Read Off Limits for Free Online

small pinpricks of blue mixed into the mostly green of his eyes.
    Why is my heart beating so fast?
    Why have I forgotten to breathe?
    He’s not saying anything, just holding my gaze, staring deep into my eyes, and I have the sudden, overpowering urge to lick my lips. Just another couple of inches between us would close this gap, and then . . .
    “Who says you’re my type?” he says, his voice low and conspiratorial. Then he winks again.
    And of course, to make matters worse, my face feels like it could start a small forest fire now. Ugh. Damn him.
    Two can play at that game. I twist in my seat, arcing my back just a little, in a posture that I know sets off my curves to perfection, not to mention makes my shirt gap just a little, enough to show a hint of cleavage near the top. Then I arch a brow at him over the thick frame of my glasses. “Really? So yesterday when you were stealing glances at my ass, that was just, what, an accident?”
    The moment I say it, his eyes drop down along my body, like a command. I resist a little shiver of power, knowing that whatever he might claim, he’s clearly having trouble keeping his eyes off of me. “You might not be my type, but you can’t blame me for being a red-blooded male, Chloe.”
    Just the sound of my name on his lips sets off a flare in my chest. Anger, yes, but also desire. Fucking hell, I want him. What is wrong with me? “Sure I can,” I respond. “Watch me, Max.”
    “Oh so you do know my name. I’d been wondering, Miss MacIntyre .”
    I push my chair back to stand and pace across the room, on the pretense of going for another file. Really, I just need space away from him.
    What the hell was that reaction? What the hell did my body want me to do, kiss this bastard? I’d probably contract syphilis. With my back still to him, I say, “We’re going to have to work together on this. Which means we’re going to have to at least try to be civil with one another.”
    “Who’s being uncivil? We’ve established that neither of us are each other’s types, that’s good. We wouldn’t want any . . . unresolved tension while we’re working this case, would we?”
    Just the way he says it is a challenge. He’s daring me to admit I feel something. Daring me to call him out for feeling it too.
    When I turn around again, he has a killer smile on, which shows off his perfectly white teeth. One of his eyeteeth, I notice, is a little crooked, snagging across his canine by a few centimeters. Somehow, it just makes the whole smile sexier, because of that one tiny flaw.
    Double ugh.
    The only thing I can do is shut him down. “Great. Glad we’ve established that we’ll be polite.” My eyes dart to the clock over his head. 4:42pm. Shit. I’m late for my next meeting already. “That said, since someone was late to our already tight meeting today, I’ve got to head out already.”
    “What’s that, fifteen minutes have flown past already?” He raises a single sardonic brow. “I guess next time we’ll need to pencil in more time.”
    Which was what he was complaining to me about yesterday. Which probably means he was late on purpose just to point out to me how inadequate 15 minutes was. “You know, 15 minutes can be plenty of time when you stay on task,” I reply evenly. “I know it’s probably not a concept you’re familiar with.”
    “I can do a lot in fifteen minutes, Chloe, believe me.”
    I roll my eyes. “Maybe next time we can talk about the case instead of spending the whole time engaging in provocative banter.”
    “That wasn’t provocative.” His grin sharpens. “You’ll know when I’m really provoking you.”
    I swallow hard. The way he’s staring at me right now, like he could eat me alive, is setting flames off in parts of my body I’d forgotten existed. I want to slap him, or kiss him. Or both. It takes every ounce of effort I have to draw my professional self to the fore, and crush my stupid sex drive. “What part of I need to leave for