Free The CEO's Little Surprise by Kat Cantrell

fingers play with her neck. And then he tipped her head back so he could meet her gaze.
    A shield snapped over her expression. That look he recognized. The ice goddess returneth. Excellent. Now he could get started melting her, like he’d planned. Though the reasons that had felt so necessary at the beginning of the night weren’t the same as they were now. At all.
    â€œNo angles,” he murmured and drew her face closer. Almost within kissing distance. But not quite. “I asked you to dinner because I wanted to. You...interest me. I want to find out how you’ve changed since college. Discover what’s still the same.”
    Cass didn’t look away, challenging him with merely the glint in her eye. “So you can use it to your advantage.”
    God, that was sexy. In-charge, take-no-prisoners Cass was something else. His motor started humming. “Absolutely. I fully intend to use every scrap of information I learn to seduce you.”
    Not even a blink to show she’d registered that he’d shifted away from business and zeroed in on pleasure. Which was where they’d keep it if he had his way. Oh, he’d eventually wind his way back to the formula. But for now, it was all about Cass.
    â€œI think you’ve forgotten that I specified this dinner should be strictly business. I was about to thank you for sticking to it.”
    Ah-ha. Her voice had grown a little huskier and it skated through his blood, raising the heat a notch. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted him to believe.
    â€œSorry,” he apologized without a shred of regret. “I never agreed to that. But we’re smart people. We can keep business and pleasure separate. Like we did in college.”
    He watched her expression smooth out, becoming blank. Which meant he’d hit a nerve.
    â€œI can,” she said firmly. “I’m not so sure about you.”
    â€œI’m good for it.” Press your advantage. Now. “If you are, too, prove it.”
    Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “How?”
    Heat and awareness shot through the roof. God, that dress clung to her curves like a second skin. Would it be terrible if he hooked both sleeves with his thumbs and yanked it down so he could feast his eyes on her beautiful bare breasts?
    Gage tipped her chin up with a crooked finger to bring her mouth in range. But he didn’t take it with his. Not yet.
    â€œSo, let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Cass murmured, her breath mingling with his. “By your logic, if I kiss you, that’ll prove I can separate business from pleasure?”
    â€œWho said anything about kissing?” he countered. “Is that what’s on your mind, Cass? Because I’m game if you think kissing me will make your point.”
    It was a dare and a challenge—guaranteed to get an in-control, powerful woman like Cass hot—and she caught both full force. Her mouth curved upward as she contemplated him. “I think it’ll make your point, not mine.”
    â€œOh?” Barely six inches separated their lips and he ached to close that distance. “What point is that?”
    She leaned in, almost there but not quite, lips feathering against his, and it was more evocative than if she’d gone for it. Her perfume engulfed him in a sensuous wave that heightened the sparking awareness. Her breasts brushed his chest aggressively and he nearly groaned with the effort it took to keep his fingers from her dress.
    One little signal and he’d slide his arms around her, pulling her into the fiercest kiss. The only prayer he had of cracking that ice was to give her something sizzling hot to grab on to with both hands.
    Public place, public place, public place , he reminded himself furiously.
    â€œYour point—if I recall—was that you’d use all the information at your disposal to seduce me,” she murmured throatily. “I don’t think you have a