital as breathing. Reaching her level of success in such a short period of time meant something had been sacrificed. An active sex life, perhaps?
“I want you and you want me,” he said, deciding to point out the obvious.
“And?”
He forced himself not to smile, thinking she was pretending not to have a clue. Then it occurred to him that maybe she wasn’t pretending. Maybe it was time to explain to her what it meant whenever a woman became the object of his personal fantasies.
“And...” he said, “we will sleep together.”
She sat up in her chair, straightening her spine. Her lips went from sensual to tense but turned him on even more just the same. “No, we will not,” she said adamantly.
He smiled. “Yes, we will. It’s inevitable.”
She frowned. “No, it’s not. Just who do you think you are?”
He figured it was time she knew the answer to that. “A man who wants you. A man who intends to have you. A man who will show you, Layla Harris, just what you’ve been missing.”
* * *
Layla tried to keep her heart from pounding deep in her chest, while at the same time fighting off the heat stroking through her body. She knew she shouldn’t ask but she couldn’t hold back.
“And just what do you think I’ve missed?”
“Hot, raunchy, mind-blowing sex. Evidently over the years you’ve been too preoccupied with other things to indulge. Don’t you know it’s not good to deprive your body of meeting certain needs?”
Her frown deepened. “I haven’t deprived my body of anything.”
“Haven’t you? Why do you think you’re so attracted to me?”
Layla actually rolled her eyes. Really? Honestly? Had he looked in the mirror lately? When was the last time he’d studied all those photos Ms. Melody had plastered on the walls. Any woman would be attracted to him. Even now he sat there not doing anything and still looked sexy as hell with that well-toned body of his. And here she was sitting across the table from him. Right within kissing distance.
As far as she was concerned, Gavin Blake was eye candy of the richest kind. Passion personified. But she definitely wouldn’t tell him that. She would deny everything he’d said with her last breath if she had to.
“I am not all that attracted to you.” At least she hadn’t completely lied and said she wasn’t attracted to him at all.
“You want me to prove otherwise?”
What was it with men always wanting to prove things when it came to sex? “No, thanks. That’s not necessary.”
“I think that it is.”
He’d said the words in a low, vibrating tone with a sexy rumble she wished she could ignore. But there was no way, what with all the shivers oozing down her spine. “Are you trying to scare me off, Gavin?”
He lifted a brow. “Scare you off?”
“Yes. Say all these things so I get angry enough to leave the ranch, sparing you the trouble of making a decision one way or the other about whether I can dig on your land or not.”
“Is that what you think?”
To be honest, she didn’t know what to think. She needed his land and all he had on his mind was sex. That made her wonder...
“Then are you trying to box me into a corner? Implying that I will have to sleep with you before you’ll give me permission to dig?”
Gavin shook his head. “I would never put pressure on you to sleep with me. But be forewarned, Layla. If you hang around here doing that dig, we will sleep together. There’s no way we won’t. Your own body will betray you. When it does, I will be ready for the opportunity.”
Seriously? If he thought her body would eventually weaken, he didn’t know her. And that was the point, one she couldn’t lose sight of. He didn’t know her. He didn’t know about her dedication when it came to her work. Nor did he know of her ability to be single-minded when it came to her career goals. She could put everything out of her mind except what was most important. She was driven to be successful in her field, and she wouldn’t let Gavin—or any other man—stand in her way.
He was pretty sure of himself where women were concerned. A man couldn’t look like him, be built like him, and not be in demand and get any woman he wanted. All Gavin had to do was snap his fingers and she figured the women came running. Being denied anything from a woman would be foreign to him.
“Think whatever you want, Gavin, but I’m not the kind of woman you’re used to. I won’t break.”
He rubbed his hand over his chin as he studied her. “Would you want to bet on that?”
Layla frowned. She had no intention of betting on anything and she proceeded to tell him that. He only smiled, and it was one of those smiles she was getting to know too well. The one that made her body sizzle when it should make her angry. His smile all but said he had her where he wanted her.
“Would you be willing to bet on it to guarantee your dig on the Silver Spurs?”
That piqued her interest. “Depending on what you have in mind.” She hoped she was not setting herself up for something she would regret.
* * *
Gavin held back his gotcha smile. Little did Layla know but his teammates didn’t call him Viper for nothing. To some, a viper might be considered a spiteful or treacherous person, but for him the name meant he knew how to capture his prey using any means necessary. Striking when they least expected it. He wanted her in his bed willingly and he intended to do whatever it took to get her there. It was time to push his agenda.
“I’m willing to make a deal, Layla.”
“What sort of a deal?” She held his gaze.
Did she know how beautiful her facial features were? How striking her bone structure? He could sit for hours and stare, taking her in. But doing so would make him want her even more than he already did. Before he’d met her, he couldn’t have imagined that degree of need for any woman. But he could imagine it for her.
He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug as if what he was about to say wasn’t of grave importance. As if he really didn’t care one way or the other if she took the deal or left it on the table.
“I’m not as convinced about this buried loot as you and my grandmother seem to be,” he said. “And I doubt reading any report will make me change my mind. But wanting you in my bed will,” he said bluntly, needing her to fully understand what he was saying.
“This is the deal,” he continued. “I will let you dig, regardless of what I think. If you find something, great. You will have proven me wrong. I will be happy for you. Be the first to congratulate you on a job well done. However, if you come up with nothing then you admit you want me as much as I want you and we sleep together.”
“You are counting on me failing? And plan to take advantage of me if I do?”
The thought was firing her up. He could tell. The flash of fire in her eyes told it all. “You shouldn’t worry about failing. Unless you think you will. If there’s some doubt in your mind regarding the accuracy of your research, then I understand if—”
“My research is on point. There’s no doubt in my mind about anything.”
His smile spread across his lips. “In that case, do we have a deal?”
Five (#ue141ee09-dbd7-53c6-a05c-d5124a0c80b6)
At that moment Layla realized just what was going on. Whether it was his intent or not, Gavin was forcing her to believe in herself, to prove that she was right in her belief that Jesse James had buried treasure on Gavin’s land.
“Well?”
The determination was clear in his eyes. He intended to sleep with her. She was just as determined that he wouldn’t. She didn’t like the deal he’d offered. In all honesty, she should be appalled by it. Instead she saw it as her chance to prove she was above the desire he couldn’t stop talking about. She would find Jesse James’s loot. She had no doubts. There was no need getting irritated that he was a typical male who thought a good roll between the sheets was the answer to everything. She would never be able to convince him that when it came to sex, she had always been able to take it or leave it, no matter how tempting it was to indulge. He would find that out for himself.
She’d be free to run her dig and make the finding of not only her career but of a lifetime. She wouldn’t think about the traitorous voice that said it might be nice to lose this bet and get the consolation prize...
“Fine.”
He lifted his brow. “Does that mean you accept the deal?”
“As long as you give me your word you won’t try to hinder me and my team in any way.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Yeah. Right. There was no reason for her to trust he wouldn’t do just about anything to make sure the result worked out in his favor. Another typical male trait. No man liked losing. “Whatever you say.”
“You’re going to have to trust me.”
Layla rolled her eyes. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know you enough to trust you.”
“I can remedy that.”
“Don’t do me any favors.” Layla eased out of her chair, feeling like she’d mentally run a marathon. “So will you give me your word as a SEAL that you won’t try anything underhanded?”
“You think my word as a SEAL means something?”
“Yes. SEALs are a special team of men who take the job of protecting our country very seriously, and they live by a code of honor and integrity.”
Gavin nodded. She was right. “And you know this how?”
“My father’s cousin used to be a SEAL. He retired a few years ago, but he told us all about them. At least what he could share. A lot of the stuff he did was classified.”
“The majority of our missions are,” Gavin said.
“So, will you give me your word?”
“Yes, you have my word.”
* * *
As far as Gavin was concerned, getting her into his bed before the dig began would not be interfering with the job she wanted to do.
“Good.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late. I’m sure you need more sleep. However, if you need help with the dishes, then I—”
“No, I don’t need help with the dishes. That’s what dishwashers are for.”
“Do you still want to see where we plan to dig?”
“Yes. I want to know what you have planned on my property and where.”
“No problem.”
