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My waspish tone further unnerved him. Then his lips firmed.
‘You scurried away before we were done talking. You do realise you’re not doing yourself any favours by annoying me, don’t you?’
I shrugged. ‘I’m here now, and I don’t see a fire, so...’
His eyes widened a fraction, then I caught a hint of amusement. Again I had the feeling that the mighty Neo Xenakis liked being challenged.
Striding over, he took the cupcake from me, set it on my desk and took my hand.
‘What are you doing? And, more importantly, why are you separating me from my cupcake?’
He frowned, or least gave an impression of it. But it fell far short of his overriding expression—bewilderment. Perhaps even a little shame.
‘You asked where the fire was. Our meeting has been rescheduled to now.’
‘What? But—’
‘You helped the team land the deal that has brought the Portuguese trade minister here. I don’t think you’ll want to keep him waiting while you devour a dubious-looking confection from a vending machine.’
‘It wasn’t from a vending machine. It was from your executive restaurant, which is manned by a chef I hear is on the brink of winning his first Michelin star.’
He simply shrugged and kept moving while he extracted his phone from his pocket. Rapid-fire Greek greeted whoever answered the call, after which he held open the door to the conference room with one eyebrow hiked up.
‘You know there’s a rule against keeping a pregnant woman from what she craves, don’t you?’
My words had been meant harshly. Instead they emerged in a sultry undertone, wrapped in a yearning that was only partly for the cupcake he’d forced me to abandon.
And if I had any doubt that my words had triggered the same thought in him, the darkening of his eyes and the slight parting of his sensual mouth told me we’d skated away from the subject of cupcakes to something more potent.
‘I will bear the consequences of it this once,’ he rasped, his voice an octave lower. Deeper.
Sexier.
My gaze dropped to the sensual line of his lips and I sucked in a breath.
‘The minister is waiting, Sadie. As much as I want to answer that look in your eyes, it won’t do for me to start making love to my wife in full view of a potential business associate.’
My wife.
It was the first time he’d referred to me as that since the wedding...
The two-hour meeting passed in a rush of effectively troubleshooting every last one of the minister’s objections. While the team acted in perfect cohesion, Neo seemed intent on lobbing further questions for me to answer, giving a satisfied nod when I did.
Perhaps he wanted to give me a chance to prove my worth, to publicly expunge any hint of nepotism once and for all. Whatever the reason, it left me with a warm, buoyant glow that shrivelled the hard knot of unworthiness that had clung to me and drew a wide smile once the minister left, satisfied.
Perhaps my smile was too wide. Too proud. It certainly triggered something in Neo, and his stride was purposeful as he marched me from the conference room.
‘I hate to repeat myself, but where’s the fire?’ I asked.
‘I’m giving you the rest of the day off,’ he declared.
‘I can’t take time off and finish the work you’ve asked me to do.’
He merely shrugged as he stepped with me into the lift and pressed the button for the parking garage, where a valet stood next to his car, keys ready.
‘Change of plan,’ Neo said, once I was seated and he’d slid behind the wheel. ‘There’s an event I need you to attend with me tonight.’
‘Oh? Do you want to tell me about it so I can prepare?’
