A surge of lust ripped through him as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

She’d taken that stupid clip out of her hair and brushed her bangs with her hand so that now her hair fell around her face, framing it to perfection. And it was torturing him.

Pulling out of the lot, he headed toward Hickory Hollow Mall. He hadn’t even gone a mile when he noticed Sam tensing in her seat. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She flinched as he changed lanes. “You know, Adrian, this isn’t a video game, and cars don’t evaporate if you hit them. Jeez, you drive like you have a death wish.”

He laughed and backed off his speed. “Come on, half the fun of this car is pushing its limits.”

She crossed herself. “I hope you have a good life insurance policy.”

He did, but there wasn’t anyone to reap the benefits of it. And it was one of his biggest regrets. He’d never been the kind of guy to date much. Taking care of his mother, sister, and work left him very little time to socialize.

Not that it mattered. As soon as he opened his mouth and said something, most women got a blank, dazed look on their faces and stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language.

But not Sam. She understood even his most obscure references.

“Adrian!” she snapped as a semi cut them off. “That’s a truck!”

He hit the brakes. “Don’t worry, I don’t dare die before I put the Christmas press release up. And even if I did, I’m sure Randy would be at the funeral home with a laptop asking me to take care of some last-minute thing.”

“You’re not funny,” she said, even though she was smiling. “Do you really have to go in later and do that?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Adrian pulled onto Bell Road. “Want to eat first?”

“Sure.”

“What are you in the mood for?”

“Anything.”

“How about Olive Garden?” he asked, knowing it was one of her favorites.

“Sounds great.”

Adrian pulled into the lot, then went to open the door for her. But by the time he got to her side, she was already getting out. She looked up and smiled. “And they say chivalry is dead.”

“You have a hard time letting anyone do anything for you, don’t you?” he asked.

“What can I say? My brothers broke me in well.”

Adrian shook his head. “I can’t believe your mother didn’t nag them into doing more for you.”

“She might have had she ever been home, but since she had to work all the time after my dad left, it was pretty much just us.”

Adrian tucked his hands into his back pockets to keep himself from subconsciously reaching out to touch her.

God, how he wanted her. She barely reached his shoulders and every time he stood this close to her, he had the worst desire to pick her up in his arms and bury his face in her neck where he could inhale the sweet scent of her skin.

Clenching his teeth, he tried to banish the thought of laying her down on his bed, and spending the rest of the night exploring her body. Slowly. Meticulously.

He opened the door to the restaurant and let her enter first. As she passed him, his gaze trailed down the back of her body and focused on her round hips. His groin instantly hardened. Thank God, he wore baggy jeans.

The hostess led them to a booth in the back. Adrian hesitated as Sam sat down. His first impulse was to sit beside her, but he knew it wouldn’t be appropriate. The only time he got to do that was when all of them went out to lunch, then he always made a point of being the one to sit closest to her.

His gut tightening as another wave of desire hit him, he forced himself into the opposite booth.

“It’s weird to be here without the guys,” she said as she glanced over the menu.

Adrian stared at her as she read the menu. He didn’t know why she bothered since she always ordered the Manicotti Formaggio, and he loved the way she said it. It rolled off her tongue like smooth whisky.

Sam tightened her hands on the menu as she felt Adrian’s gaze on her. Unnerved by its intensity, she tried to cross her legs, but ended up kicking him under the table. “I’m sorry,” she gasped as he grimaced.

“It’s okay,” he said, reaching beneath the table to rub his leg. “I tend to take up a lot of space.”

“Don’t knock it, I’d kill to be tall.”

“I don’t know why. I think you’re a perfect size.”

She glanced up at his unexpected compliment. He cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to his menu.

After they ordered, they sat in awkward silence.

Sam sipped her drink as she tried to think of something to say to him. Normally, they never had a bit of trouble finding things to talk about and laugh over. But tonight, she was just a little too aware of him. A little too nervous about being alone with him, knowing there was no one here to see her if she were to reach over and touch his hand.

No one to see if she…

“Did you decide to call that guy about the programming position?” she asked, remembering the résumé he’d given her to review that morning.

“I did, even though my first impulse was to toss it.”

“Why?”

“Dear Ms. Cole,” he said, curling his lip. “I hate it when someone gets my gender wrong. It’s the reason I called you so fast when you submitted your résumé. You’re the only one who hasn’t made that mistake. I knew you had to be brilliant.”

She smiled. “Yeah, well, I have to say I was stumped, which is why I wrote ‘Dear Adrian.’ I figured you had to be a guy, since there are so few women programmers, but just in case you weren’t I didn’t want to tick you off.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he muttered bitterly. “It wasn’t bad enough she passed along the oh-so-wonderful color-blind genes, but she had to curse me with a godawful name to boot.”

“If you hate it so much, why don’t you use your middle name?”

“Because it’s Lesley.”

Sam felt her jaw go slack. “Your mother named you Adrian Lesley Cole?”

He nodded. “She really wanted a daughter. When the nurse told her she had a son, she told the nurse to check again. ‘That just can’t be right,’ ” he said in a falsetto, mocking a thick Southern accent.

Was he serious?

“You know,” she said. “I really like the name Adrian. I think it suits you.”

He snorted. “Gee, thanks for the affront to my manhood.”

“No,” she said with a laugh. There was absolutely nothing feminine about him, or his features. “You just have a classical, romantic look to you, like the hero from some period movie.”

He looked a bit sheepish at her compliment. Sam dropped her gaze down to his hands again and watched the way he trailed the empty straw wrapper through his long fingers.

Oh, she loved those hands of his.

How she wished for the courage to reach over and cover them with hers. But she was terrified of what he might do. Terrified of him rejecting her, because in her heart, she knew she’d already fallen for him.

She needed to be able to see him every day. Needed to feel his presence even if it was at a distance.

No, she would never chance running him off. He was her boss, and she would have to satisfy herself with just being his friend.

As soon as they finished dinner, Adrian drove them up the street to the mall. Sam led him through the men’s section of Dillard’s, looking for things she thought would be hot on him.

She paused as she found a stack of button-fly jeans. “You know, these would look great on you.”

Adrian didn’t miss the gleam in her eyes. He hated button-fly, but if Sam liked them…

“I need a thirty-two waist and a thirty-six inseam.”

“Oh, my God, you’re tall.”

He laughed. “I know and it’s a bitch to find them. But if you can locate a pair in this mess, I’ll try them on.”

She did. Adrian tucked them under his arm as he followed her around and did his best not to be too obvious in his ogling of her.

“You’re not going to put me in anything weird, are you?” he asked suspiciously as she stopped to look at a rack of V-neck sweaters. “I might not be able to see colors, but I know guys don’t wear pink, or pastels. And please, nothing in bright yellow because I can’t stand light-post jokes.”

“I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m thinking blacks and dark blues. Maybe red. You look really good in red.”

He smiled. “Really? How good?”

“Very good.” She plucked at his shirtsleeve. “But I don’t like your plaid shirts. They make you look like a lumberjack.”

She’d noticed him! Adrian wanted to shout in happiness. He couldn’t believe she’d actually been looking at him.

“So, what do” – he had to bite back the word you – “women want on a guy?”

“Not those baggy jeans,” she said, looking at his rear and making him even hotter. Harder.

His breathing tense, it was all he could do not to pull her to him and find out exactly what those lips of hers tasted like.

“I don’t know who came up with the idea,” she continued, “but ew. Women like to see a man’s…”

He arched a brow.

“Never mind. I’m having a weird case of déjá vu.”

“Why?”

“I used to buy clothes for my brothers and we’d always get into similar discussions.” She ran her gaze over him. “No offense, but you could really use a makeover.”

Adrian hesitated. Maybe if he let her, she might be a little more receptive to his…

You’re her boss.

Yeah, but he liked her more than he had ever liked any other woman. She made him laugh… made him happy every time she looked up at him.

Better still, she made him burn.

“You feel up to it?” he asked before he could stop himself.