Damn. He did know. ‘Do what?’
‘Don’t play cute with me—it won’t work. How did you access the internet?’
‘Oh, that...’ She strolled further into the room until she’d put the protection of the sofa between them. He didn’t have the look of a man who was about to do her physical harm, and indeed, every time he had restrained her she’d felt him leash his physical strength so as not to hurt her, but she suspected that if his temper ever did blow it would make Mount Vesuvius look as innocuous as a child throwing sand.
‘Yes. That.’ He came towards her, with animal grace, the muscles in his abdomen rippling with every silent footfall. Regan swallowed, her own stomach muscles pulling tight at the sight. A rush of excitement shot through her. Excitement? Was she completely daft? The man looked as if he was coming up with new ways she was going to die!
He stopped in front of the sofa, his eyes briefly scanning it before returning to her. It wouldn’t be enough, she thought wildly; the Great Wall of China wouldn’t be enough to keep her from him if he wanted to get to her.
‘So I accessed the internet,’ she murmured vaguely. ‘I didn’t write anything negative. I actually implied that I liked you. Which I don’t, in case you get any ideas.’
Or, at least, any more ideas...
‘You implied a lot more than that,’ he muttered furiously.
‘You’re just unhappy because I countered your move and foiled your horrible plan to worry Chad. How did you find out so quickly, by the way? Do you have cameras in this room, watching my every move? That would be truly creepy if you did.’
‘I do not have cameras in here, though I might after this,’ he bit out. ‘But, in answer to your question, your post has been shared a number of times.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘I hope Chad has managed to see it.’
‘I know Chad was your intended audience.’ His thick dark lashes narrowed, making his blue eyes seem impossibly vibrant. ‘Unfortunately you picked up a few more interested parties.’
Regan frowned at his deceptively light tone. ‘How many more?’
‘Six million more.’
‘Six mill—! That can’t be true. I only have forty-eight followers and most of those are work-related.’
‘You might not be popular, Miss James, but I am.’
‘Lucky you,’ she retorted, wishing he’d worn more clothing. ‘Don’t you want to button your shirt?’ she said, inwardly cringing at the husky note in her voice when she’d been aiming for cool. ‘It’s quite chilly today.’
‘It’s forty degrees in the shade. And I’ll button my shirt when I’m good and ready.’ His voice became a lethal purr. ‘Unless it’s bothering you...’
‘No. Not at all.’ She waved off his suggestion as if it were ludicrous. ‘I was just thinking that it didn’t look very...kingly.’
His smile said that he knew she was lying. ‘Good, because I’m not feeling very kingly right now.’ His eyes drifted to her lips and Regan barely resisted the urge to moisten them. Sexual tension arced between them like a tightrope, and she had no idea what to do with all the jittery energy that coursed through her. She felt like a small child in a room full of sweets who had been told to stand in the corner and not touch anything.
Heat suffused her cheeks and she tried not to think about how warm and resilient his skin would feel if she were to slide her hands inside his open shirt. ‘Of course, how you walk around the palace is entirely up to you. Don’t mind me.’
She bit into her lip to stop the nervous chatter. She hoped the sharp little pain would also stop all the inappropriate thoughts running through her head.
‘Thanks for the memo,’ he bit out tautly. ‘Now stop prevaricating and tell me how you did it.’
‘I can’t.’ One thing she wouldn’t do was get the lovely girl who cleaned her room into trouble.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. ‘Miss James, I am two seconds away from strangling you with my bare hands and feeding your body to a lake full of alligators. I suggest you don’t push me any further.’
‘There are alligators in the desert?’
‘Regan!’
She jumped as he bellowed her name. He’d never used her first name before and it scattered her thoughts. ‘Calm down.’ She didn’t know if she was referring to him or herself, but it didn’t matter. ‘I was only asking. But...’ She couldn’t think of any more stalling tactics, so she just went with honesty. ‘I have no intention of telling you how I accessed the internet, so stop asking me.’
‘If someone in my employ helped you they will be punished.’
Rega