No. Impossible. She would never forget seeing that man.
But he was right there in the bookstore, as big as life. Bigger. Her thoughts grew hot and wild as she pictured that humongous, muscular body in her fevered mind. Could there possibly be another man on the face of this earth who could be her dream lover’s exact twin? Right down to that incredible, sexily crooked smile?
She shook her head and wondered what on earth she should do next. Dear Lord, she was in deep shit here. Obviously, he had come to see who the woman was who had plastered his likeness over every newsstand and bookstore in the known world.
He was probably going to hit her with some massive lawsuit. Or maybe a massive fist.
Phyllis hurried into the stockroom, chirping excitedly, “My God, girl. This has got to be the best advertising hook I’ve ever seen! Everyone’s asking him to sign your books too. I had no idea he was real. Did you plan this all along, you wicked thing, you?”
Sam lifted her eyes to the woman’s face and she shook her head. “Honestly, Phyllis, I’ve never laid eyes on that man until just now.” Except in some very hot, very naughty, very personal wet dreams.
“Oh come on, it’s me, remember? Everyone knows the man from your novel covers. I want his photo on our latest advertising campaign. He’s even more gorgeous in the flesh than in your sketches. You little devil. You sure know how to pull an ace out of your sleeve!” Phyllis rubbed her hands together as she imagined the ad campaign.
But Sam wasn’t paying attention to her business manager. Her eyes were glued to the shadowy figure standing outlined in the doorway to the stockroom. He seemed to fill the entire doorway. She bit her lower lip and put her hands on her hot cheeks, waiting for the explosion. Phyllis followed her gaze and turned to extend a hand to the man, who simply took it and nodded, his dark eyes never leaving Sam’s red face.
“I can’t believe you two cooked up this fabulous surprise. I have got to get your bio so we can push this. This is utterly amazing!” Phyllis was still clutching his hand as she babbled almost incoherently, her eyes drinking in this incredibly gorgeous man.
Sam tapped her business manager’s shoulder and said in a strangled tone, “Phyllis, enough. Can you give us a few minutes? Alone?”
The woman blinked in shock at the urgency in her star writer’s voice and she allowed Sam to shove her unceremoniously from the room as the man moved quietly inside. Once the door was closed, Sam leaned back against it, her eyes hesitantly lifting to the man’s face. “I am so very sorry. I have no idea how this happened. I certainly didn’t expect there to be a real person. I mean I didn’t… I never…”
“How did you do it?” The voice was softly menacing, interrupting her panic attack.
She stopped struggling to speak and stared up at him. “Excuse me?”
Those amazing dark eyes seemed to pierce her thoughts. “It’s okay. Free advertising for me. In fact, it’s even a bit flattering. But I only want to know one thing.”
She swallowed hard and managed to squeak, “What thing?”
“How did you find out all that stuff?” His voice was enough to curl her toes. “Nobody knows the stuff you wrote about me. No one.”
Sam stared up at him. Every cell screamed for her to reach out and touch that massive, solid-looking body. To run her fingertips over the cotton shirt and see if he felt as delicious as he looked. The things that flitted through her heated mind made her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. She shook herself back to sanity with difficulty and drew a calming breath.
“I don’t understand. I have no idea at all who you are. I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Her lips quivered with mortification. “I simply made up this character for my books. I sketched the face from my own imagination. It nearly blew me away seeing you standing out there. Honestly!”
She felt a sense of panic as he loomed closer and even huger. He seemed to take half the space in the room and all of the air. Heat sizzled between their bodies. Heat that made her insides tighten with need and her pulse accelerate so much she was sure that he would hear her heart pounding.
“You say you’ve never seen me before? Never heard of me? You could have fooled me.” His voice was barely a whisper. His warm breath fanned the hairs that clung to her sweat-beaded forehead and she felt a wave of weakness flood her with the need to reach out her hands to see if all that rippling, masculine flesh were real or a figment of her overworked imagination.
Fighting for control of her thoughts, she leaned harder back against the solid safety of the door. Swallowing the tight knot in her throat, she barely managed to force herself to look up, past that powerfully corded neck in its crisp collar and tie, past that strong chin with its sinfully sexy cleft, past those temptingly chiseled lips to those hot, dangerous eyes. They hit her like a fist in her gut.
He was huge. She found herself wondering how huge he would be in other departments before she once again shook herself back to reality. She had to strain her neck to look up at him as she forced herself to speak.
“I have no idea who you are. I don’t even know your name. Maybe you could enlighten me, since you obviously know who I am.” Sarcasm usually worked. But for some reason, she felt that it had fallen short of its mark.
Feeling completely breathless, she wondered what he would do if she simply leaned in an inch, raised herself onto her tiptoes and ran her tongue over that chiseled mouth. What he would do if she shoved that expensive Armani suit jacket off those hard shoulders and unbuttoned his shirt to run her palms over his bare flesh. Oh good grief. What the hell was she thinking? Be a little bit more cautious here, girl. This man was dangerous-and not just to her checkbook.
If looks could kill, she would be toast!
The look in those black eyes chilled her to the core as he seemed to debate with himself. “You’re serious?”
Sam nodded. She bit her lip nervously. His eyes followed the movement and she blushed hotly. “Are you famous?”
“That depends.” His eyes moved back up to hers, sending a trickle of something needful-hot-through her body.
“On what?” Her voice sounded strangled even to her.
“On whether you follow the Federation of Pro Wrestling. I guess I forget that not everyone is a pro wrestling enthusiast.” He seemed to be waiting for a reaction.
She swallowed convulsively. “You’re…a professional wrestler?” Her frightened eyes dropped down over that massive frame which was less than a comfortable distance from hers and she barely subdued a shiver. “You aren’t thinking about twisting my head off, are you?”
“Not until you just now brought it up.” His eyes moved over her slim throat thoughtfully before returning to her flushed face once more. He waited.
Shaking herself out of her trance, Sam wet her lips and said with an almost convincing measure of asperity, “Look, I have never watched professional wrestling in my life. My tastes in sports lean to swimming and tennis.” She tried to sidle away from his way-too-close body but he planted one large hand on the door, effectively blocking her escape.
The brush of his massive arm against her ribs set off all sorts of alarms inside her and not all of them were from fear. The heat sizzling off his body seemed to melt her bones. The warm, delicious smell of his skin made her mouth water. Never in her life had she been so damn close to a man who was a walking wet dream and her body wanted a sample so badly, she didn’t know if she could keep from taking a bite. She was lost in her mental molestation of the man when his voice shook her back to reality.