Champagne Romance (Romance Novel) by Suellen Smith Page A

business
interview. Under her jacket she hid her soft lush breasts with a
creamy silk blouse that clung and gave only a hint of cleavage.
Around her neck was a string of pearls. On the tips of each earlobe
was a single drop of pearl.--Slater wondered hostilely if a lover
had given them to her.---Her glorious red hair was pulled back in a
severe, but chic low ponytail making her eyes look powerfully
large. She was elegantly, but professionally dressed. Her demeanor
let him know that she was ready to do business.
    Baby blues and aqua blues met, clashed, and
challenged. Her eyes dared him to let his rove again. Because he
was perceptive enough to know it would annoy her and for the pure
pleasure of it, his glance swept down again to her naked knees and
back up to her unflinching direct stare.
    Swan was no novice to the attention of men.
They always seemed startled when they first met her. They all tried
to subtly glance here and there, but Mr. Slater was not subtle. She
was like a package that they all wanted to unwrap and see what was
underneath. This man, however, looked at her as though he already
knew what she looked like without her clothing. Best to cut right
to the chase and get him focused on business.
    Slater knew without a doubt that this was not
the same helpless woman that he had encountered in the frozen
tundra of the Rocky Mountains. This was a confident woman---a woman
of quality and sustenance. She would be a challenge and he was
totally game. He would not be the same star struck guy on the
mountaintop. This time, he would make the rules. Their relationship
would end only when he was ready. He did not doubt for one minute
that he would have her again.
    Swan had come with a portfolio of fabric
swatches, paint samples, and drawings. Slater was impressed with
her professional skills, but heard little of what she had to say.
He was curious as to why she wasn’t still modeling. Had she stopped
all together? Perhaps she had needed a diversion. She looked much
healthier, happier, and perhaps a little curvier than the last time
he had seen her.
    Slater narrowed his eyes, irked at the
thought that Swan’s glow might be due to a live-in lover. He
certainly intended to find out! All he could manage to twist out of
her, however, was that she had a two-year-old son that sure as hell
wasn’t his! It didn’t take much math to figure out that a son of
his would have been three by now!
    Swan left Mr. Slater’s office thinking what a
dreadful interview that had been. She felt that she had been
grilled right down to her crimson toenails. She wasn’t about to
give Mr. Slater any more insight into her personal life than he
needed, but he did need to know that she had a son that went to
preschool. She would not be working on Tuesday and Thursday when he
was home. When he had asked how old her son was, she had given him
the honest answer of two. She didn’t feel that it was any of his
business that Quinn would be three in the next six weeks. So, she
was surprised when the phone rang the next morning and that Mr.
Slater wanted her to begin decorating this week. The next day she
began.
    Swan tried to avoid Mr. Slater whenever
possible, which was rarely. She had been decorating for over two
weeks. He always seemed to manage to be in the way giving his
opinion at every opportunity. He was the client and it was his
money, but somehow, it seemed more than just wanting to be involved
with the decisions.
    Today, Swan was up on a ladder hanging a
picture when Slater walked into the room. Her ass was at eye level.
It gave himself a moment to enjoy her sculptured behind and
remember how the two cheeks had felt in each hand. He was itching
to test them again.
    “ Move slowly,” he reminded himself,
“she spooks easily and it would be just like her to remove herself
in a dash from his tentative presence and cancel their
contract.”
    Slater leaned against the door jam with one
hand in his pant pocket and enjoyed the menu before him. When