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Walking in front of him across the large marble foyer felt like walking the plank on some doomed pirate’s ship. She was aware of the intensity of his scrutiny on her back, her legs...her bottom. Electricity sparked along her nerves and spread throughout her body.
Slowly she noticed the sound of last-minute preparations in the vast space had gradually faded as people stopped to stare.
David and Cynthia, the two colleagues who’d been recruited the same time as her, stood at the solid wood-carved reception, watching with blatant curiosity. She didn’t need to turn around after she passed them to know they were whispering behind her back.
Same as she didn’t need to turn around to notice the moment Ari veered off towards his own office. Because her skin stopped tingling and her pulse began to slow.
By the time she shut herself away in the tiny office behind the concierge’s station, she was shaking. Going to her coffee stand, she flicked the kettle on and practised her breathing as it boiled. She poured water onto the tea bag, then immediately gagged as the scent of camomile made her stomach roil violently.
Abandoning tea in favour of water, Perla waited for the sickness to subside and threw herself into her work.
She spent the rest of the day finalising catering requirements, confirming bookings and chasing RSVPs. The turkey sandwich she ordered for lunch stayed put and she breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she needed was to get sick within the first month of starting a new job in which she already felt compromised.
But by six o’clock her feet ached, her head throbbed with a dull ache and the debilitating weakness that had dogged her all day was weighting her limbs. Shutting off her computer, she dug through her bag and located the painkillers she always kept to hand. Swallowing two, she took the lift to her suite, collapsed onto the bed, kicked off her shoes and pulled the covers over her head.
The buzzing of her phone woke her an hour later.
Dazed, she pushed the hair off her face and snagged the handset. ‘Hello?’
‘Perla.’
Excitement jack-knifed through her body.
God, the way he said her name should be banned. Or she needed to charge for it. Because she was sure she suffered a tiny nervous breakdown every time his voice grated out her name like that.
‘Um...hi,’ she mumbled, squinting in the darkened room.
‘Did I wake you?’ There was a frown in his voice.
‘No, I was just...no.’
‘I’ve been thinking about your predicament.’
‘What predica...? No, I told you, I’ll handle it.’
‘You may not need to. Have you had dinner yet?’ he asked.
She tried to make her brain work. ‘No, I haven’t.’
‘Meet me at the Athena Restaurant in half an hour,’ he said, naming the five-star restaurant on the first floor of the Pantelides WDC, headed by a very sought after Michelin-starred chef.
Perla flicked the bedside lamp on and struggled to sit up. Thankfully, her headache seemed to have disappeared. ‘Um...why?’
‘I have a proposal to discuss with you. A new opportunity you might be interested in.’
The thought of meeting with Ari so openly again after this morning and being the cynosure of all eyes made her nape tighten. Exhaling, she faced up to the fact she had to deal with that sooner or later. She refused to let gossip rock the self-esteem she was trying hard to rebuild.
She cleared her throat. ‘I’d love to hear your proposal but I think the Athena is fully booked tonight. And yes, I know you own the hotel and can chuck someone out but I’d feel bad. Do you think we can order room service instead?’
For a few seconds, silence greeted her suggestion. ‘Given our track record, do you think being in a hotel room alone together is wise?’ he rasped.
Liquid heat flooded her belly, followed closely by chagrin. ‘Um, you’re right, it’s not. I’ll...come to you.’
‘Half an hour. Don’t keep me waiting.’
She hung up and threw the covers off. Going to the bathroom, she took a quick shower, pleased that she felt a whole lot better now than she had all day.
The dress she chose was functional and stylishly respectable without being overtly sexy. Pulling on the slingbacks she’d discarded earlier, she caught up her black clutch and black wrap and left her room.
Despite telling herself this was just business, butterflies fluttered madly in her stomach as the lift rushed her downward.
She stepped out of the lift and was about to head towards the foyer when her phone pinged.
Come outside. A
