Sea Kissed, A Crane Series Romance: Crane Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

therefore bundled it up wet from the shower. Or she could play along. She didn’t think they’d ever covered this contingency in her communications course at Berkeley, but was pretty sure this was an unorthodox way to run a commercial taping.
    “So,” she said, ignoring the flutter of awareness that danced across her chest, “if I take off my jacket, you’ll wink.”
    “Nah. If you take off your jacket, I’ll read those crap words properly. I told you, the wink is negotiable.”
    “You haven’t told me the terms.”
    He didn’t grin. His lips never moved, but there was some seriously evil grinning going on in the green eyes. “I’m making this up as I go along.”
    “Well,” she snapped, “I’ll only go so far.”
    Her own words seemed to echo in the air around them, adding to the charge of sexuality that seemed to hum whenever he was around. Never taking his eyes from hers, he murmured, “What if I want you to go all the way?”
    She couldn’t resist the urge to give in to the skittering sensations tripping over her skin and play a game she’d never been much good at. Because, unless she was very much mistaken, the most amazing looking man she’d ever seen was flirting with her. And she really liked it. The challenge was there, in the barely banked green fires of his eyes.
    Instead of answering directly, she slipped the jacket off, feeling the slide of soft wool down the skin of her arms and hung it on the back of a chair. Beneath it she wore a sleeveless white silk tank top. She’d never before thought of it as a remotely sexy garment, but when Steve’s eyes dropped to her chest she felt as though she were the sexiest woman alive. All of a sudden she was reminded of the moment when he’d looked at her naked breast spilling out of Sonia’s dress yesterday and she’d wanted this total stranger, and his eyes seemed to telegraph the same message back at her. She swallowed and moved out of seduction range to reset the video camera. She felt his eyes follow her every step of the way and her body had never felt so fluid or alluring. He walked to the front of the room where he’d stood before and repeated the spiel.
    “Well,” she said carefully. “That was better.” Better like frozen soup was better than canned, but nowhere near the fresh homemade taste she’d been promised.
    “You didn’t give me much incentive,” he explained.
    “I took off my jacket,” she reminded him curtly.
    “I need more.” He stepped closer and she decided to clobber him if he tried to take off any more of her clothes. But he only reached behind her and unfastened her hair. With a tiny gasp, she felt the thick, soft slide of her hair around her face and falling to her shoulders. She put a hand to her head, knowing it must be a mass of kinks since she’d coiled it while it was still wet. “Leave it,” he said, stilling her hand. “I like it like that.”
    He went back to the front once more; this time, he leaned forward so his hands rested on the edge of the board room table, reminding her of his strength. He stared at her as though she were the only person in the universe and said, “There are three things a man likes Down Under.” He paused as though he were letting her in on a great secret. “A warm woman, a cold beer, and a Crane Board flying over the ocean.”
    She was mesmerized. In her wildest dreams she hadn’t imagined him capable of this. He paused again, then moved slightly closer as though instinctively reaching for a close-up.
    “A real man likes them at the same time.”
    She knew exactly what he said, but what she heard was, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I want you.” She felt each word as though he were saying it solely to her. In fact, when he stopped speaking and silence fell, she longed to run out and buy a Crane Board.
    “That was so much better,” she gushed. He cocked an eyebrow and she reviewed the take in her mind. “There was just one thing missing,” she