Of course, he has.
‘And, let’s face it, you’re the best and a guy like that, he needs to be given the best. Just think what it’ll do for business.’
Just think what it’ll do to you.
She let go of a flustered breath—what choice did she have? Her business was in its infancy. Having him as a client was too big an opportunity to pass up. It was a risk she had to take and endure.
Endure?
Her insides laughed at her.
You can’t wait to be around him again. You crave the rush, the way he makes you feel, the way he desires you, the way you lose yourself in him...
Her racing thoughts were leaving her well behind. She needed to put the brakes on and fast. ‘Give me two minutes and send him in.’
‘Fabulous,’ EJ blurted, spinning on her heel to pull open the door and disappear through it, thankfully shutting it before Zara could get a glimpse of the man himself.
Two minutes. Two minutes to compose herself and perform the job she was a pro at.
Not be a swooning mess itching to be ravished.
She could do this. She bit into her lower lip hard. She would do this.
* * *
‘Ms Anders will see you now.’
Her PA smiled at him politely as she opened the door to Zara’s office and gestured for him to go in. His heart did a weird skip, which he promptly buried, and he strode forward, giving her a smile of gratitude as he passed by.
Zara was before the window, her white shirt-style dress casting a glow around it in the sunshine and hinting at the curves beneath. The weird skip went off again, falling over itself as he tried to maintain his calm, to play it cool.
‘Mr Lazenby,’ she said, her tone crisp and professional, and everything he didn’t want. She crossed the room towards him, her white dress swaying distractingly above the knee as she offered her hand. He eyed it, a small smile playing about his lips. Okay, so that was how this was going to go. He could work with that. It beat her turning him away.
He slipped his hand around hers, his fingers reaching as far as the pulse point of her wrist, and he let his fingers rest there, enjoying the play of emotion in her face. Her colour rising, her lips parting at their contact, the move so minute it could have been missed if he hadn’t been watching her so closely.
?
?If you’re going to be working for me, I would prefer you called me Daniel.’
Her tongue flicked out swiftly, teasing him with every want, before she nodded, removing her hand from his. ‘If that is what you wish, why don’t you take a seat and we can go through your requirements?’
She gestured at the visitor’s chair and he had to fight the urge to suggest they go somewhere else. Somewhere private. It wouldn’t do though. First and foremost, he had to convince her that he was there to employ her services, not to fulfil the multitudes of desires raging through his brain. Especially after how things had been left between them.
He looked to the chair, to the desk to which it clung, and memories collided with new imaginings and he stilled.
‘Perhaps I can get you a drink, while you get settled? Tea, coffee, water?’
He knew she’d read his mind in that second, could hear the tension in her voice. ‘A water—please.’
She swept past him, clouding him with her scent, his tummy drawing tight as he felt his sanity crumble.
What is she doing to you?
It didn’t matter what she was doing to him, he was there to burn it out.
Get her onside, get the properties that made perfect sense for him to own—real, honest sense, none of it purely to get his kicks—and fuck her until he could get past it. Get back in control.
He scanned her office, forcing out the distracting memories only too willing to surface, and waited for her to return. He didn’t need to wait long. She walked back in, one sandal-heeled foot kicking the door closed as she made for him, eyes steadily averted.