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His touch had been electric. His eyes had sparked with a hunger that had resonated in her belly. Afterwards she’d hated herself for the weakness but, so far, she’d been unable to stop the sizzling in her bloodstream.
She shook herself free of the unsettling sensation, reminding herself that her focus was on keeping Ben and her parents out of Xandro’s retributive clutches. There was no way she would allow it to go further than that.
It was almost seven. Xandro hadn’t given her a specific time but, since this dinner was happening, she would be better off ready and waiting so she could get it over with.
Her freshly washed hair was blow-dried. The sumptuous robe hugging her from neck to ankle came off. As she slipped on the dress, she couldn’t stop a momentary pang of disquiet. Everything in Xandro’s world was super-luxurious and in a class available to a select few. She fingered her dress, staring critically at its simple off-the-shoulder design. Then her shoes, three-inch black slingbacks from a cheap chain store. Both were nothing special. As for accessories, besides the silver earrings her grandmother had given her for her sixteenth birthday, she had no other jewellery.
Jewellery.
The reminder of why all of this was happening dimmed her spirits further. Her life was in turmoil because Xandro was chasing trinkets for his lovers. Although...the last time she’d asked him, his expression had once again hinted at something more. Something deeper. Or maybe it was just her imagination.
With a twist of her lips, she tugged the dress over her head and briskly attended to her light make-up. She hadn’t asked for any of this. So if Xandro didn’t care for what she wearing, too bad.
She was standing at the living room window, her gaze and senses once again captivated by the ancient monument on the horizon, when she sensed him behind her.
The fact that she couldn’t stop herself from turning around, the view no longer the primary demand on her focus, unsettled her further.
He was dressed differently. He’d showered too if the damp strands curling over his forehead were any indication. Dressed entirely in black, he resembled the formidable, powerful mogul he was, despite the lack of a tie and the buttons left undone at his throat.
The sight of his olive-skinned throat and the hint of chest hair she glimpsed sent a pulse of wild heat low in her belly. A reaction she tried to studiously ignore when he raised his head from the phone in his hand and speared her with his silver-grey gaze.
‘Are you ready?’ His eyes conducted a slow scrutiny. One that had a hot little breath catching in he
r throat.
Her nod brought his gaze up to her face, then higher to her hair. ‘Do you ever wear your hair down?’ The question was clipped, as if he was displeased.
She frowned, wondering why his displeasure made her stomach roil. ‘Yes,’ she snapped back. She’d intended to wear it down this evening. Until she’d reminded herself that this wasn’t a date. Or even a platonic social outing. She was being blackmailed to bring her brother to heel.
She started towards him, then noticed his gaze still riveted on her hair. Her step slowed, and she found her fingers creeping up her nape to touch the knot. She hastily dropped her hand. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Other than your tongue being sharper than a wasp’s sting, and your hair the exact shade of an Ayia Hera sunset, no,’ he delivered, then frowned. Balled hands shoved into his pockets and he turned on his heel.
Sage got the distinct feeling he’d let something slip he hadn’t meant to. But what was the big deal about mentioning a place in his native country? Unless, like her, he’d remembered that this wasn’t a date. She mentally shrugged, following him to the door he held open for her.
Their journey down in the executive lift was conducted in silence. Sage tried to take small breaths to avoid inhaling too much of the citrus-layered aftershave blended with his unique masculine scent. But doing so only starved her of oxygen and made her heart pump faster.
It was a relief to escape the charged atmosphere five storeys later, when the lift opened straight onto a marble-floored foyer that led into the chic Michelin-starred restaurant she’d read about in the coffee table book in her room.
She was taking it all in when she felt his breath on her neck.
‘I’m going to put my hand on you now. Be an angel and don’t jump,’ he rasped against her ear.
‘I wasn’t going to,’ she returned in a thankfully firm voice, but nothing could guard her against the electricity that zinged through her system when his hand touched her waist a second later.
‘Glad to hear it. That smile wouldn’t go amiss now, though,’ he added as the maître d’ hurried towards them.
‘You can’t just command me to smile. That’s like me commanding you to make me laugh.’
‘Sorry, pedhaki mou, I’m fresh out of knock-knock jokes. But you can do something about that rabbit-caught-in-headlights look you’re sporting right now.’
She was caught between wondering what pedhaki mou meant and snapping at him for his continued commands when his hand tightened on her waist and he pulled her closer to his body. Every thought flew out of her head as the hard contours of his body met hers. Heart rate spiking even more, she gripped her clutch tighter, hoping the discomfort shooting through her fingers would ground her.
She smiled at the maître d’ simply because he was charming but felt a little nervous when his gaze flicked to his ultimate employer. He showed them to their table in the middle of the room and was about to pull out her chair when Xandro muttered a few words in his mother tongue.
The maître d’ stepped back hastily, leaving Xandro to seat her. More murmured words and the man filled their water glasses and hurried away to fetch menus.
‘So, did I pass the test?’ she asked for want of something to disrupt the fraught silence that had descended over the table. She’d expected him to take his seat opposite her. Instead, he threw her for a loop by taking the seat to her left. This close, she couldn’t avoid his scent suffusing her senses. Within a minute she was back to shallow breathing and wishing herself far, far away from here.
