Tempting Taylor Read Online Free Page A

speech, Taylor stared at him
unabashedly, secure in the knowledge that he couldn’t possibly make her out in
the sea of faces before him. Today he was without a tie, the dress shirt
unbuttoned at the throat. He looked casual and approachable, and infinitely
sexier. The lights glinted off his dark hair, and his smile disarmed the
audience.
    He rattled off a couple of funny anecdotes, and the
receptive crowd laughed. Taylor couldn’t help but smile as well. This was a
different side of Cooper, certainly one she hadn’t seen. He was charming and
captivating, and plainly intelligent. She wrote on her little notebook,
scribbled “gorgeous” next to his name and found herself underlining the word
over and over. She made notes on the way he interacted with the audience, noted
his facial expressions, and how he had a small dimple on his right cheek when
he grinned. The talk was financial, which really should have been a snoozer,
but he spoke plainly, much of his speech in layman’s terms so that even she
could understand what prevailing markets were, and what stimulating the economy
and ways to grow the job market meant.
    At the end of his speech, he announced that he would take
some questions. There were some predictable ones, like what would he do to
kick-start the slumbering economy and some such thing, but when a buxom young
woman took the microphone and asked if he was single and available, Taylor had to
roll her eyes. The blonde tossed her hair and thrust her chest out, drawing
attention to her rather large breasts. With a sigh, Taylor straightened and
slipped her notebook into her purse. When she looked up, she froze as she found
Cooper’s gaze locked on her. Really? He couldn’t be looking at her. How could
he pick her out in the midst of the standing room only crowd?
    “I’m afraid that’s all the time we have today,” Cooper said
and after thanking the audience, left the stage without answering the woman’s
question.
    There was an audible “oh” of disappointment that rippled
through the crowd, especially the females. Taylor made her way out, exiting
through one of the main doors just ahead of the pack.
    She slipped on her sunglasses as she emerged into the sunshine.
It was refreshing to see another side of Cooper. It really wasn’t such a
surprise to see him effortlessly charm the crowd. He wouldn’t have been so
successful if he didn’t have the smarts and charisma. It just wasn’t fair,
really. Those qualities only made him more attractive and infinitely more
appealing. Damn near irresistible.
    His gray eyes were like lasers that honed in on her as she
stood in a crowd. As soon as their eyes had met, a delicious ripple of
awareness had surged through her body. Her nipples had actually tightened. Her
belly dipped and an electric zing pulsed in her pussy. Wow. No man had ever
elicited that kind of instantaneous reaction from her. Cooper was dangerous to
her equilibrium. Very dangerous.
    Her heels clicked on the cobblestone as she walked to the
parking structure where she’d been lucky to find an empty spot. She picked up
the pace, wanting to get away as soon as possible. He’d seen her. He knew she
was there. The need to escape was foremost.
    “Off so soon?”
    Taylor froze in her tracks. Her pulse jumped at the sound of
his voice. She pulled in a breath before turning around.
    “Hello.” Jeez, was that her voice? Why did she sound so
husky? She cleared her throat. “Great speech back there.” How lame.
    “Thanks. What’s the rush?”
    She gripped the handle of her purse a little more tightly.
“I, ah, I have to go back to the office.” Tugging self-consciously at the
jacket of her pantsuit, she made an effort to stay still.
    She jumped when he casually reached out and pulled off her
sunglasses. He raised an eyebrow. “I make you nervous.”
    “Not at all.”
    “I don’t bite,” he said with a grin.
    She blinked. Ohmygod Cooper Hathaway was flirting
with her. Heat suffused her, nearly