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His eyes slitted wickedly above the blade of her hand, accepting her foolish dare.
‘Prissy…’ The word was muffled, his lips pursing briefly against the centre of her cupped palm in a sibilant kiss.
She removed her hand and scrubbed it down the side of her skirt, but that didn’t rid her of the intimate heat of his mouth.
She glowered at him as he threaded the towel neatly back onto the towel rail. ‘You needn’t do that. It’s going straight into the wash, anyhow.’
‘Afraid I’ve contaminated it?’ he murmured, pulling his tight sleeves back down to cover his wrists. He noticed a dollop of grease perched near the hem of his shirt where it hugged his broad hips, and pulled out his handkerchief to dab it off, cursing as it smeared deeper into the thin, breathable material.
‘That’ll probably never come out now,’ Anya told him.
He threw his ruined handkerchief into her bathroom bin and took hold of the bottom of the shirt. ‘You’re an expert on emergency spills. Shall I take it off? Maybe if you run it through the wash for me straight away…’ He curled it away from his skin, giving her a teasing flash of a tanned, washboard stomach and a deliciously furry navel.
‘I’m not doing your laundry!’ she said, backing to the door. ‘I presume that’s one of the reasons you employ Mrs Lee.’
‘It’s just an excuse, really. I thought you might welcome the chance to see me half-naked…sort of even the score between us,’ he murmured, prowling after her.
Oh, wouldn’t he just love to know she had already seen him stark naked in her fantasies in this very room?
‘If I want to even the score I’ll just sue you for all the pain and suffering you and your family have caused me,’ she hit back, aiming deliberately below the belt. ‘If I’ve already lost my job and my reputation I’ve got nothing to lose by taking you to court, have I? I bet I could gouge enough out of you to keep me in clover for the rest of my life!’
The threat of legal action had a very satisfying effect. The arrogant smile was wiped off his face, his shoulders straightening, eyes narrowing and jaw jutting. As she moved back down the hall he slipped in front of her, his arm shooting out to slam against the opposite wall, barring her way. ‘What do you mean, lost your job? What in the hell did Ransom say to you?’
‘That I might be suspended from teaching as part of the school’s “damage control” if things get messy,’ she said.
He swore. ‘You’re not serious!’
His anger spurred her own. ‘Do I look as though I’m joking?’ She succinctly laid out all Mark’s arguments. The sound of Kate playing a Chopin ‘Impromptu’ had started up in the living room but she still kept her voice low, not wanting Petra to overhear. ‘If things do go much further I can probably wave goodbye to my career. An official investigation goes into my teaching record and, even if I’m completely cleared of any wrong-doing, that kind of mud sticks. Even if it doesn’t get that far I still might find myself struggling to re-establish my credibility—’
His hand fisted against the wall. ‘Dammit, why the hell isn’t Ransom taking my lead and playing it low-key? I thought you two were supposed to have become close—’
‘That’s why I can’t expect any special favours,’ she defended Mark, choosing not to make an issue of the insinuating emphasis. ‘He has to be above suspicion.’
He made a disparaging sound in his throat. ‘Doesn’t he realise that it’s his actions that’ll give the thing legs? It’ll run all the way to the newspapers if he’s not careful.’
‘Well, that’ll just up the amount of compensatory damages you’ll have to pay, won’t it? Maybe my neck is stiffing up a bit after all. A neck brace has got to be worth a few extra thou.’ Anya cupped hand to her nape and flexed her neck with a theatrical little groan.
He dropped his arm. ‘Don’t issue threats you’re not prepared to back up,’ he said, his tone containing a little sting of contempt.
‘I can back them up and you know it,’ she flared. ‘You’ve admitted liability with your apologies. I don’t even need a good lawyer to bring a civil suit; I could practically take the case to court myself and win!’
His professional pride recoiled. ‘The hell you could!’ he exploded quietly. ‘I’d eat you for breakfast in any courtroom in the country. You could have the judge in your hip pocket and you still wouldn’t be able to screw a red cent out of me.’
‘Who’s issuing threats now? Did you really think that you could buy me off with a few paltry apologies?’
At first she had merely been taunting, to teach him a lesson, but now Anya wondered whether there wasn’t a grain of truth in what she was saying.
His eyes searched hers, an experienced predator looking for the slightest hint of weakness in his prey. ‘I thought you didn’t want me comparing you to your cousin. You’re making it pretty difficult. This is just the kind of stunt I’d expect from her—’
Her steady grey gaze didn’t falter. ‘Is asking for justice a “stunt” unless you happen to be the one doing it?’
‘You can dress it up how you like, but this is extortion, pure and simple!’
‘I prefer to call it compensation for pain and suffering, both mental and physical—and so will a judge.’
‘This is just a bluff,’ he guessed shrewdly. ‘If it came to the crunch you’d fold. Turn tail and run, like Kate did when things threatened to get sticky. You won’t dare take me on. You’re bluffing!’
She was amazed and alarmed at her own temerity, but his assumption that she would never have the guts to stand up for her principles made her dig her heels in. She knew that if she blinked first she could count herself the loser.
