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Silence grew around them until she couldn’t bear being the sole focus of his gaze. Rising after her last stretch, she contemplated the wisdom of approaching where he stood, right in front of the weights she needed.
Contemplated and abandoned the idea. Instead, she mimicked him and went to the well-stocked fridge for a bottle of water. ‘How did the rest of the board meeting go?’ she asked to fill the heavy silence.
Sakis tossed the empty bottle in the recycle bin, pulled his tie free, rolled it up and stuffed it in his trouser pocket. ‘I had no doubt we would find the relevant weak points. Everyone has skeletons in their closets, Moneypenny. Things they don’t want anyone else to discover. Growing up as a Pantelides taught me that.’ His voice was pure steel, but she caught the underlying thread of pain beneath it.
She wanted to offer comforting words but the mention of skeletons sliced her with apprehension, tightening her insides so she could barely breathe. ‘What sort of skeletons?’
‘The usual. In this case, less than stellar financial record-keeping; one or two shady dealings that deserve closer scrutiny.’
‘Are...are we talking about Landers Petroleum?’ She held her breath.
‘No.’ He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. ‘They’re small fry compared to Moorecroft Oil and were probably hitching their wagon to the big boys in hopes of a large pay-day. For now, I’m more interested in Moorecroft. They’re the ones who started this, but they should’ve cleaned up their own backyard before attempting to sully mine. Tomorrow morning, their CEO, Richard Moorecroft, will be receiving a call from the Financial Conduct Authority. He’ll need to answer a few hairy questions.’
She told herself it was too early to hope this was over but she allowed herself a tiny breath of relief. ‘And...you think that’s the end of it?’
His hand went to the next unopened button and slid it free. ‘If they know what’s good for them. If they don’t and they keep sabre-rattling, things will just get decidedly...dirtier.’
‘You mean you’ll dig deeper,’ she murmured, unable to take her gaze off the hands slowly revealing more and more of his mouth-watering torso. ‘What are you doing?’ she gasped, her fist tightening around the plastic bottle as another bolt of heat drilled through her belly. It cracked under the force of her fist, echoing loudly through the room.
‘Taking a leaf out of your book.’ He shrugged out of his shirt, balled it up and threw it into the corner.
‘I... But...’
He paused, his hand on his belt. ‘Does my body make you uncomfortable, Moneypenny?’
Her tongue threatened to not work. ‘You’ve undressed in front of me many times.’
‘That wasn’t what I asked you.’ The belt slid free.
Arousal roared to life, tightening her nipples into deliciously painful points, weakening her knees, shooting fiery sensation between her legs. ‘W...what does it matter? I’m invisible, remember? You’ve never seen me in the past.’
He came forward, his long legs eating up the short distance between them until he stood in front of her.
‘Only because I’ve trained myself not to look...not to betray the slightest interest. Not since...’ He paused, lips pursed. Then, shaking off whatever thought he’d had, he shrugged. ‘You’re not invisible to me now. I see you. All of you.’ His gaze slid down, paused and caressed the valley between her breasts, before reaching out to boldly stroke the hard, pointed crests. Her needy gasp made him caress her more intimately, rolling her nipple between his fingers until she had to bite her lip hard to keep from crying out. ‘And just like I knew you would be like...a potent wine, promising intoxication even before the first sip.’
Reason tried to surge forth through the miasma of sensation shaking her very foundations. But her body had a mind of its own. It swayed towards him but she managed to stop herself from taking the fatal step.
‘I wouldn’t really know. I...I don’t drink.’ Another ruthless stance she’d taken since Greg. That last night before the police had crashed in and carted her away, he’d plied her with vintage champagne and caviar. She’d been so drunk she’d been barely coherent when her life had taken a nosedive into hell.
‘My, what a virtuous life you lead, Moneypenny. Do you have any vices at all? Apart from your pancakes, that is?’
‘None that I wish to divulge,’ she responded before she managed to stop herself.
Sakis gave a low, rich laugh that soaked into her senses before fizzing pleasure along her nerve endings. ‘I find that infinitely intriguing.’ His gaze dropped to her mouth in a blatant, heated caress. His lips parted and a slow rush of breath hissed through them. Slowly, almost leisurely, he stepped closer, bringing his body heat within singeing distance.
Move, Brianna!
Her feet finally heeded the frenzied warning fired by her brain but she’d barely taken a step when Sakis reached out. He caught her around the waist and brought her flush against him.
The contact fired through her, so powerful and potent, she lost her footing. One strong hand cupped her chin and raised her head to his merciless gaze. In his eyes, she read dangerous intent that made her stomach hollow with anticipation and feverish need, even as the last functioning brain cells shrieked for her to fight against the dangerous sensations.
‘I’m going to kiss you now, Moneypenny,’ Sakis breathed. ‘It’s not wise and it probably won’t be safe.’
‘Then you shouldn’t do it...’ She half-pleaded but already wet heat oozed between her thighs.
He gave a half-pained groan. ‘I can’t seem to stop myself.’
‘Mr Pantelides—’
