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Until that night.
Now, he watched her gaze dart to his neck and upper chest before flicking away. But the lips that were pursed minutes ago had grown softer, parting slightly as the tempo of her breathing escalated.
‘I drank the coffee and the whisky.’ In truth, he’d realised he needed both the moment he’d seen her holding them. Even now, they were further calming him, creating a little distance from the unsettling after-effects of his unexpected failure. ‘Now are you ready to do my bidding?’
The tip of her pink tongue darted out, touched the inner edge of her lower lip before retreating. That small act was enough to redirect the surge of fire in his chest south. To confirm that once again he was treading dangerous ground when it came to how much he enjoyed her reaction to him.
He didn’t want to lose Alexis as an executive assistant or jeopardise the private agreement he had with her to secure his birthright. She’d lasted three years working with him because she was the best. But if he was to accommodate his grandfather’s increasing demands, then knowing Alexis wasn’t the cold wall she usually projected would come in handy.
‘If that bidding involves getting Demitri on the line for you, then yes. The poor man is going out of his mind since the verdict was handed down. I told him you would return his calls within the hour,’ she answered.
The reminder that beyond these walls, and the bubbling cauldron of whatever was going on between him and his assistant, there was a disaster waiting to be cleared up wasn’t welcome. But he’d never shied away from challenges. Not that Demitri Kyrios would challenge him after keeping crucial information from him.
Alexis took another step back. ‘Shall we say, five minutes?’
She was alm
ost at the door, her brisk efficiency back in place like a well-worn suit of armour.
‘Three,’ he replied. He’d prevaricated enough. He rebuttoned his suit, reknotted his tie and crushed his frustration until it was a non-existent blip at the back of his mind. ‘Make sure I have the complete transcript of today’s proceedings on my desk.’
She looked over her shoulder. ‘It was the first thing I did when I heard the outcome.’
He allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his lips. ‘Be careful, Alexis. We don’t want to get to the point where I imagine you’re willing to cater to my every need, do we?’ he challenged.
‘I’m here to cater to your every professional need. If you don’t want me to be fully efficient in that capacity, then maybe I should find another employer? I’m sure someone out there will appreciate my dedication.’
‘Is that a threat?’ If so, it wasn’t an idle one.
A month ago, he’d come across an email from a headhunting agency offering her an impressive salary and benefits package if she jumped ship to another firm. Whether she’d left the email open deliberately for him to see because he’d been in a particularly testy mood that day, he wasn’t sure. But its existence had niggled at him, prompting him to discreetly request she be given a mid-year review by HR and a thirty per cent raise.
The uncertainty that she’d still choose to leave him chafed with each passing day. The same feelings of uncertainty had dogged his formative years, although he’d hoped he’d put that period far behind him. But he could do nothing about it, not when she was instrumental in helping him secure Drakonisos, the one thing that mattered to him above all things.
Admitting it was enough to rake up his dying frustration and a few more emotions that should be buried deep enough to be dead. But weren’t.
‘No, sir. It’s a gentle reminder that we both have options,’ she answered his almost forgotten question.
‘Sir?’
Her lips pursed. ‘It’s the correct form of address. I don’t know what you have against it.’
She hadn’t called him that since her initial interview, when, for some reason, the sound of it falling from her lips had spiked his temperature high enough to make him demand she never use it again.
He walked over to the door and held it open for her to walk through. ‘You’re not going anywhere. I’m not ready to do without you. Not just yet anyway.’
A look flitted through her eyes, gone before he could decipher it. Then her head dipped in a stiff nod as they walked together down a short corridor to the lift that would take them down to his office. ‘That’s good to hear. Your executive chef sent through the autumn menu today. I’d hate to be deprived of his culinary delights this side of Christmas.’
‘I’m sure his ego will be boosted to know he’s the only reason you’re bringing yourself to remain in my employ.’ He pressed the button to summon the lift, noting the reduced desire to stab at it. He didn’t want to admit her presence was the reason he’d calmed down, but Christos couldn’t deny it.
Her unflappability in the face of his sometimes heated Greek temperament was one he appreciated.
‘I’ve tried to resist his cooking, but he gets me every time. I’ve had to up my thrice-weekly gym sessions to counterbalance the high calories.’
Christos’s eyes narrowed as she preceded him into the lift. ‘Is that the reason you’ve been absent from your desk between six and seven lately?’
She leaned past him to press the switch that closed the doors before resting her gaze on the bright green digital floor counter. ‘Yep. I didn’t think you noticed, though.’
His gaze drifted past her profile and down her trim body to her slim legs and heeled feet. ‘I noticed both your absence, and the fact that your efforts aren’t necessary.’
