"Shan?"
"Huh?" Were those her words whooshing around like that?
"Dinner tomorrow night? I'll pick you up at seven sharp."
She was still trying to catch up to her lungs when the elevator doors slid open with a hiss. Massimo shooed her out of the small space and out into the reception area. Gray eyes sparkled as the man watched her watching him through the shrinking space of the closing doors.
"Ms Brown, everything okay?"
Twirling around toward the voice, Shanice swallowed a surprised gasp at the knowing look on the receptionist's face. Pulling her wits about her, she nodded to the woman then marched down the hall to her private suite of offices wondering how Massimo managed to roll right over her and get exactly what he wanted. And how in the world would she keep him from doing it again on their date tomorrow night? More importantly, did she even want to?
Massimo headed out early, glanced at Shanice's car parked on the executive level as he passed by and recalled how she felt in his arms. During their cosy lunch this afternoon, the woman's nearness crawled underneath his skin and wiggled until there was no way he could resist kissing her. Thank god for winning that bet. She'd probably fall out if she knew he'd totally guessed the answer while his gut danced around with nervousness at the possibility of him guessing wrong.
Planning out his next moves with Shanice in his head, Massimo headed straight to the shopping district and pulled into a swanky shop on designer row. Parking quickly he jumped out of his car. The receptionist, a pleasingly plump, grey-haired woman dressed to the nines, greeted him as he entered the glass double doors of the establishment.
"Hi, Landy," he called with a wave.
"Hi yourself, handsome. Go on back. She's expecting you." "Thanks."
The flirt blew him a kiss followed by a chuckle as he sent her one right back. After slipping into the new set of duds laid out in his personal dressing room, Massimo headed into the fitting salon where Charli waited.
"So how was lunch?" Charli asked in a sing-song voice.
She tucked a few pins into the cuffs of the pants he wore then folded them under. "It was interesting. Your sister is going to be a tough catch. Stubborn."
Charli laughed heartily. "You have no idea. You up to the task?"
"Are you kidding me? I've been waiting for a chance like this since I saw her the first time at that soiree she threw for you when you launched the new business. I'm up to it, all right, Charli."
"Yep, my sister is as stubborn as a free-born mule. She's also convinced that all she needs is work, work, work." Charli left out the part about Shanice thinking Massimo was simply too young for her. The man would just have to figure that one out on his own. And if Charli knew her handsome friend, he was exactly what Shanice needed—a man as stubborn and self-assured as herself. Charli bit the inside of her cheek to keep from cackling. God, she couldn't wait to see the fireworks when these two got together. Shanice wouldn't know what hit her! Hee hee! But there was one thing she needed to say first.
"Look, Massimo, I know you've been bugging me for a long time to hook you up with my big sis. But in all honesty, the reason I didn't was that I've known you for years and I'm more than aware of the kind of women you're typically seen with."
Charli knew she had his attention when he stopped fidgeting with the waistband she was adjusting and went completely still.
