Stolen

by Julie Kenner

  Professor McBride’s ass-kissing drawled to a close as his attention was requested by a university faculty member with a penchant for purple highlights and matching purple accessories.

  Before she could mentally prepare herself for the close-up impact of his dazzling good looks Alex had enclosed Libby’s hand in his larger one, setting off a cascade of tingles; little flicks of flame dancing along her wrist and raising the hairs on her arm.

  Damn… Smokin’ was an insult. Brains, business acumen and indecent levels of sex appeal—Alex Lancaster had certainly won the genetic lottery.

  And of course she knew of him. Everyone knew of him. Besides, she’d done her research prior to flying in yesterday. One of Britain’s youngest billionaires, he wasn’t the richest, but his reputation for intuitive, if not somewhat reckless business decisions was surpassed only by his brooding charisma and the dazzling smile that somehow managed to appeal to women of all ages.

  Perhaps it was the single dimple in his cheek—simultaneously boyish and wicked. Or the incredible expressive eyes the colour of burnt sugar that regularly stared out from the glossy magazine covers he graced. Either way, he was utterly disarming. So much so that her voice completely deserted her—no doubt it was attending the ‘Get Alex Lancaster Naked’ rally being hosted by her libido and sponsored by her erogenous zones.

  ‘Ms Noble. Great talk.’

  His mouth kicked up, unleashing the full force of that dimple. Damn, that smile could melt the underwear clean off her body. And his voice: smoky…rich bourbon in a cut-glass tumbler.

  Her sharp, tight-fitting suit—her signature outfit—had been transformed into a straitjacket. It was the only explanation for the hot flush misting her skin and the prickle of every tiny hair covering her body.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Mr Lancaster.’

  Libby pulled her hand from his. Not that she felt any relief from the inferno engulfing her. He was too close. Too virile. Too everything.

  Get a grip, Libby. He’s just another suit.

  Right—if by ‘suit’ she meant a walking advertisement for ‘Hot Boardroom Dudes’. Perhaps he could start an internet craze. She’d be the first to sign up.

  ‘You deserve every scrap of your reputation.’ He rubbed his knuckles over one lightly stubbled cheek, his dark gaze sparkling.

  Libby’s missing-in-action tongue returned to her mouth. ‘Well, that’s a rare talent, Mr Lancaster—one that the gossip rags and business pages fail to credit you with.’

  Libby wiped her palm along the length of her skirt, her body half turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the gesture that gave away the effect he was having on her. The thought of this man’s focus honed on her, even simply her online business profile, shunted heat to the most inconvenient places.

  At his small frown, she continued. ‘Perfectly disguising an insult within a compliment.’

  She glanced over his shoulder, raising her eyebrows in acknowledgement of someone she recognised as she made to bypass him.

  ‘Excuse me.’

  Arrogant, sexy…

  He laughed. A head thrown back bellow that forced more gold flecks into the burnt caramel of his irises.

  A waiter blocked Libby’s escape route with the delivery of her Pinot Gris, the elegant wine glass glistening with condensation. She bestowed her politest smile on the handsome waiter, still preparing to walk away from the charismatic jerk before her. Even if he was pleasing on the eye and the six-foot-three embodiment of most women’s filthiest fantasises. Fantasies she’d never imagined until she’d slid her eyes over Mr Testosterone there.

  ‘Forgive me…’ His hand on her arm stilled her. ‘What I should have said is that yours was by far the most entertaining of the lectures given this morning. I’ve heard of your work. I’m a businessman and I keep abreast of international business news.’

  His mouth caressed the lip of his own wine glass and he held her gaze over the rim, a mix of devilment and challenge warring for control in his slightly narrowed, sinfully provocative stare.

  His hand, still on her arm, burned a hole through the fine wool of her favourite jacket. Large, tanned, with a sprinkling of dark hair smattering the wrist that poked from the cuff of his expensive linen shirt. Slight calluses marred the perfection of his long, elegant fingers and she glimpsed clean square nails before he withdrew.

  She had the absurd urge to ask him if he had a daily manicure. Was that how pampered British billionaires filled their days? Of course it was dwarfed by other urges that involved those large callused hands and her nipples.

  It really had been too long…

  Free from his touch, she regained her composure, her intellect wrestling it free from the clutches of her hormone-riddled body.

  ‘I see. I’m sorry I can’t return the compliment. I missed your talk.’

  And she’d never worked for any IT giant. Why would she have crossed his radar?

  Still looking at her as if his X-ray vision had burned holes through her clothing down to her lacy underwear, he shrugged one large shoulder.

  His charcoal-grey suit encased his frame like a glove. She’d bet her beloved cat, Dumbledore, that it was cashmere—probably bespoke Savile Row. A copper-coloured tie brought out those ridiculous sparks of fire in his eyes and highlighted his decadent, cry-worthy black lashes.

  Libby curled her fingers into her palms to stop herself fanning her flushed face.

  Back to her escape plan.

  As if anticipating her, he stepped sideways, facing her full-on, his broad chest eclipsing her vision. ‘I’m glad I met you today. I’d like your professional advice, actually.’

  He took another sip of wine, his bold stare raking her face and dipping to her throat. If he’d gone any lower this conversation would be over, regardless of his pretty face and intriguing request.

  ‘Perhaps we could sit together…discuss it over lunch?’ Then came the eyebrow lift. Perfectly executed, devastatingly tempting.

  Had her body not reacted so overwhelmingly towards him she might have agreed. The company he’d founded in his late teens, Lancaster IT, had gone global in recent years, with sales of its software to the Asian healthcare market shunting its drool-worthy founder and CEO from wealthy to obscene. Any business association her marketing company might have with the new IT kid on the block who was making international waves would surely provide her with the kudos she needed to take her own business to the next level.

  But she abhorred arrogance. Alex Lancaster was not only renowned for his fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants business decisions, that left wiser, more experienced competitors shaking in their hand-stitched Oxfords, but his personal life was equally reckless. Just thinking about this daredevil playboy’s antics brought her out in an icy chill.

  She demurred—after all, he was incredibly influential. ‘I’m flattered. If you ask your assistant to call mine, I’m sure we can set something up.’

  She took an embossed business card from her purse and passed it to him, careful to keep her fingertips away from the thrill of his.

  ‘Although my personal client workload at present has me a little over-committed.’

  What was she saying? This was a dream scenario for her small but growing business. Was she palming off an account of this magnitude on to one of her juniors? Seriously? All because he was twice as hot in person, he made her thighs tremble and soaked her expensive lingerie—her one indulgence.

  He flipped the card between his fingers in a continuous hypnotic loop of finger gymnastics. Mesmerising. What else could he do with those talented fingers?

  Libby dragged her gaze away. His sexy stare was back. Pinning her heels to the carpet. Normally she tolerated awkward silences, especially in business settings. But he rocked her cool composure.

  ‘It—It’s all there…on my website.’ Babbling. A successful twenty-five-year-old businesswoman with a master’s degree in marketing was babbling.

  He didn’t once glance at the card, which was still tumbling lazily betwee
n his long, tanned fingers. ‘I’d really like your personal input. You’ve done wonders for Kids Count.’

  Why would her work for a small US charity interest him? Although it had landed her a prestigious industry award.

  His lips caressed his wine glass, his eyes watching her over the rim. ‘I’m involved with a charity, too.’

  He tucked the card into the inside pocket of his jacket, close to his chest.

  The gesture, strangely intimate, made heat pool low in her belly. She definitely needed to get laid.

  Tonight.

  ‘I’m willing to pay.’

  His talk of payment sealed the deal. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Heralding from one of the UK’s most affluent families, and growing up in the family business, he had founded his first company on a ten thousand pound loan from his businessman father.

  Well, some things weren’t for sale.

  No doubt he was used to getting everything he wanted. Calling the shots. Bossing people around. Well, not this chick.

  Liar. He could boss her around in the bedroom any time.

  ‘I’d be happy to connect you with Sonya, my top marketing executive and business partner—although she’s soon to go on maternity leave so I suggest you get in quick.’

  No way could she work personally with this man. Not after a simple glance across a room and a professional, perfectly polite handshake had triggered a full-blown hormone implosion. Images of them tangled in the crisp white sheets of her king-sized hotel bed rocked her back on her heels. Would he be as demanding in the bedroom? And would she concede, give him what he wanted? She could make a few sexual demands of her own…

  The tip of his tongue traced along his lower lip—a snake-charming manoeuvre that held her gaze captive for long, silent seconds. She shook her head, dragging her eyes away.

  Her libidinous thoughts stunned her. Perhaps he’d doused himself in genetically modified pheromones?

  Time to get away from him and his unsettling magnetism.

  ‘Nice to meet you.’ Libby abandoned polite convention and kept her hand by her side. Best not to touch him again in case she needed to rush to the bathroom and put herself out of her own misery.

  As if he knew her thoughts, he let a half-grin dance on his twisted mouth. His chin lifted, lazy eyes raking her. ‘The pleasure was all mine, Olivia.’

  He delivered her name with a cut-crystal English accent and a side helping of gravel that spoke directly to all her wide awake lady parts.

  * * *

  Libby winced, wishing her laptop’s webcam would explode.

  ‘You said what? Are you crazy?’ Sonya rubbed her rounded belly, twisting on the sofa and putting her feet up on the low coffee table in Libby’s New York office.

  This video call and the five-hour time difference between New York and London meant her right-hand woman was taking her lunch break, relaxing on Libby’s sofa. Apparently it was more comfortable than the sofa in Sonya’s office—although Libby suspected her friend just missed having her to bounce ideas off. They were a great team. More than that.

  Sonya’s face filled the screen as she leaned forward, peering through cyberspace. ‘I can’t possibly do that account justice in the time I have left.’ She flopped back on the cushions, as if the act of merely speaking exhausted her. ‘Why would you even suggest me? He clearly wants you. And you’re there, on the ground.’

  Sonya took a bite from her sandwich and shoved another cushion into the small of her back.

  They usually ate lunch together on days when they were both in the office, discussing accounts and synching their diaries. Today, for some inexplicable reason—she blamed jet-lag—Libby had shared the details of her meeting with Alex Lancaster and now was paying the price.

  ‘He’s arrogant—and surprisingly rude for an Englishman.’

  And sexy as fuck, with dreamy eyes, and an edge that made her want to defy him to see what happened…

  ‘Throwing his money around.’

  And looking at her as if she was a medium rare steak and he’d been living off beans for months.

  Right, and she hadn’t objectified him at all? His tight ass in his perfectly tailored trousers? No? Her gaze hadn’t once dipped to the bulge at his crotch, wondering what lay beneath the fine fabric?

  Of course she couldn’t tell Sonya about her body’s insane, treacherous reaction to him. Sonya had known Callum. She’d simply read something into her meeting with Alex Lancaster that simply hadn’t been there. And she definitely couldn’t confide her surprising fantasies to her bestie. She barely knew where they’d come from herself. No. It was just unfortunate timing.

  Four years without sex really was too long. She hated to concede it, but her assistant Vinnie was right.

  ‘So?’ Her friend waggled a finger at the camera. ‘It’s business. This account and his contacts could help us expand into Europe, Asia—the world.’

  Sonya’s ‘duh’ look of incredulity soured Libby’s tea—a less than satisfactory brew made from the meagre selection in her hotel room. She pushed it away, sipping water from a bottle instead, stalling for time.

  Refusing to hear his proposal didn’t make sense. Business sense. But instinct had brought her this far in her success story, and the same instinct told her to stay away from Alex Lancaster. He was just too charismatic, charming, virile. Nope. Her reaction to him this afternoon confirmed it; he was dangerous.

  She didn’t do danger. And despite his enormous accomplishments, she couldn’t abide his reputation for recklessness.

  ‘Well, if you take the account the effects for the company will be the same.’ She plastered on her best convincing smile. ‘There’s a hefty bonus in it. Think of all the baby stuff you could buy.’

  Wow, low blow, Libby. Cheap shot.

  Sonya huffed. Probably she was too uncomfortable to appreciate the merits of Libby’s inducements.

  ‘No way. I won’t have time. I’ll end up handing it over to you anyway, when I go on maternity leave. And, to be honest. I should have quit by now. I don’t want to have this baby in the elevator with only Vinnie for assistance. You know how he fusses. I’d end up killing him and then where would you be?’

  A queasy roll of the stomach put paid to Libby’s thoughts of popping out for dinner. She’d yet to find a temporary stand-in for Sonya—the would-be candidates they’d interviewed so far had been woefully inadequate to fill such capable shoes.

  The pair were cut from the same cloth. Had studied at the same college. The same business school. When Libby had started out Sonya had come on board, and they’d created Noble and Pullman, investing in the joint venture, teaching each other as much as they’d learned from each other.

  Any day now, there was going to be a substantial Sonya-shaped hole left in their small but precious company.

  As if he’d heard his name mentioned Vinnie, Libby’s outspoken and at times frankly inappropriate PA, entered her office, poking his head over Sonya’s shoulder so his face filled the screen. She waved, relieved to have a reprieve from justifying her inexplicable reluctance to work with Lancaster IT—or rather its sexy founder.

  ‘How are things going, Vinnie? Any more responses?’ She’d approached a few medium-sized firms here in London, hoping to drum up a little new business before she returned home in a few days.

  ‘No’ really.’

  Vinnie spoke with a thick Scottish brogue she failed to understand most days.

  ‘Do you want me to make some follow-up calls?’

  Libby sighed. She was good at her job. Could sell anything. But still she sometimes struggled to sell herself. Never quite outgrowing her humble, wrong-side-of-the-tracks beginnings.

  ‘No. I’ll take care of it—and if I can’t see anyone I’ll just be a tourist for a few days. Perhaps I’ll meet the Queen.’

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken any holiday, and the two worried faces peering back at her from her laptop screen confirmed that her suggestion wasn’t just alien to her.
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  She needed a change of subject, before Vinnie pulled up a list of London’s singles clubs and Sonya told her—again—that it was ‘time to move on’.

  ‘Are you taking care of Sonya?’

  Her friend’s eyes rolled.

  Vinnie smiled. ‘Well, you know what she’s like… Let’s just say I’m trying. If I end up delivering this wee one…’ he stroked Sonya’s belly and she batted him away ‘…I want a bonus.’

  They all chuckled, but the sound held a nervous undertone. Libby shouldn’t have left the helm at such a crucial time. She’d been lured by the all-expenses-paid trip to a city she’d always dreamed of visiting and had been flattered that they’d asked for her personally to speak at the conference.

  ‘I came in to tell you I’ve had Alex Lancaster on the phone this morning. He called asking for your personal number,’ said Vinnie.

  Libby straightened in her chair, her heart thumping double-time.

  ‘Don’t worry, hen. I didn’t give it to him—although he’s a determined young fella.’

  Libby pressed her lips together. Vinnie needed no encouragement for the ridiculous things he said. ‘young fella’ hardly did Alex Lancaster justice.

  ‘He seemed to know where you’re staying, so he may call. Said he had a “business proposition”.’ Vinnie made air quotes, a small smirk on his face. ‘And wanted to discuss it before you left the UK.’

  The one mouthful of tepid tea she’d managed sloshed inside Libby’s hollow insides.

  Sonya’s eyes rounded to the size of her pregnant belly. She lumbered into a sitting position, glaring into the webcam. ‘He really wants you.’ Her shrewd eyes narrowed.

  Libby chewed her lip, evading comment. The last thing she needed was this unlikely pair of would-be matchmakers getting the wrong idea about Alex Lancaster’s intentions and her own position. She’d already said too much.

  Flutters invaded her chest at the thought of speaking to him, of seeing him again. Stop. She didn’t have to take his call. She’d already heard his proposition. Her answer would be the same.