Travis nodded absently, busy doing a thorough perusal of Lily’s figure. How was it that practically overnight she seemed to have blossomed? Surely she hadn’t been this ripe, this sexy before.

Or had she?

Crossing his arms across his chest, Travis got down to business. “I want you to work with me on a new house that I designed.”

Lily’s hand went to her throat. Travis wondered how her skin would taste at the pulse point that was beating so rapidly in her neck.

“You want me to work with you?”

“I need an interior designer. That is what you do, isn’t it?”

Lily nodded.

Travis shrugged. “If you don’t think you’re up to it, I’ll understand.”

Responding to his goading exactly as planned, Lily took a step forward, a new flush on her cheeks. “Of course I’m up to it. What do you need me to do?”

He bit back a grin of victory. There would be plenty of time to savor the sweet taste of success after he had made her come so hard that she was begging for him to suck and lick and finger her again and again.

Throwing her words of his sexual incompetence back in her face was going to be well worth the wait.

“Why don’t you come with me to the house right now, and I’ll show you?”

Lily looked over her shoulder. “I can’t. I don’t get off work for another hour. And my boss is standing right over there.”

All Travis could see was a greasy car salesmen type in a brown polyester suit. “That guy’s your boss?”

Right then, the beady-eyed man looked over and frowned at them.

“Go away. We can talk later,” she hissed, looking desperate.

“May I help you?”

Travis held out his hand. “I’m Travis Carson.” He handed the man one of his business cards.

In an instant, Lily’s boss went from snide to obsequious. “Oh my. Carson Architects. It is an honor to meet you, sir.” He bumbled and stumbled all over himself, saying, “Albert All. I’m the head of this department.” He puffed out his chest so far Travis was afraid his inflated stomach was going to pop and shower them with furniture-salesman guts.

“How may I be of service to you?” Albert asked, shooting Lily a clear sign to get lost.

Lily began to scoot out of the way, but Travis reached out for her elbow and held her firmly by his side.

“I was speaking to Lily about a large decorating job I need taken care of.”

Albert nodded so fast that his many chins threatened to overtake the rest of his face. “How wonderful, sir, that you thought of Barker’s. I would be happy to introduce you to my top designer.”

Travis had an unreasonable urge to defend Lily. “I’ve already found her,” he said, delighted to watch Albert stutter with outrage.

Lily turned to Travis, her mouth a soft “o,” and he couldn’t help but want to kiss her, her boss be damned. But he reined in his impulses. There would be time for kissing later.

Turning back to the purple-faced Albert, Travis said, “I’d like to take her to the job site right now, if you don’t have any objections.” The greasy man opened his mouth, and Travis knew he had to shut him down with the promise of money. Lots of it.

Leaning in closer to Albert as if they were talking man to man, trying not to hurl from the putrid smell of his onion breath and nicotine-stained teeth, Travis said, “It’s much easier to see an eighty-thousand-square-foot house in person than it would be for me to describe it to her. You understand, I’m sure.”

Without waiting for a response from Lily’s railroaded boss, Travis turned to Lily, and said, “How about we take my Jag?” as he propelled her toward the door.

They walked through the store and out onto the sidewalk without saying a word to each other. Travis opened the passenger door, and Lily woodenly sank into the plush leather seat.

“How did you do that?” she said in obvious amazement.

“Easy. How do you put up with that pompous loser every day?”

Lily giggled, and Travis was surprised by how easy it was to be with her. Just like when we were kick, he thought before he shut down that part of his brain.

“Just barely,” she said.

Travis started the engine and shot out onto the street. “Why don’t you quit?”

“And do what?”

He shrugged. “Start your own business.”

Lily laughed again, but this time it carried a strong dose of self-deprecation. “Yeah right. Like anyone would want to hire me.” She turned to him with a look of suspicion. “You don’t even know what kind of decorator I am. I know you’re not really hiring me to work on a house. And Albert is going to kill me when he finds out he’s not getting your business. What’s going on, Travis?”

Travis was having a heck of a time keeping his eyes on the road. His hand kept wanting to move off the stick shift to Lily’s thigh. And the soft, slick bounty that lay beneath her skirt.

“Nothing is going on,” he insisted. “Look, you’re right, I’ve never seen your work. But Luke said you’re great and that you should open your own shop. So how about we’ll start with one room, and if my clients like it, we’ll see about the rest of the house.”

Lily studied him carefully for a long moment, and it took all the manliness he possessed not to squirm under her gaze. He held his breath, waiting for her reply. If she didn’t go for this, he had no idea how he was going to get her alone again.

And if he couldn’t get her alone, he couldn’t get her naked.

And if he couldn’t get her naked, he couldn’t make her come.

Travis had to make her come. That day. No one had ever questioned his virility, least of all himself.

Lily blew out a breath. “Fine. I’ll work with you.” Brushing back a springy curl from her cheek, she said,

“What styles do your clients like?”

“I think you’ll get an idea when you see the house.” He pulled into the long driveway and drove beneath thick canopies of hundred-year-old oak trees, parking in front of a huge Italian-inspired villa, high in the hills of San Francisco.

“Wow. What a beautiful house.” Lily stepped out onto the brick pavers that lined the driveway and walked toward the front door with her mouth hanging open. “You want me to work with you on this house?”

Travis smiled, pleased that she was so awed by his work. “Wait until you see inside. And the view.”

He opened the front door with his key, and they entered the empty house. “My God,” she said, her eyes wide. “This is straight out of the Tuscan countryside. I see murals and bright blue tiles. Mustard walls with a faux finish and soft fabrics. Rugs, the most glorious rugs atop the wood floors. And with the way the sun is setting through the oak trees…” Lily’s voice fell away. “This house is a perfect extension of nature.