She felt Kam’s gaze on her profile and met his stare. “You don’t miss much when it comes to Ian, do you?” he said, his gaze piercing, his voice a low rumble.

“It’s my job.”

His eyebrows went up in an expression that might have been interpreted as politely interested or subtly sarcastic. Lin couldn’t say which. “Do you need to go and speak with him?” he asked.

Lin Soong and her work are practically synonymous.

His question had made his statement from earlier today spring into her brain.

“No,” she replied in a hushed, non-carrying voice, her eyebrows raised in a subtle challenge. “I’m done with work for the day.”

His nostrils flared slightly. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Lin felt that familiar dip below her navel. It felt so strange to experience that familiar awareness of Ian across a crowded room and yet at the same time to feel a distance from it. It was hard to focus on the everyday with the exciting novelty of Kam so close.

“I think we’ll be making our way back to our hotel,” Otto said. “All I can think about is bed after that delicious meal.”

Lin started guiltily, realizing too late she’d been staring at Kam, and he’d been staring back with that hot gleam in his eyes.

“I look forward to seeing a demonstration of your mechanism, Kam,” Otto said as he set his napkin on the table.

“I was wondering if you’d be willing to let me see Gersbach’s operations and facilities in return?” Kam said, making Lin blink in surprise.

“I’d be delighted to give you a tour myself,” Brigit interrupted, leaning forward and catching Kam’s gaze. “And you must stay with us at our home.”

“We both would be delighted to have you,” Otto clarified. “Brigit and I are returning home at the end of next week. When do you think you might be able to visit us in Switzerland?”

“There are still quite a few things that I need to settle here,” he glanced at Lin. “And we’re still in the process of setting up a demonstration, right? We have to program for a test subject.”

“I’m working on that part,” Lin assured. By “subject,” Kam meant someone from whom they could gather baseline physiological data to import to Kam’s chip. His invention included the technology that personalized the device for every individual owner’s unique body. “But we’re set up for the demonstration at Noble Enterprises next Wednesday,” Lin said, reminding Otto of the schedule she’d provided his assistant.

“I’m still in the process of creating a reliable protocol for each individual watch owner so that they can gather their baseline physiological data themselves,” Kam explained.

Otto nodded. “I understand. For the pharmaceutical companies, there are qualified professionals built in to the process that can gather the data. But I’ve studied the outline you’ve done for self-administration during the data-gathering phase, and I have complete faith that we can integrate successfully. It’s an entirely safe, nonintrusive procedure that anyone who can read can learn to do.”

Kam nodded. “I agree. But given the fact that a full instructional protocol hasn’t been written yet, I’ll do the data gathering for the demonstration.”

Otto gave Kam a sharp, blue-eyed stare. “I sense your reservations about a deal with us. I’ll be unconventionally frank with you. I want your invention for Gersbach at all costs. It’s the most innovative, exciting thing to happen to watchmaking in centuries. The idea of the watch being a tool to tell the date and time is going to become an antiquated concept, thanks to your genius. I will not allow Gersbach to go the way of the dodo. The ball is in your court. If you have specific demands for your product, please assume that I will do whatever I can to meet them. I’m sure that we can come to some sort of compromise that will leave both of us very, very happy.”

Brigit couldn’t hide her surprise at her father’s words, and Lin understood why. Otto hadn’t even seen Kam’s mechanism firsthand yet. Otto Gersbach was not known for being so forthright, or for being so willing to waver from the conservative path of Gersbach tradition.

Lin gave Kam a private, barely repressed smile of triumph as they rose to leave the restaurant a moment later. His lips quirked at her show of enthusiasm.

They paused in the entryway of the hotel to say good-bye to the Gersbachs. Otto had hired a driver for their visit. He pulled up in a sleek black sedan.

“Will we give you a ride back to the hotel?” Brigit asked Kam hopefully as she grasped his forearm. They’d established during dinner that the Gersbachs were staying at the same hotel as Kam, much to Brigit’s apparent approval.

“No, thank you,” Kam replied. “I need a word with Lin. I’ll catch a cab.”

Brigit didn’t look very pleased, but had no choice but to drop her hand. Lin felt her evening bag vibrate and glanced at her phone as the Gersbachs entered the car. She slipped the phone back into her purse and turned to Kam when the sedan rounded a corner and was out of sight. He lightly brushed his hand over her bare upper arm, and she shivered.

“You’re cold,” he growled softly, taking a step closer to her and putting his other hand on her, chafing the pebbled skin on both her arms lightly.

“No, I’m not,” she said honestly. It was a warm fall night. It hadn’t been the night air coming in through the doors when the Gersbachs exited that had made her shiver, but rather his touch. “Kam, I wish you would have told me and Ian about the real reason you weren’t interested in the luxury watch companies. If you want your watch to be accessible to most people, I can understand that. Do you want to go through with the rest of the meetings?”

“Yes,” he said, with much more conviction than she would have expected, given his prior reservations.

“But—”

“I want to continue,” he said firmly, stroking her bare arms again. “I have my reasons.”

She hesitated, looking up at him. “Well, if you want to, of course. If anything, it’s a good experience for you, talking shop with premier watchmakers and businesspeople.”

“Exactly.”

“You were certainly a hit with Otto. And definitely with Brigit,” she said, giving him an amused, knowing glance at the last.

“You had warned me that one of Brigit’s ‘hobbies’ was man hunting,” he reminded her. “At least I wasn’t surprised.”

“You still seemed a little dumbfounded by her boldness a few times, not that most men wouldn’t be,” Lin chuckled. “I think she might have stepped up her game a bit even past her normal activity to be so obvious in front of her father. I’d definitely watch out for her.”

“Are you saying that for my sake? Or yours?”

“For yours, of course.” His fingertips glided across the sensitive patch of skin at the back of her shoulders, and again she shivered.

“I can’t get over how soft you are,” he said bluntly, his brows quirked as if he really was a little disbelieving of the evidence his fingertips sent to his brain.

Her smile faded as she looked up at him. For a few full seconds, neither of them spoke, although she read the message in his eyes like a bold neon sign.

“Ian texted me,” she said in a hushed voice after a moment, kidding herself by bringing up mundane topics, trying to ignore the blatant, unapologetic lust in Kam’s gaze. “He asked if we’d meet them in the Coffee Boutique for an after-dinner drink in a half hour or so,” she said, referring to the extremely popular European-style coffeehouse and bakery inside Lucien’s hotel.

He stiffened. “I thought you said you were done with work for the night.”

“I did, but it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Ian and Lucien are just curious about how things went with the Gersbachs. They’re your family, Kam,” she added when his frown grew fierce. “They care about you.”

“You said you’d think about it.”

She froze. She knew exactly what he was talking about, of course. Heat rushed into her cheeks despite her chilled skin. She’d told him she’d think about whether he’d have her to himself after the Gersbach dinner. His thumb moved, caressing her right arm. His touch amplified her trembling.

“What about Ian?” she asked.

“Hang Ian.”

She gave him a repressive glance.

“All right. We’ll meet with them,” he growled. “But I’ll give him a half hour tops. And afterward, you’re mine. In the meantime . . . we still have a little while together.”

She swallowed thickly when his deep, rough voice dropped in volume, sounding more intimate. Sexy. Something flickered inside her, like a match being struck at her very core. She avoided his piercing stare. Or maybe she was avoiding studying her own motives. She hadn’t agreed to come with him later tonight, but she hadn’t said no, either. The sexual awareness they’d had of each other all day and night was electrical. She longed to allow the spark to ignite. Still, her doubts lingered. Her motives for lusting after Kam Reardon were not rational.

Nor were they pure.

“We do have a lot to discuss after tonight,” she continued, studying his silk tie, trying her best to keep up the lie, and failing miserably. “And I still need to brief you about our weekend meeting with Jason Klinf, the CEO of Klinf Inc.,” she rambled on stupidly. His hands tightened on her arms. She shivered again and swallowed. Her throat had gone very dry.

“I don’t give a fuck about Jason Klinf.” For some reason, his raw language struck her as honest, slicing through her façade like a hot knife through butter. He drew her closer, so that the front of her just whispered against his length, the tips of her breasts brushing against his lapels. Her nipples drew so tight at the gesture that she nearly whimpered. Liquid heat surged from her core.