Page 4 of His Reckoning

I walk toward the counter, resting my hands on the cool marble.

“The kind of place where the heroine immediately knows she doesn’t belong.”

I pause, then add thoughtfully, “Just like the billionaire who owns it.”

A voice behind me says, “That’s a harsh review.”

I jump. My hand flies to my chest as I spin around.

Sawyer Maccini stands near the foyer, one hand loosely gripping the handle of a leather briefcase, the other in his pocket.

His dark suit jacket is still on, his tie slightly loosened, like he just came from work.

And he’s watching me with unmistakable amusement.

The room suddenly feels smaller. His presence seems to absorb all the space around him.

“Well,” he says coolly, glancing around the empty penthouse before looking back at me, “this is unexpected.”

My hand immediately goes to the pendant on my gold necklace, and my thumb and finger rub against it back and forth.

He kicks off his leather shoes before he steps deeper into the apartment.

“You could have announced yourself,” I say irrationally, knowing my cheeks must be red because they certainly feel it.

Sawyer raises an eyebrow. “I did,” he replies. “You were busy reviewing my home.”

Heat creeps up my neck, surely now obvious to him how humiliated I feel.

“I wasn’t reviewing it,” I lie.

“You called it cold.”

“I said slightly intimidating.”

“Ah,” he says. “Much better.”

He sets his briefcase down on the console table near the entry and shrugs out of his jacket. The movement is casual, practiced, like this entire enormous penthouse is just another Tuesday for him.

Which, apparently, it is.

His eyes move around the room once before settling back on me.

“So,” he says, “you’ve made yourself comfortable.”

“I’ve been here approximately twelve minutes.”

“Long enough to form some strong opinions.”

I cross my arms. “You weren’t supposed to be home yet.”

That earns me the smallest hint of a smile.

“Did Melissa tell you that?”

“Yes.”

He loosens his tie slightly. “She tends to be optimistic about my schedule.”