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‘Is that so?’
‘Yes, and also everything that happened today is my fault and I’m willing to take it on the chin,’ she said in a rush.
For such a big man he was incredibly light on his feet as he padded down the steps. He’d removed his shoes, and in jeans and an unbuttoned fresh shirt open across his chest he looked incredibly sexy, and for some reason younger, but also entirely beyond her reach.
‘You didn’t have to bring me here, but you did. And I guess you know something about press intrusion and I should be grateful—and I am. But I don’t want you thinking I want something from you.’
Khaled stopped so suddenly she rammed into his back. Gigi was aware she’d been in this position before.
‘Gigi,’ he said patiently, turning around slowly, ‘the only reason we got into all of this was because you want something from me.’
‘That’s not true!’
She took a step back, because frankly she didn’t trust herself within bumping distance of him. It took every ounce of her concentration to rip her eyes off his bare chest.
‘Look, I know your cynical viewpoint was probably earned the hard way, but my life hasn’t exactly been storybook either. I know well enough how mercenary and self-serving people can be, but that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your best instincts. You’ve certainly spent enough time with me now to form some idea of my character and to know I’m not on the make.’
He shook his head. ‘Gigi, at the moment I’m too achingly hard to laugh, but your indignation is rich, given the events of the last forty-eight hours.’
He was...? She tried to ignore the melting response of her body to the news that he still wanted her. God knew she wanted him. They just had things to discuss first.
Only he kept going down the stairs.
‘I guess it suits you to think I want stuff from you!’ she called after him. ‘It means you can keep treating me like luggage and not talk to me about what happened between us in my flat and at the hotel.’
She shut her eyes briefly. She hadn’t meant to say that.
‘Why would I want to talk to you about it?’
‘Oh, I don’t know—because you kissed me?’
He looked up at her. The way his eyes ran over her body made her shiver.
‘It was a mistake.’
Was it?
Which was when her stomach decided to yawn open and a noisy, unambiguous rumble made itself known.
Kill me now.
He frowned. ‘When did you last eat?’
‘Four o’clock. Yesterday.’
He said something clearly uncomplimentary in Russian.
‘What did you just say to me?’
‘Stupid girl,’ he said in English, but his tone was almost warm. ‘Come on, I’ll feed you.’
‘Stupid being here with you,’ she muttered. But she trotted after him.
* * *
He took her downstairs to the kitchen. He dug out fresh bread, ham, cheese, salad stuff, and went to work on sandwiches.
He did everything he could to get his mind off her soft-as-rose-petals lips, the pointy curve of her breast that fitted perfectly into the palm of his hand, her sweet enthusiasm even as she pushed him away and twittered nonsense at him about it not happening.
‘You cook for yourself?’
He looked up. She was sliding her pretty little behind onto a stool at the bench, her blue eyes on him.
‘Why not?’ he growled, feeling like a bear with a sore head. Because she was right—it shouldn’t happen. ‘Every man should be self-sufficient.’
‘Yeah, I’m getting that vibe off you.’
She fell quiet. He didn’t trust her when she was quiet. Gigi’s mind didn’t stop whirring.
‘When I first saw you I thought, Now there’s a man who’s been somewhere,’ she said suddenly.
‘I have been somewhere. Central Asia and the Arctic Circle, with a band of scientists and geologists.’
‘To do with your oil?’
She was a quick study—he’d give that to her.
‘To do with my oil. There’s nothing like being on the ground, seeing the erosion for yourself, experiencing it, watching the visible proof of changing migration patterns, the changes to the soil. Stops me from getting comfortable or lazy about my responsibilities to the planet.’
‘You sound like a bit of a green.’
Khaled shrugged. ‘I grew up in the mountains—it’s difficult not to be ecologically aware.’
‘Do you miss it, now you’re living in cities?’
