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It had been a mistake to confide in her the way he had. Big mistake. Like she’d said, confiding in people led to emotional involvement. Alex resolved not to do that again. Right. Time to finish up this meal and take her up to bed, where there would be very little talking. Not on his part, anyway. His tongue would be otherwise occupied. By the time he finished with her tonight, asking him questions about his past life would be the last thing on her mind.
‘Do you want dessert?’ he asked, only out of sheer politeness.
‘Heavens, no,’ she replied. ‘I’ve had more calories today than I usually eat in a week.’
‘Rubbish. What about coffee?’
‘No. I’d rather not sit here any longer, if you don’t mind. I can always make us some coffee up in the apartment.’
Alex smiled. ‘I do like a girl who knows what she wants.’
‘I suppose you think I want you,’ she said, her remark surprising him, then annoying him. Damn, but she was a difficult woman. A great PA, but a pain in the neck as a lover.
‘That thought did cross my mind when you kissed me in the shower earlier,’ he said in droll tones.
At least he had the satisfaction of seeing a guilty colour enter her cheeks.
‘It’s been some time since I’ve had any decent sex,’ she said, defiance quickly back in her eyes. ‘If I wasn’t on the rebound from my relationship with Dwayne, you would never have made it to first base with me.’
The corners of his mouth tilted up into a sardonic smile. ‘You honestly believe that?’
* * *
Harriet stifled a groan of dismay. What on earth had possessed her to start this type of tit-for-tat conversation? Not only was it dishonest of her, it was potentially humiliating. But, oh...how she’d hated seeing that smug look on his far-too-handsome face, as though it was a foregone conclusion that she would do whatever he wanted. Her pathetic effort to pull his male ego down a peg or two was already in danger of backfiring on her; Alex’s bedroom-blue eyes were glittering at her in a wickedly sexy fashion. Clearly, he meant to show her that she was talking rubbish. Which she was. That was the problem.
But she’d be darned if she was going to admit anything. Squaring her shoulders, she found a cool smile from somewhere.
‘You do think you’re irresistible, don’t you?’
‘Not at all, but I know what I know. You want me as much as I want you. I’m not afraid to admit it, but you are, for some reason. Silly, really. There’s nothing to be gained from your pretending this has something to do with your breaking up with Dwayne. That was just the catalyst which threw us together. You’ve fallen in lust with me, Harry, and I with you. That’s the cold, hard truth of it. Now, do stop putting obstacles in the way of our pleasure. And do stop wasting time. We should be in bed by now, doing what I do very well, and which you have already told me you like a lot. Come...’
When he stood up and reached out his hand towards her, Harriet gave up and gave in.
‘You really are an arrogant bastard,’ she muttered as she placed her hand in his and let him pull her up onto slightly unsteady feet. Possibly her light-headedness was due to the wine she had drunk, but Harriet doubted it. More likely it was due to the waves of desire that were currently washing through her body. Sweeping up her bag with her free hand, she let Alex steer her from the restaurant, leaving a forlorn-looking waiter in their wake. When she dared to say something, Alex just shrugged and said the charge for the meal would be added to his room account.
Alex didn’t say a word to her during their lift ride upwards, or during the short walk along the hallway, the silence only adding to the sexual tension which was gripping Harriet with cruelly frustrating tentacles. Every muscle in her body was tight with need. When she glanced over at Alex, she was taken aback at the tension she glimpsed in his face. He hadn’t lied to her. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. It was a sinfully seductive thought.
Once they were alone, with the door locked behind them, he turned and yanked her into his arms.
‘No more nonsense now,’ he ground out after his ravaging kiss reduced them both to heavy breathing. ‘You have five minutes to be naked in my bed.’
Alex’s lack of sexual inhibition was overwhelming. Yet exciting at the same time.
‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ he asked, a dry amusement in his voice and eyes.
‘You’re not just an arrogant bastard,’ she threw at him. ‘You’re a wicked devil as well!’ And with that she whirled and flounced off, his laughter following her.
* * *
