Just like the first time they touched, Sierra felt the heat spiral low, swirling insistently in her belly. Her eyes were riveted to his long, tan, muscular arm, the light dusting of golden hair covering the ridges of muscle that flexed with each movement.
A spark jolted from her fingertips to her nipples, and she hoped her blush wasn’t evident. Turning her face up to meet his, their gazes collided, and Sierra felt her skin grow warmer.
The man was masculine beauty personified, attractive from a distance, but a true masterpiece up close.
She would’ve described Luke as being ruggedly handsome which was the polar opposite to Cole’s perfection. He was a big man, nearly the same height as Luke, but his body was thicker; the muscles in his shoulders starkly defined beneath the soft, navy blue button down he wore. His chest was broader, all hard angles and planes that she suspected no amount of clothing would disguise.
“Nice to meet you, Sierra.” The rich timbre of Cole’s voice wrapped her in sexual awareness.
She was in so much trouble here.
“Nice to meet you.” Sierra managed to get out when Luke cleared his throat.
She flipped her gaze over to Luke and was surprised by the devilish grin on his face. Here she was, visually ogling the man she had just been introduced to and he was smiling about it.
When Luke took her hand in his, – did he actually pull her closer? – Sierra tried to ignore the fact that she was now surrounded by two of the most sexually arousing males she’d ever come into contact with.
Damn this was going to be a long day.
Chapter Nine
Six miserably long hours later, Sierra found herself sitting in a corner of the large banquet room, cursing her shoes and wanting nothing more than to slide into a hot bath. For a man she had somehow been convinced didn’t like to talk, Luke had taken to introducing her to anyone and everyone he came into contact with, and somehow she had managed to keep up with him all day, which is where the miserable came into play. Her feet ached, her calves were on fire, and her back had long since gone on strike.
Her mother had instructed her to network, and that’s exactly what she had done. All day.
Despite the fact that Luke was not employed by XTX, or CISS for that matter, no one would have been the wiser based on the way he spoke of the two companies in such high regard as he easily greeted each and every person they came into contact with.
He introduced Sierra to people from all around, many of whom resided in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. And all of the information he’d garnered about her had been during their walk over that morning, when he had asked for a brief rundown of the types of services her company provided.
She’d given him the high level details, and apparently Luke had memorized every word based on the way he offered her name and a brief description of her services to everyone she met.
Being an entrepreneur himself, Luke was well versed in the ways of public relations. He knew how to market without making people feel overwhelmed or as though they were speaking to a sales person. Sierra was also well versed, and she had easily picked up the conversation from Luke as though the two of them had been doing the same thing for years.
By the end of the first day, she had already scheduled two appointments to meet and show her portfolio to a couple of big wigs in the Dallas area.
Sitting up straight in her chair, Sierra watched as Cole and Luke closed in on her, making their way from across the room where they had been talking to Xavier Thomas, the man she had been introduced to earlier in the day by Veronica.
It dawned on her that she’d often referred to those she generally associated with as being big, but she realized as she watched the two men that she had been speaking in relative terms. At four feet, ten and three quarter inches – yes, she tacked on every fraction – she often felt inadequate.
However, seeing these two predatory males as they approached, both of them standing well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and wide chests, carried by powerfully thick thighs, Sierra realized she hadn’t known what big actually meant. These men took up some serious real estate with their massive forms.
The smile Cole threw her way sent a warm shiver straight down her spine, and she immediately felt some of the strain of the day wear off. Secretly, she had wished that Luke would smile at her similarly, but he looked distracted and intent.
“Are you two nearly finished?” She asked, rising from her chair.
With both men so close, sitting was not an option. Though she was a full foot and some change shorter than either of them, standing was the only way to bring herself to a more even playing field. Never having been intimidated by those who were larger than she was, there was something about them that made her feel much smaller and vastly more feminine than she ever had before.