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‘On your hotel,’ she added pointedly, pretending rapt attention in her computer screen.
She should have known he wouldn’t take the hint and leave. Instead he reached across her desk and confiscated her orange notebook. It was the one she wrote her goals in and she’d felt the need to go over them before starting work that morning.
‘Give me that—it’s private.’
‘“Long-Range Goals.”’ His eyes sparkled mischievously. ‘“1. Promotion. 2. Investment property. 3. Own business? 4. Marriage. 5. Family.”’
‘Don’t you have any conscience at all?’
‘You already know I don’t. I take it family refers to some future event and not your siblings.’
‘Give it back.’
‘I must say I’m surprised to see marriage way down on your list. It’s usually on the top for most of the women I date.’
‘Just another reason why we’ll never date.’
‘That only makes me want to date you even more. You have your head screwed on straight.’
‘Just knowing you’re one of those lame commitment-phobes warms my heart,’ she mocked.
He smiled. ‘What’s the promotion?’
‘I’m not discussing this with you.’
Ignoring her outstretched hand he regarded her levelly. ‘Do you actually stick to this?’
‘No, I have it for fun.’
He glanced at the list again, shook his head. ‘Nyet. “Fun” isn’t on here.’
Eleanore kept her hand out with the exaggerated patience of a parent at the end of her tether.
‘And why the question mark after “own business”?’
‘Will you please give that back?’
She waited for him to make another comment but instead he just smiled, handed her the notebook and pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his messages and winding her nerves even tighter.
Last night she’d nearly sent the wrong plans to the wrong recipients because her mind had been on him instead of her job and, after yesterday’s little thumb-sucking episode, she knew she was too tense to continue with more of his games this morning. And while she’d never thought of herself as a quitter, right now she was ready to wave the white flag which just made her temper spike. ‘Are you going to sit here all day?’
His eyes shifted from his phone to hers. ‘Is that an invitation, Miss Harrington?’ he asked softly.
Realising he was a master strategist and she’d been dancing to his tune all week Eleanore jumped out of her chair. If he wanted her office, he could have it. She needed to visit the site to check on progress anyway. She’d just do that now and leave her paperwork for later.
Of course she should have known that he wouldn’t let her leave without asking where she was going but she hadn’t expected for him to reach out and snag hold of her wrist on her way past.
‘Going somewhere?’
‘To the site.’ Her voice sounded scratchy and she cleared it. ‘If you want my office it’s all yours.’
‘But I don’t want your office.’
His deliberately low tone followed by a sensuous smirk told her that he wanted her instead and a terrible weakness invaded her limbs.
‘I can’t do this any more,’ she said on a rush.
His grip around her wrist was dry and warm. ‘Can’t do what?’ His thumb stroked across the pulse point going mad beneath her skin and a shiver raced down her spine.
‘This.’
‘This?’
Was he being deliberately obtuse?
‘Us.’ She tugged on her wrist but instead of giving her freedom he urged her closer.
‘Us?’
Eleanore moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and realised that hadn’t been the best move when Lukas tracked the movement, his eyes much darker when they returned to hers and without a trace of humour in them. She saw a muscle tick in his jaw and her breathing became laboured as she realised he’d manoeuvred her between his open thighs.
A thrill of anticipation shot through her. Anticipation entwined with fear and while she could have moved away—he wasn’t holding her that tightly—she felt like she was staring into the eyes of a cobra about to strike. Only this one wasn’t about to inflict pain but abject pleasure.
‘You know what I’m talking about,’ she breathed. ‘This silly bet thing. It’s highly inappropriate.’
‘Highly.’ His hungry gaze slide down her torso and his hands moved to lightly grip her hips, each one of his fingers spreading either side of her spine in the small of her back.
