Captivation

Captivation Part 2

"I mind." He told her bluntly with a smile in his voice as he waited for her to respond. This was definitely more fun than he'd expected. The evening had been tedious. Until now.

Caitlin could feel his contained laughter. That annoyed her. Her lips pursed. Enough. She'd had enough. He might find her amusing. She didn't find him in the slightest bit amusing. Not one iota. And those stupid fantasies she'd held about being in his arms, were dispelled. Well, discarded, for the moment, at any rate.

"I'd like to return to the hall." Caitlin forced herself not to cross her arms or stamp her foot, but she made sure that her tone conveyed the fact that she expected him to do as he was told. It was about time she made this man realize she was not one of his bimbos, and did not simply fall in to suit his demands. "Now." She'd used the tone on many occasion, she knew it was effective, yet here she was, with him grinning as if her demand was nothing more than flirting.

He grinned. Ok, he acknowledged with utter delight, she could be feisty. That was something he hadn't anticipated. She seemed a touch staid when he'd watched her socialize earlier. Not exactly lightweight, but he hadn't expected anything other than froth. When he'd studied her earlier, he thought she had participated without truly engaging. She seemed to have a smile pinned to her lips and yet her eyes seemed rather cool and distant. She had maintained her position at the periphery rather than take the opportunity to step into the centre circle. She did little more than acknowledge comments that were directed at her specifically. To him, she had seemed bored.

"You've gone to an awful lot of trouble, why not just enjoy the moment. Then cross me off your list and move on." Jared told her calmly as he quickly took stock of the woman standing beside him. Not at all his type. Prim. Very conservative. Snooty from the tone of voice. Arrogant from the demand in her voice. Boring in bed, he imagined, given her dress code. He wondered what she would do if anyone ever tried anything other than the missionary position with her. That had his smile turning into a grin as he imagined her naked. Then he wished he hadn't, for strangely enough, he quite fancied seeing her naked.

"My list?" Her eyebrows shot upward. Caitlin could see that he was enjoying winding her up and while she recognized the fact, she didn't know how to stop reacting to his baiting her. That in itself was unusual. She was usually more in control of her emotions, her responses, her demeanor. But not with him. Something about him had her being her natural self, the self that only usually emerged when she was with her immediate family.

"Yes, although Lisa tells me I'm your number one target, I'm sure you've got a short list of potential candidates. So, if one dropped off the list it shouldn't cause you too much inconvenience. Especially if the one that dropped off the list was someone of my ilk. Your father, trust me, would be happier for a start. And you'd still have plenty of choice."

"Candidates?" Caitlin gritted, even as she re ran his statements in her mind. Lisa? What had Lisa said to the man? And what list was he talking about?

"Yes." Jared looked directly at her. His eyes flicked from her lips back to her eyes. The laughter left his eyes. "How did you decide which guys to target? Got criteria for your perfect man?" Though he sounded as if he was genuinely interested in her response, Caitlin didn't hear that sincerity. All she heard was the cool arrogance.

"Sure, sense of humour is top of the list." Caitlin told him bluntly, folding her arms and adopting a defensive stance. This really was getting to be too much. First he invited her to dance, then he didn't even bother to take her into his arms, instead he led her out, and to top it all off he seemed to be suggesting that she had targeted him in some way. Her? Target him?