Chapter SEVEN
‘WHY DID YOUR HR director just call to check up on me? And please don’t tell me he does that with everyone else because I asked David and Cynthia and he didn’t call them so I know I’m the only one he’s called.’
Ari continued to admire the stunning penthouse view from his latest hotel set in the heart of Washington DC and forced himself not to react to the huskily voiced accusation or the unwanted intrusion. But it was difficult not to turn around; not to tense against the electricity that zapped through him at her presence.
It’d been three weeks since Miami, and the last time he’d seen Perla. He’d left the day after Fashion Week and busied himself with his other casinos and hotels on the West Coast. But he’d needed to return because Pantelides WDC was by far his most successful hotel yet and he needed to throw his every last waking moment into making it the jewel in the Pantelides Luxe crown.
That he’d spent far too much time thinking about Perla Lowell was something he preferred to view as simply making sure she wasn’t causing any more ruffles in his company. Of course, he’d have preferred if word hadn’t got out that he was doing so but...
He sighed. ‘Discretion really seems to be thin on the ground these days.’
Her gasp sounded just behind his left shoulder. He tensed further, bracing himself for the impact of the sight and scent of her.
‘So you’re not denying it? You do realise how you’ve made me look by doing that, don’t you?’
‘What exactly did my director say to you?’ he asked.
‘He asked me how I was getting on with work and with my colleagues.’
‘And you immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was trying to undermine you somehow?’
‘Did you or did you not ask him to call to check up on me?’
‘Perla, you brought a potential workplace problem to my attention. And I took steps to rectify it. I think my director may have taken his directive a little too seriously given who you are. If you think it was an unnecessary step—’
‘I do,’ she flung at his back.
Ari gritted his teeth and tried to remain calm as she continued.
‘Now you’ve said something—’
‘Actually, you said something. Had you come to me instead of seeking verification from your colleagues, they would’ve been none the wiser.’
‘So you’re saying this is my fault?’ Outrage filled her voice. ‘And can you turn around when I’m talking to you, please?’ she snapped.
With another sigh, he started to turn. ‘I think you’re blowing things out of proportion—’ He stopped dead when he caught his first glimpse of her.
Her hair was a long, dark, wet ribbon curling over her naked shoulder. And she wore a black bikini with the thinnest strings that looked as if they were about to succumb to the laws of gravity. Heat punched into his gut so viciously, he had to lock his knees to keep from stumbling backward against the floor-to-ceiling window behind him. Around her waist, a carelessly knotted black sarong rested on her hipbones.
‘I’m not blowing things out of proportion. The fact is you’ve severely undermined me in the eyes of my colleagues.’
‘Did it occur to you that singling you out for attention could be for a beneficial reason rather than a detrimental one?’
He couldn’t breathe. And he couldn’t move. Even though words emerged from his mouth, his tongue felt thick and all his blood was rushing painfully south. In exactly one minute, she’d know the effect she had on him.
The intensely crazy, intensely electrifying effect he’d thought he had under control.
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. ‘I...no, I didn’t.’
His smile felt a little tight around the edges. ‘Perhaps you should’ve given it a little further thought then. As for David and Cynthia, don’t rule them out completely. They may be receiving phone calls as well. You may simply have been lucky number one, this time.’ His gaze slid over her once more and he wondered how many other people had seen her in that bikini, her exquisite body on full show? He forced himself not to think about it.
She frowned. ‘I find it hard to believe that you check on every single employee...’ She stopped and took a breath. ‘Ari, why did you really do it?’
The sound of his name on her lips sent hot lust-filled darts to his groin. ‘Why does it upset you so much?’ he murmured.
Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Are you serious? I have to work with these people!’
He shrugged. ‘Then I’ll leave it in your capable hands to smooth things over, assure your colleagues that my HR director was conducting a simple employee assessment and you jumped to a conclusion. Because that’s what really happened.’
‘God, you really expect me to believe that, do you?’
‘I do.’
‘You must think I’m really gullible.’
‘If I did, you wouldn’t be working for me. And you shouldn’t take too much stock in what others think of you. Unless that’s the problem here? Are you saying you don’t trust your own judgement, Perla?’
She froze. Before his eyes, her face leached all colour. Her fingers twisted around each other in a clearly distressed way that made him curse inwardly. ‘Yes,’ she whispered raggedly. ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’m...I’m not a very good judge of character.’
The visible distress made something catch in his chest. Before he could think better of it, he closed the distance between them and took her chin in his hand. This close, the scent of her warm body mingled with the chlorine from her swim hit him in the throat. His blood pounded harder, but Ari consoled himself with the fact that with her gaze on his, she wasn’t witnessing what her proximity was doing to him below the waist.
‘What makes you think that?’
‘I got it spectacularly wrong with you, didn’t I?’ she asked.
His mouth firmed. ‘But I wasn’t who you were thinking of just now.’ He knew it as certainly as he knew his name.
‘What, you read minds now?’
‘No. But, unlike you, I can read people. Who was it, Perla?’ he asked, although he had a fair idea.
‘Does it take a genius to figure out that I misjudged the man I married?’ she said, confirming his theory. ‘I thought he was someone I could depend on. Instead, he...he...’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. The pain in her face and her words struck a dark chord within him. A chord he absolutely did not want struck.
But he couldn’t help it as memory gathered speed through his brain.
He’d grown up depending on his father, looking up to him, hanging on his every word. For most of his early years, he’d wanted nothing more than to follow in his father’s footsteps, only to find out that they were the shoes of a philanderer, an extortionist and a fraudster. A man who would take his son’s idolisation and attempt to use it against him...to manipulate it for his own selfish needs.
His gut tightened against the ragged pain he’d thought long buried but that seemed to catch him on the raw much too often these days. It didn’t help his disposition to know that Perla was always present when it happened. That perhaps they shared a connection with hurt and betrayal.
‘If you’re talking about your husband, he was just one man. Don’t let him cloud your judgement about everyone else. Trust your instincts.’
‘Trust my instincts? I don’t think that’s a very good idea. My instincts told me you were a good guy. But you turned on me like I was some sort of criminal when you found out who I was.’
‘I no longer think that, or you wouldn’t be here.’
She opened her mouth to speak, paused, then eyed him. ‘But that’s only half true, isn’t it? If you’d thought I could really cope on my own you wouldn’t have stepped in.’
He dropped his hand, then immediately flexed it at his side when it continued to tingle wildly. ‘You told me how long you’d been out of the corporate world. That, coupled with your husband’s activities, placed you in a vulnerable position.’
‘And you were trying to save me? How unnecessarily noble of you.’ The hand she’d placed on her hips drew attention to her pert breasts. Breasts he’d feasted on for a long time that first night. Breasts he wanted to touch, to caress again more than he wanted his next breath.
He whirled away and focused on the views of the GW Monument and Capitol Hill in the distance, lit up beacons of power, hoping his brain would find a different focus other than replaying the sight of her in that pulse-destroying bikini.
‘So, are you done berating me?’ he asked. He wanted her gone before he did something completely stupid. Like finding out just how robust the wraparound sofa behind him would be with both their weights pounding it.
‘No. I don’t need saving, Ari.’
‘Fine, I won’t interfere. Even though you’ve clearly exacerbated a simple assessment directive, perhaps I should’ve just let things play out. Let’s move on, shall we?’
Behind him, she heard her soft sigh. ‘Move on. That’s easy for you to say.’
His chest tightened. ‘No, actually, it’s not,’ he said, then froze. Where the hell had that come from? Pushing his hands into his pockets, he hoped she would let the careless slip slide.
Instead, she came closer until she stood next to him. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked with a soft murmur.
He clenched his jaw for several seconds, then felt the words spiral out of him. ‘It means I know what it feels like to be under scrutiny. To know that people are looking at you and forming judgements you have no control over. That at best you were being judged with pity and at worst with scorn and malice.’
She sucked in a shocked breath. ‘God, who...why...?’
He turned and glanced at her. Her wide eyes were drowning in sympathy and her mouth was parted with agitation. The realisation that she wore that look for him struck him in the gut. ‘You don’t know about Alexandrou Pantelides, my father?’
She shook her head.
Giddy relief poured through him. ‘Then I prefer to keep you in the dark just a little while longer.’
‘Was he...was he the one you meant when you said him that day in your office?’
Another time, another slip. When it came to this woman, it seemed he didn’t know when to shut the hell up. ‘Yes,’ he confessed.
‘And you don’t want to be like him? What did he do to you?’ she asked, sympathy making her voice even huskier.
‘Nothing I wish to share with you.’
Although a tinge of hurt washed over her eyes, she kept her gaze on him. ‘Okay. But you know there’s nothing to stop me from searching the Web for information the moment I leave here.’
His insides tightened at the thought of Perla knowing just how mired in deceit and humiliation his past was. ‘No, there isn’t. But it’ll be an extra few minutes when I know you’re not forming an opinion about me the way you think others are doing about you.’
‘But if you know how it feels then why did you contact HR?’
‘I saw a potential problem. I stepped in to fix it. It’s what I do.’ After his father had slashed their lives into a million useless pieces, seventeen-year-old Ari had assumed the role of protector. Protecting his mother and his younger brothers from the press intrusion after Alexandrou Pantelides’s sleazy dealings and philandering lifestyle had come to light had, overnight, become his number-one priority.
His brothers, after severely rocky years, had grown into stable, intensely successful individuals. And his mother had eventually found peace. He’d believed his family was safe...
Until fate had shown him otherwise...
Theos, this was too much! Resentment that he’d inadvertently taken a trip down memory lane yet again coiled through him.
Sucking in a deep breath, he faced Perla. ‘You’ve aired your grievance. I’ve listened. Now don’t you have work to be getting on with?’
The harshness of his voice stung. ‘It’s my day off, but Ari—’
He let his gaze slide down her body, ignoring the fire sizzling through his veins. ‘And was this what you meant when you suggested staying away from each other? Because this plan—’ he indicated her skimpily clad form ‘—is a poor attempt at removing temptation from both our paths.’
‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking... I just reacted—’
‘Well, make a better judgement call next time!’
She flinched as if he’d struck her. But he couldn’t regret his tone because he was drowning in hell. He’d almost opened up about secrets he shared with no one. And the temptation to unburden had been great. But not to her. Not to the woman whose husband had caused the media to dredge up all the bitterness and humiliation only a few short months ago.
He tightened his jaw and watched, fascinated, as she pulled herself together with a grace and dignity he found curiously admirable.
Crossing her arms round her middle, she glared at him. ‘We’re weak when it comes to each other. Striking out at me for your weakness is cowardly and beneath you. Stop it. Believe me, I can bite back.’
He felt a wash of heat surge up his cheekbones. ‘You need to leave. Now. Before I do something we’ll both regret.’
‘Ari—’
‘A word to the wise. No man likes being told he’s weak; it can be misconstrued as a challenge. Leave. Now, Perla, before I invite you to honour your promise of biting me.’
Eyes wide, she backed quickly towards the door. ‘We’ll need to find a way of working together eventually, Ari.’
‘Let’s discuss it further when you’re not wearing a whisper-thin sarong and a clinging bikini that’s just begging to be ripped off.’
* * *
Perla tried not to count the ways things had gone spectacularly wrong as she left Ari’s penthouse. First her headlong flight from the swimming pool, bristling with intense irritation and hurt, had been ill-timed. She should’ve waited to cool down before confronting him.
And what, in goodness’ name, had she been thinking, going into his presence wearing two tiny pieces of Lycra and an even flimsier sarong?
But of all the things slamming through her mind, it was the look on his face as he’d confessed that he’d walked in her shoes that struck deepest and made her kick herself for picking the wrong time to confront him.
His pain had been unmistakable. It was a different sort of pain from when he’d spoken about his wife but the dark torment had been present nonetheless.
Just how much had Arion Pantelides been through? And what the hell had his father done to him?
She reached her suite five floors below and immediately glanced at her laptop set atop the most exquisite console table. She dismissed the voice that whispered that knowledge was power. However foolish it might be, she couldn’t forget the relieved look on Ari’s face when she’d confessed to not knowing who his father was.
There’d been a point in time a few months ago when she would’ve given her right arm to remain oblivious to what Morgan had done.
If Ari craved privacy, she would grant him that.
As for his anger at the way she’d gone to him, dressed in only a bikini and a sarong... She glanced down and saw her body’s visible reaction to him. Her nipples were sharp points of fierce need and the way her chest rose and fell in her agitation...
God, no wonder he’d been angry!
She sank onto her bed, overwhelmed by her body’s turbulent response.
It was clear that staying away from each other the last three weeks had achieved none of the clarity and purpose they’d both sought. If anything, the attraction bit harder, the hunger sharper.
It was also clear that she’d overreacted to the HR director’s call and possibly made her work situation worse.
But she was sure she hadn’t imagined the cynical looks between her colleagues when all her suggestions on the various stages of the opening night for Pantelides WDC had been accepted without question. Pleased that she was being valued as a hard-working member, she’d put forward more suggestions.
It was why she’d begun questioning herself, and the call coming so close to that had made her storm from the rooftop pool with every intention of confronting Ari and taking him to task.
Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been unable to stop thinking about the man since Miami; she had found herself growing curiously bereft with his continued absence and the fact that her body seemed to have pulsed to life the moment she’d found out he was back.
She was here to do a job. She seriously needed to focus on that and nothing else.
Let’s move on...
Pursing her lips, she pulled off her sarong. Ari was annoyingly right.
They had two weeks before this spectacular hotel set in the heart of America’s political and cultural capital opened.
The hotel itself was a jaw-dropping architectural masterpiece, and fully expected to achieve six-star status within the next few weeks. They’d already hosted the industry critics, who’d since given glowing reviews.
With prime views of the Lincoln Memorial and Capitol Hill, the mid-twentieth-century building had been given a multi-million-dollar facelift that had seen it propelled to the realms of untold luxury and decadence.
Marble, slate and gleaming glass were softened by hues of eye-catching red-and-gold furniture and art that captured the imagination, and the five top-class restaurants were already booked well into the new year.
Regardless of her own shaky issues, Perla was hugely excited to be working on the hotel opening.
After showering and slipping on her bathrobe, she ordered room service and pulled open her laptop. Her research into the Washington scene had thrown up a few ideas for the opening. She’d already secured the jazz quartet said to be a favourite of the President to her list and confirmed the special tour of the Smithsonian and the White House for the VIP guests who would be staying overnight. Her idea of a midnight cruise on the Pantelides yacht had also been greeted with enthusiasm.
Feeling her confidence return, she pulled up the details of Oktoberfest on a whim, then immediately discarded it. Somehow she didn’t think beer-drinking went well with Ari’s vision for his hotel.
But there was nothing wrong with checking it out for herself while she was here. Something to do to take her mind off the fact that Ari was once again within seeing and touching distance...and the knowledge that her pulse skittered every time she admitted that fact.
Her doorbell ringing brought welcome relief from her thoughts. The scent of the grilled chicken and salad made her stomach growl and reminded her she hadn’t eaten since a hastily snatched bagel and coffee first thing this morning.
Ravenous, she ate much faster than she should have, a fact she berated herself for when she bolted out of her chair, rushed to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach a mere hour later.
* * *
‘Are you all right? You look a bit peaky.’
Susan, the assistant concierge, peered at her as Perla waited for the list and notes she’d typed up last night to finish printing.
Perla nodded absently and smoothed her hand down her black skirt and matching silk shirt she’d worn for the meeting with Ari and the rest of the key hotel staff.
Glancing down at herself, she wondered if she’d made the right choice. The shirt hadn’t felt this tight across the bust when she’d picked it as part of her work wardrobe a month ago. The gaping between the top buttons had forced her to leave the first and second buttons open and she questioned now whether she shouldn’t have changed her outfit altogether.
But after waking up twice more to throw up, she’d eventually fallen into a deep sleep and missed her alarm.
Which was why she was hopelessly late—
‘Do you intend to join us for this meeting, Perla?’
Ari stood behind her, tall, imposing, gorgeous beyond words. In the morning sun, the sprinkling of grey at his temples highlighted the sculpted perfection of his face. But it was his unique hazel eyes that made her belly spasm with heat and a whole load of lust.
‘I...I was just coming.’
‘Good to hear.’ He turned on his heel and strode back into the conference room.
‘Someone’s got an armadillo in their bonnet,’ Susan whispered, her eyes wide with speculation.
Perla grabbed the sheets, gave a non-committal smile to Susan and hurried across the marble floor in her three-inch heels, only to freeze when she entered the room.
The only seat left at the small conference table was next to Ari. She’d have to sit beside him, breathe in his spicy cologne, feel the warmth of him and place herself within his powerful aura for however long the blasted meeting took. Her throat dried as her heart rate roared.
Ari glanced up and sent her another impatient look, one that made her stash her unease and walk to his side.
Ideas for the opening event were discussed and tossed or kept as Ari saw fit. Half an hour later, he turned to her. ‘Do you have your list?’
She nodded and passed copies around. ‘The top four are secured. The other three are yet to be finalised...’
‘Oktoberfest?’ Ari demanded.
Perla frowned and glanced down at the sheet in her hand. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to be on there. It was an idea I thought of floating but I don’t think it’s the right image for this hotel.’
‘You’re right. It’s not.’
Several of her colleagues exchanged glances. Perla ignored them. Pursing her lips, she met Ari’s direct stare. ‘Like I said, it wasn’t supposed to be on the list—’
‘But it would be perfect for the San Francisco hotel.’ He put the list down and caught up a pen, flicking it through long, elegant fingers. ‘Contact their concierge, tell them to trial it and give us feedback on how it goes. And make sure you take credit for it. As for the rest of the suggestions, I’m on board with the jazz quartet and the White House tour. Add it to the other maybes and we’ll discuss a shortlist at the next meeting.’
Warmth oozed through her but her veins turned icy when she spotted the repeated exchanged glances. From the corner of her eye she saw Ari’s jaw tighten as he brought the meeting to a close.
In her haste to leave his disturbing presence, she dropped her file. She retrieved it and straightened to find him blocking her path to the door.
Her heart jumped into her throat. ‘Did you need something?’
His gaze drifted over her and he frowned. ‘Is everything in your wardrobe black?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Black doesn’t suit you. It makes your skin look too pale.’ His eyes dropped lower, the opening of her shirt.
She forced herself not to reach up and button her shirt. Or touch her skin to test if it really was on fire since his gaze burned her from the inside out. ‘You stopped me from leaving to disparage my clothes?’ She casually leaned against the table and lifted an eyebrow, although casual was the last thing she felt.
He rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands into his pockets. For several seconds he didn’t speak. ‘I see that I’ve made things difficult for you here,’ he finally said.
The hint of contrition in his tone made her breath catch. Nonchalantly, she tried to shrug it away. ‘It’s partly my fault. I overreacted. I’ll deal with it. As you said, I need to trust my instincts and my talent, and not what other people think.’
He nodded. ‘Bravo,’ he said. Thinking he would move out of her way, she started to take a step and paused when his mouth opened again. ‘And if it doesn’t earn me a sexual harassment charge, may I suggest you find a better fitting shirt that doesn’t display all your assets?’
Her gasp echoed around the room. ‘It’s not that bad! And stop talking about my assets or I’ll have to point out that shoving your hands in your pockets like that pulls your trousers across your junk and displays your assets. Not that I’m paying a lot of attention, of course,’ she added hurriedly and felt her face flame.
God, she needed her head examined!
One eyebrow slowly lifted. ‘Of course.’ He remained planted in front of her, as if he had nothing better to do than to rile her.
Unable to stand his intense gaze, she glanced down and saw just how much cleavage she was displaying. God!
‘I just...seem to have put on a little weight, that’s all. And I was running a little late this morning so there was no time to change...’ She grew restive beneath his continued silent scrutiny. ‘Seriously, it’s not that bad.’
His nostrils flared and a look passed through his eyes that made her think he was toying with the idea of arguing the point. Instead, he opened the door. ‘After you,’ he said.
Walking in front of him across the large marble foyer felt like walking the plank on some doomed pirate’s ship. She was aware of the intensity of his scrutiny on her back, her legs...her bottom. Electricity sparked along her nerves and spread throughout her body.
Slowly she noticed the sound of last-minute preparations in the vast space had gradually faded as people stopped to stare.
David and Cynthia, the two colleagues who’d been recruited the same time as her, stood at the solid wood-carved reception, watching with blatant curiosity. She didn’t need to turn around after she passed them to know they were whispering behind her back.
Same as she didn’t need to turn around to notice the moment Ari veered off towards his own office. Because her skin stopped tingling and her pulse began to slow.
By the time she shut herself away in the tiny office behind the concierge’s station, she was shaking. Going to her coffee stand, she flicked the kettle on and practised her breathing as it boiled. She poured water onto the tea bag, then immediately gagged as the scent of camomile made her stomach roil violently.
Abandoning tea in favour of water, Perla waited for the sickness to subside and threw herself into her work.
She spent the rest of the day finalising catering requirements, confirming bookings and chasing RSVPs. The turkey sandwich she ordered for lunch stayed put and she breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to get sick within the first month of starting a new job in which she already felt compromised.
But by six o’clock her feet ached, her head throbbed with a dull ache and the debilitating weakness that had dogged her all day was weighting her limbs. Shutting off her computer, she dug through her bag and located the painkillers she always kept to hand. Swallowing two, she took the lift to her suite, collapsed onto the bed, kicked off her shoes and pulled the covers over her head.
The buzzing of her phone woke her an hour later.
Dazed, she pushed the hair off her face and snagged the handset. ‘Hello?’
‘Perla.’
Excitement jack-knifed through her body.
God, the way he said her name should be banned. Or she needed to charge for it. Because she was sure she suffered a tiny nervous breakdown every time his voice grated out her name like that.
‘Um...hi,’ she mumbled, squinting in the darkened room.
‘Did I wake you?’ There was a frown in his voice.
‘No, I was just...no.’
‘I’ve been thinking about your predicament.’
‘What predica...? No, I told you, I’ll handle it.’
‘You may not need to. Have you had dinner yet?’ he asked.
She tried to make her brain work. ‘No, I haven’t.’
‘Meet me at the Athena Restaurant in half an hour,’ he said, naming the five-star restaurant on the first floor of the Pantelides WDC, headed by a very sought after Michelin-starred chef.
Perla flicked the bedside lamp on and struggled to sit up. Thankfully, her headache seemed to have disappeared. ‘Um...why?’
‘I have a proposal to discuss with you. A new opportunity you might be interested in.’
The thought of meeting with Ari so openly again after this morning and being the cynosure of all eyes made her nape tighten. Exhaling, she faced up to the fact she had to deal with that sooner or later. She refused to let gossip rock the self-esteem she was trying hard to rebuild.
She cleared her throat. ‘I’d love to hear your proposal but I think the Athena is fully booked tonight. And yes, I know you own the hotel and can chuck someone out but I’d feel bad. Do you think we can order room service instead?’
For a few seconds, silence greeted her suggestion. ‘Given our track record, do you think being in a hotel room alone together is wise?’ he rasped.
Liquid heat flooded her belly, followed closely by chagrin. ‘Um, you’re right, it’s not. I’ll...come to you.’
‘Half an hour. Don’t keep me waiting.’
She hung up and threw the covers off. Going to the bathroom, she took a quick shower, pleased that she felt a whole lot better now than she had all day.
The dress she chose was functional and stylishly respectable without being overtly sexy. Pulling on the slingbacks she’d discarded earlier, she caught up her black clutch and black wrap and left her room.
Despite telling herself this was just business, butterflies fluttered madly in her stomach as the lift rushed her downward.
She stepped out of the lift and was about to head towards the foyer when her phone pinged.
Come outside. A
Slowly, she swivelled on her heels and headed out into the cool October night. Beneath the elegantly columned portico of the hotel, Ari leaned, cross-legged and cross-armed against a gleaming black sports car.
The sight of him, magnificently imposing, arrestingly gorgeous, was incredibly dangerous to her well-being. He wore a dark blue cotton shirt with black trousers and a matching jacket that hugged his wide shoulders.
The intensity of his stare as it drifted over her made her body grow hot all over. And even though he didn’t say anything, by the time his gaze returned to hers she had the distinct impression he was displeased.
But then what else was new? Ari alternated between finding her irritating and being incredibly considerate.
Given the choice, I’d settle for a little bit of peace.
‘What did you say?’ he asked, straightening from the car to open the passenger door for her.
Realising she’d muttered her thoughts, she blushed. ‘Nothing. I thought we were meeting inside?’
He shook his head. ‘Change of plan. I thought we could experience what Washington DC has to offer. You had a Greek restaurant on your list. Care to try it?’ he asked.
Pleased that he’d remembered, she smiled. ‘I’d love to.’
He straightened, waited for her to slide in and shut the door behind her.
Unable to stop herself, Perla watched him round the bonnet. God, even the way this man moved demanded attention. His lean, sinewy grace seemed innate.
The moment he shut the door all her senses flared to life. His scent was intoxicating, addictive in a way that made her want to throw herself across the console and slide her greedy hands all over him.
Expecting him to start the car and drive, she glanced at him and caught his rigid profile. When his fingers wrapped around the steering wheel and gripped tight, she knew he was fighting the same raw need.
She must have made a sound because a choked noise filled the tense space.
‘Ari...’
He sucked in a jagged breath. ‘We are not teenagers and we are not animals.’ His voice was rough, darkly husky. ‘We have enough self-control to be able to resist this...this insanity between us.’
Her hand tightened around her clutch. ‘I agree.’ Although fighting it felt like a losing battle right now.
‘What happened between us can’t happen again,’ he continued gratingly. The mild self-loathing in his voice finally pierced the cocoon of sensual delirium.
Stung, she whipped her head to stare out of her window. ‘I get the message loud and clear, Ari.’
‘Do you?’ he demanded, and she knew he was staring at her because she could feel the intensity of his gaze on her skin.
She bit her lip to stop another helpless moan from escaping. ‘You hate me because I remind you of something in your past. I don’t know what exactly. Maybe it’s connected to this insane temptation we can’t kill. I could find a reason to hate you too but what good would hate do either of us?’
‘I don’t hate you,’ he growled. ‘There are a lot of things I feel but, rest assured, hate isn’t one of them.’
A little bit of the hurt eased but hearing that self-loathing still present in his voice made her heart lurch. ‘That’s good to hear.’ She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it when his scent filled every atom of her being. ‘I’d suggest handing in my notice and finding a new job if I could—’ She jumped at the snarl that filled the car. ‘But I’ve only been working a few weeks, and my chances of finding another job are—’
‘You’re not quitting this job. You’re not going anywhere.’ He pressed the button that started the ignition but he didn’t drive away. ‘You signed a contract so you’re staying put.’