One Special Moment - Brenda Jackson [26]
Colby took a deep breath while she collected her thoughts. Now was not the time to start getting turned on and dreamy-eyed over Sterling Hamilton like most women across the country were doing. The man was selfish and heartless, and it was best she remembered that. And if he thought for one minute she would show up in his suite for dinner, he had another thought coming. She was going out shopping just like she had planned.
Sterling leaned against the closed door and took a calming breath to steady the anger he felt with himself. How could he have let things get out of hand and kissed Colby that way? His sole purpose for seeking her out had been to discuss the change he’d made in the agreement. But her feistiness had gotten to him, and he’d felt driven to see if that smart mouth of hers tasted as good as it looked.
And unfortunately for him it had. Her mouth had been everything he’d imagined it would be and more.
Even now he could still taste her on his lips and the faintest hint of her perfume still clung to his skin. He couldn’t ever remember kissing a woman with such passion as he’d kissed Colby. That single kiss had awakened sensations within him that had torn at his control and ripped it to shreds. And the thought of kissing her again aroused him to such a degree he didn’t want to think what would happen if he were to take her in his arms, undress her and make love to her.
He walked over to the bar in the room and poured a glass of scotch. He drank it down and felt something other than the hot liquid slowly burning his insides. It was the knowledge that he was behaving like a stupid, lust-crazed fool. He had no intention for any woman to turn his life inside out. He would never allow any woman to do that, especially the one who would soon become his wife.
When Colby returned to her hotel room a couple of hours later she discovered a table in the middle of the room with a number of covered dishes on it. Tossing her packages on the bed, she lifted the lids and was surprised to see Sterling had left dinner warming for her. There was even a salad and dessert.
Suddenly feeling quite hungry, she went into the bathroom to wash up. Moments later she sat down at the table, and after saying grace, she helped herself to a serving of smoked salmon, seasoned rice and steamed broccoli.
She smiled. The food was totally delicious. Although she didn’t want to appreciate Sterling’s thoughtfulness she couldn’t help doing so. He could have just as easily sent the tray back to the kitchen when she had not shown up for dinner as he had asked.
She frowned. He hadn’t asked, he had ordered and she hadn’t liked it one bit.
“I prefer it when you smile.”
She turned slightly to the sound of the masculine voice, not surprised to see Sterling standing in the doorway connecting their rooms. She hadn’t heard him open the door.
“I thought you were supposed to try improving your knocking skills.” She kept her voice slightly quiet but knew he could pick up on her irritation and annoyance.
“I tried that earlier today and it didn’t work. You refused to be cooperative.” He came farther into the room and stood across from the table.
Colby tried to ignore how good he looked in the dim lighting of the room but found herself conducting still another close study of his features. There was no doubt about it, he was a fine specimen of a man. For some reason, this evening his cheekbones seemed even more defined, but his dark eyes displayed the same things as usual: alertness, distance and mistrust. She couldn’t help but wonder about the reason. A woman would have to be very special to penetrate his hard wall and get to know