Tycoon For Auction

“I think we have a good shot at winning,” he said at last.

“What if we didn’t?” she asked.

He realized she was trying to tell him something without saying the words. “I’m not making the connection here, darling. Just tell me what you’re trying to say.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think I should beat my boss.”

“Paul doesn’t care if we win. I’ve played him lots of times at basketball and golf. I usually win,” he said.

“That’s different.”

“How do you figure?” he asked, leaning closer to her.

She tilted her head to the side and then stood on her tiptoe to whisper in his ear. “You don’t work for Paul.”

He ignored the jolt of that went through him. “That’s right, I don’t.”

She pulled back and met his gaze evenly. “You work for me, right?”

He arched one eyebrow. “We both know I do.”

She grimaced at him. “I’d like to see you lose when you do that eyebrow thing.”

“Oh, does it bother you?”

“You can be so annoying when you try.”

“I know. It’s a gift.”

“I don’t like it, Rand.”

“I’ll try to remember that.”

“Good. Remember what else I said.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“Then I’ll say it now. I’d rather not win.”

“Do you have a plan to lose? Because Paul will notice if we suddenly start missing the ball.”

“You’ll just have to pretend to be distracted,” she said.

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“You’re a smart man. You’ll think of something.”

Several seconds passed before Rand replied to her rather provocative words. “Will you be distracting me?” he asked. There was something very masculine in his tone that made everything feminine in her stir. She wanted to run from Rand and the male gleam in his eyes but she was made of stronger stuff.

The cowardly part of her doubted that. But she was determined to stay where she was. “How?”

Her world was very narrow and she’d never had to distract a man before. Manipulate them a time or two in a business situation to get the results she wanted, but never distract. Her mind was going wild trying to figure out what he had in mind.

He muttered something under his breath. She tugged at the hem of the jogging shorts that Angelica had loaned her. They were shorter than she was used to, but otherwise fit well.

“What’d you say?” she asked.

“Nothing. You just stand there and I’ll be distracted,” he said.

It was the closest thing she’d ever had to a compliment from a man. Usually she froze them out before they could work up the nerve to say anything personal to her. She’d learned a long time ago that life was simpler without interpersonal relationships.

But there was something about Rand that made her not want to freeze him out. That made her want to try to bring him closer to her. That made her…just want him.

“Really?” she asked without thinking.

He gave her one of those lord-of-the-manor looks and she wished she’d kept her mouth closed. But it was too late. Besides, he was too arrogant for his own good.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know that you are an attractive woman,” he said.

Scooting a few feet away from him, she glanced objectively down at her body. She spent some time working out so she wasn’t overweight, but when she looked in the mirror all she saw was a rather average-looking woman. Now wasn’t the time to argue the point with him, but she knew he was mistaken.

A change of subject was needed. “What if I just talk to you?”

“You haven’t been quiet the entire game and that hasn’t affected my playing,” he said.

He was right. She didn’t really know how to play the game and had been calling questions to him. He’d been really good and he was hard to distract. One time she’d yelled at him to watch out when he’d dived for the ball and he’d still managed to hit it over the net.

He was a superb athlete. He wore only surf shorts, leaving his chest bare. He was tanned and his muscles were firm and delineated. She knew why she wanted to believe he found her attractive—he was the kind of man that she’d always secretly drooled over.

Actually, she should probably be the one to act distracted by him. Of course, it wouldn’t be an act. She hadn’t been able to keep her mind on work all day. Instead of being the key to her next promotion, Rand seemed more like her Achilles’ heel.