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He was wearing light linen, apparently oblivious to the heat in the factory, with no sign of perspiration dampening his skin in the way Keira knew it was dampening her own—although she could see the dark shadow along his jaw where he needed to shave. It gave him an extra edge of raw masculinity that touched her own femaleness as directly as though he himself had touched her—very intimately.
A giddy, nerve-tingling feeling had somehow taken hold of her, reminiscent of the way she felt after drinking champagne. Bubbles of sensation fizzed through her veins, heightening her awareness of him and her sensitivity to him. Her gaze was somehow drawn to his face, and refused to be moved. It was as though she had been possessed by the greed of a hedonist with an insatiable appetite, Keira decided shakily, unable to stop herself from visually gorging herself on the pleasure of looking at him.
Jay—here! What an extraordinary coincidence that he should have business here himself. Not that he looked at all pleased to have found her here, she noticed.
‘Jay,’ she greeted him weakly. ‘You’ve come back early from Mumbai. I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve just seen the most wonderful fabrics. You’re going to love them, I know…’ She was gabbling like an idiot, unable to stop herself as she plucked sample after sample from the pile Arjun had just returned with, wafting them before Jay’s totally immobile gaze.
He hadn’t spoken or moved, hadn’t so much as acknowledged her in any way, and yet he filled her senses. All she could see, all she knew, was him.
‘You must meet Alex,’ Keira gabbled on. ‘He’s got the most wonderful ideas—’
She broke off as she physically felt the increase in tension, as clearly as though someone had actually tightened the air and removed oxygen from it. Jay’s lips had thinned, his gaze icing over her before being directed past her to Alex.
‘Arjun’s got all the samples Keira and I have discussed,’ Keira heard Alex saying easily. ‘But you’ll want to check them out for yourself, and as Keira knows I’m open to whatever input she wants to give me. Next time you come to visit, if you let me know beforehand, Keira, I’ll book you into that boutique hotel I was telling you about and we can do dinner,’ Alex offered, giving Keira another smile. ‘And then I’ll have time to show you what I can really do.’
When he winked at her and grinned, Keira couldn’t help but laugh. Alex was a tease, but harmless, and she didn’t in any way object to his mild social flirting, knowing it for what it was—which was nothing more than something to oil the wheels of business.
She would have liked to stay a bit longer, to share her enthusiasm and excitement for what she had seen with Jay, but he was making it very plain that he was not in the mood to look at fabrics and was clearly waiting to leave. He was also making it very obvious that he was expecting her to leave with him. Presumably he had completed his own business, whatever it had been, and so Keira thanked Arjun and allowed Jay to escort her out of the factory, whilst two young boys carried her precious samples over to the car and handed them to her driver.
However, when Keira made to follow them to her car, Jay stopped her.
‘You’re travelling back with me,’ he told her abruptly.
She could have objected—perhaps she should have objected, given his dictatorial manner—but for some reason she remained strangely silent. Not because she actually wanted to travel back with him, of course, Keira insisted to herself as Jay opened the passenger door of his Mercedes and then stood beside it, waiting for her to get inside more in the manner of a gaoler than anything else. Keira winced when he closed the door with a definite thud.
It was late in the day and the town was busy with traffic, filling its narrow streets. All too conscious of the hazards presented by small children darting out into the road, plus old people, cyclists, bullock carts, the highly decorated trucks that were so much a part of India’s road culture, not to mention stray cows and other cars, Keira didn’t venture to speak for fear of distracting Jay’s attention from his driving.
Once clear of the town, though, when Jay himself made no attempt to engage her in conversation, Keira found that despite the oppressive atmosphere caused by his silence she didn’t feel brave enough to break it.
