Lizzy stripped off her housekeeper's uniform, letting the heavy black fabric pool at her feet like a discarded skin. She pulled the nightwear on. The silk felt like cool water against her skin. It was dangerously revealing, the sheer fabric clinging to her curves and leaving nothing to the imagination. The light from the window made the garment nearly invisible, bringing out the clever lines of her body and making her nipples transparent against the soft, expensive weave.
She began to arrange the room, fluffing pillows she hadn't touched and straightening perfume bottles with a slow, deliberate sensuality. She wasn't a servant, she was the centerpiece of a trap.
The door opened.
Noah walked in, his tie undone. He stopped dead in the center of the room. The blue light from his phone, which usually acted as his shield, was dark.
His gaze traveled from Lizzy's bare feet up the length of her legs, snagging on the sheer fabric that barely veiled her. He saw the way the light hit her chest, the pointed shape of her breasts so clearly defined through the transparent silk.
"Lizzy?" his voice was a low, rough rasp. "What are you doing? Georgia's going to be back in here any second."
Lizzy didn't turn around immediately. She continued to smooth the duvet, her movements slow and rhythmic. "I was just... arranging the room, Mr. Noah. I noticed the pillows were flat. I didn't want Miss Sterling to come back to a messy bed."
Noah took a step forward, the air in the room suddenly feeling too thin to breathe. "In that? You're wearing her clothes, Lizzy. You're standing in our bedroom, looking like..." He trailed off, his eyes dark with a mixture of shock and a heat he couldn't suppress. "You're seducing me. You're doing this on purpose."
Lizzy finally turned to face him. She didn't look ashamed. She looked at him with a wide, faux-innocence that was more provocative than any touch.
"I don't know what you mean, Noah," she whispered, dropping the formal title like a heavy weight. "I just didn't want to get my uniform dusty. If you see me that way... perhaps it's because that's how you've been looking at me all week."
The air between them snapped. Noah bridged the gap in two strides. He was a man who had been starved of warmth, a man who felt like a ghost in his own life, and here was a woman who was offering him a fire he could touch.
As she bent over to tuck the bedspread in, he grabs her waist from behind, pinning her behind to him. He kisses her neck aggressively, holding her breast firm like his life depends on it. She moans softly, making him want to do more to her body.
"Don't," Lizzy gasped, though she didn't pull away. She turned fully into his space, her chest brushing against his dress shirt. Her pointed nipples pressed against the transparent silk, a frantic, visible heartbeat. "Noah, you shouldn't do that. You're an engaged man."
He lunged forward, his hand moving from her hip to her neck, he grabs her ass and places her to sit on the bedside table. He falls the sleeveless hands of her silk nightwear, revealing a full breasts. He uses his tongues to tease her nipples.
Lizzy moaned softly, a sound of surrender that fueled his fire. His hands began to roam through her body with a frantic energy. He first caressed her breasts, his thumbs circling one of her nipples his tongue on the other, feeling them harden under his touch.
He moved lower, his hand sliding down the curve of her stomach to the heat between her legs. Just one touch through the thin silk and she was already wet, her body betraying her calculated plan with a very real, primal response.
Noah groaned into her neck, his breath hot and ragged. "I've wanted this since the first day. Since the steak. Since the pool."
He pulled back just an inch, his eyes searching hers, looking for a reason to stop and finding only an invitation. He leaned in to kiss those soft lips he'd been dreaming about. Just before their lips touched, they heard the sound of the door.
Click.
The sound of the door handle turning was a thunderclap in the silence.
Georgia pushed the door open, her hand already reaching for the light switch. She was dressed in her slip, her hair partially pinned up, looking every bit the woman who had just spent an hour trying to hide her fear behind a mask of glamor.