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That half-inch of flesh taunted him, calling to mind the smooth warmth of her skin. The simmering awareness that had always existed between them, like a fuse just waiting to be lit, throbbed deep inside. He’d tried to deny it earlier this evening in the hallway, when he’d discovered she still sang at Siren.
He’d tried to erase the sound of her sultry voice, the evocative way Eva Pennington performed on stage. He’d cursed himself when his body had reacted the way it had the very first time he’d heard her sing. That part of his black mood also stemmed from being viscerally opposed to any other man experiencing the same reaction he did from hearing her captivating voice, the way he had been two years ago, was a subject he wasn’t willing to acknowledge, never mind tackle.
He pulled his gaze from the alluringly feminine curve of her hips and shapely legs and focused on the question that had been burning through him all night.
‘Explain to me how you have two million pounds in your bank account, but take the bus to and from work.’
Her mouth gaped for several seconds before she regained herself. ‘How the hell do you know how much money I have in my bank account?’ she demanded.
‘With the right people with the right skills, very easily. I’m waiting for an answer.’
‘You’re not going to get one. What I do with my money and how I choose to travel is my business.’
‘You’re wrong, cara. As of last night, your welfare is very much my business. And if you think I’m willing to allow you to risk your safety at times when drunken yobs and muggers crawl out of the woodwork, you’re very much mistaken.’
‘Allow me? Next you’ll be telling me I need your permission to breathe!’
He spiked his fingers through his hair, wondering if she’d ever been this difficult and he’d somehow missed it. The Eva he remembered, before his eyes had been truly opened to her character, had possessed a quiet passion, not this defiant, wild child before him.
But no, there’d never been anything childlike about Eva.
She was all woman. His libido had thrilled to it right from the first.
Understandably this acute reaction was because he’d been without a woman for over a year. Now was not the time to let it out of control. The time would arrive soon enough.
She tossed her head in irritation, and the hardening in his groin threatened to prove him wrong.
‘Since I need you alive for the foreseeable future, no, you don’t require my permission to breathe.’
She had the nerve to roll her eyes. ‘Thank you very much!’
‘From now on you’ll be driven to and from work.’
‘No, thanks.’
He gritted his teeth. ‘You prefer to spend hours freezing at a bus stop than accept my offer?’
‘Yes, because the offer comes at a price. I may not know what it is yet, but I’ve no intention of paying it.’
‘Why do you insist on fighting me when we both know you don’t have a choice? I’m willing to bet your father didn’t return a single one of your phone calls last night.’
Wide, startled eyes met his for a second before she looked away. ‘I’m sure he has his reasons.’
It spoke volumes that she didn’t deny trying to reach Oscar. ‘Reasons more important than answering the phone to his daughter? Do you want to know what he’s been up to?’
‘I’m sure you’re about to apprise me whether I want to hear it or not.’
‘He’s been calling in every single favour he thinks he’s owed. Unfortunately, a man as greedy as your father cashed in most of his favours a long time ago. He’s also pleading and begging his way across the country in a bid to save himself from the hole he knows I’m about to bury him in. He didn’t take your calls, but he took mine. I recorded it if you wish me to play it back to you?’
Her fists clenched. ‘Go to hell, Zaccheo,’ she threw at him, but he glimpsed the pain in her eyes.
He almost felt sorry for her. Then he remembered her part in all this.
‘Come here, Eva,’ he murmured.
She eyed him suspiciously. ‘Why?’
‘Because I have something for you.’
Her gaze dropped to his empty hands before snapping back to his face. ‘There’s nothing you have that I could possibly want.’
‘If you make me come over there, I’ll take that kiss you owe me from last night.’ Dio, why had he said that? Now it was all he could think about.
Heat flushed her cheeks. ‘I don’t owe you a thing. And I certainly don’t owe you any kisses.’
