She gave a proper laugh. ‘I wouldn’t dare without your sister to hand.’
‘Well, thank fuck she isn’t.’ He bowed his head, resting his chin upon her shoulder and wanting nothing more than to go round two, three, maybe even four as soon as he was able. ‘What say we stay here and order takeout?’
‘Hmm.’ She stretched out against him, finding her feet, and he felt his cock protest as it slipped free. ‘Sounds good.’
He hadn’t realised he’d been holding his breath until it escaped with her reply, and now he grinned, pressing a kiss to her shoulder before straightening to release her. ‘I take it I have to brave the outer realm to get cleaned up.’
She turned her head to give him a sheepish look. ‘Afraid so.’
‘Fair enough, you sort the takeaway and I’ll try not to expose myself to the cleaners.’
‘You’re on.’ She chuckled. ‘Chinese, Indian, Thai...’
He deliberately chose her line from earlier that day. ‘I’m easy.’
‘I know.’ Her eyes sparked into his and his cock bucked with it. Round two couldn’t come soon enough.
‘So long as I have you for dessert.’
She turned into him, her fingers tracing a path over his chest and setting off goosebumps in their wake. ‘Oh, I think that can be arranged.’
A tremor rippled through his body, it was already gearing up, and then came a flash of sanity.
Don’t forget your other purpose.
He almost wanted to forget. Didn’t want any part of reality eating into their time together, but he still had a duty to perform and the sooner he did...
He looked down into her heavy-lidded gaze, its pull drawing him in, and forced himself to stay in check. ‘I also need to have that talk with you about Julia too.’
She tensed, her fingers dropping away along with her eyes, desire giving way to professionalism, and totally at odds with her naked and entirely distracting form.
‘Of course,’ she said softly, her body easing back, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her up against him again. He wasn’t about to lose her over it.
‘It won’t take long,’ he assured her, his head bowing to caress her lips with his own as he added, ‘then we can get back to more pleasurable pursuits.’
Her contented sigh filled his ears and warmed his blood, his lips curving up even as he kissed her—much better.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘HEY, I THOUGHT you weren’t going to be in this morning.’
Zara was currently bent over her desk doing her damnedest not to think on last night’s escapades and concentrate on the printed schedule for the day ahead. She looked up at EJ’s remark, watching as the woman threw her coat over the back of her chair and headed through Zara’s open doorway. ‘Morning to you too.’
EJ gave her a mock grimace. ‘Good morning, boss.’
‘I wasn’t supposed to be in,’ she acknowledged, her eyes dropping once more to the page, ‘but it turns out our client’s brother is now on the scene and he insists his car do the driving. He’s picking me up shortly.’
‘Oh.’
She caught the rise to EJ’s voice and flicked her a look. It wasn’t just her voice on the up, the woman’s brow had hit the roof. What had got into her?
‘Oh?’
A smile teased at EJ’s lips. ‘Well, did he happen to be involved yesterday?’
‘Yes.’ She frowned. Where was this going?
‘And is he good-looking, by any chance?’
‘EJ,’ she burst out. ‘That’s entirely inappropriate.’
As was everything we’d done together.
Her cheeks flooded, her eyes dropping to burn a hole through her desk. ‘He’s the brother of a client.’
‘And?’ The woman’s innocent tone couldn’t have been more forced. ‘I’m only saying that when you returned yesterday there was a definite air about you. Considering Shit-Bag had done such a fabulous job of ruining the morn, I was hardly expecting you to come back in such good spirits.’
‘Good spirits?’ Zara snorted. ‘Hardly.’
‘Whatever...you’re just changing the subject now.’
‘I’m not changing anything.’
‘In that case—good-looking, was he?’
Her phone rescued her, buzzing with an incoming text message. She checked the screen and her heart skipped over.
It was him.
She let go of a slow breath, trying for outward calm even as her insides went on a crazy dance. ‘He’s here.’
‘You going to send him up?’
‘Absolutely not.’ She slipped the schedule into her bag, her eyes off EJ and her overly assertive radar. ‘I should be back around three.’
‘Great,’ EJ declared, ‘and if he offers to take you out in the meantime, just—’
Zara sent her a warning look, cutting her off, and got a pouting grimace in return.
‘You’re incorrigible, EJ.’
The woman just grinned at her. ‘Not in the slightest. I’m just keen to see you back out in the field.’
‘The field.’ She rolled her eyes and lifted her jacket off the chair back, shrugging it on. ‘We’re not in school any more.’
‘True, but you know the age-old adage—all work and no play...’
She shook her head but couldn’t help the smile that crept in. ‘I’ll see you later.’
She threw her bag over her shoulder and made for the doorway.
‘Yup, and then you can fill me in over coffee,’ EJ called after her.
She shook her head further, her smile stretching wider.
Hell, EJ was right, all work had made for a pretty rough year. Whereas last night, on the other hand...
She was still smiling when she got outside, her pulse rocketing as she spotted him on the pavement, casually leaning back against the rear of a blacked-out limo. His stare collided with her own and the heady thrill she’d spent the morning trying to suppress came back with relentless force. As did EJ’s words: all work and no play.
Perhaps it was time for a bit of both?
She headed for him, her smile warm and loaded with a multitude of memories. If his sister was in the car watching her, heaven knew what she would think. But she couldn’t help it. He had this power over her, and since he’d left her place of work at two that morning, barely a second had passed without her thoughts being on him.
He straightened as she neared, his grin making clear his mind was keeping hers company in the gutter. Did he find the attraction impossible to resist too? Was he already on for a repeat? Despite their—her—one-night agreement?
Whatever the case, you still have a job to perform, said her reality-checking conscience.
‘Morning.’ She paused before him and tore her eyes away long enough to flip open her bag and pull out the addresses for the day—work, focus on work. ‘Do you want to give this to your driver?’
She passed him the sheet, not that he even looked at it as he took it from her, his golden eyes mesmerisingly intent as he asked, ‘How did you sleep?’
‘Like a baby,’ she lied. She’d tossed and turned, her body craving the presence of his. But such an admission was hardly the way to start a professional road trip. ‘You?’
‘Same.’ He nodded and the tilt to his grin told her he’d caught her lie and was working right along with it. His eyes searched hers. Was he looking for the answer to the same question as her—on for a repeat?
A sharp rap on the car window invaded the moment, jarring them both to their senses.
‘That’ll be Julia,’ he said, shaking his head ruefully. ‘Did I tell you she was an impatient minx?’
She laughed. ‘You can hardly blame her when we’re finding her a new home. It’s exciting.’
‘That’s one word for it.’ He sighed. ‘Did you think about what I ask
ed you?’
‘I did.’ And she had. In between the restless thoughts of him, she’d taken on board his request to speak to Julia about her budget. To see if she could get her to accept his financial aid and get a home that he deemed more suitable.
Initially, she’d balked at the idea, her own affinity with the woman’s situation making her understand why she wanted to go it alone and be indebted to no one.
But she’d also sensed Daniel’s feeling of responsibility towards his sister, admired it even, and he clearly had the money to back it. Not to mention it would increase her commission.
Still, no matter the benefit to her business and his admirable reasoning, the idea of convincing another woman to do what she would not didn’t sit well, and her face must have said so as his shoulders sagged. ‘You won’t do it, will you?’
‘It’s not that I don’t agree with your motivation for doing it,’ she reasoned gently. ‘I think it’s lovely that you want to give her the means to purchase a more expensive home.’
‘But?’
She gave a sigh and looked away from his earnest expression, needing to guard her own rising emotion as their conversation struck a more personal chord. ‘I understand why she wants to do it on her own. She’s a grown woman and, after everything she’s been through, she doesn’t want to be beholden to anyone.’
‘Even her big brother?’
She looked to him then, facing off against the exasperation clear in his amber gaze. ‘Even you.’
‘But she’s all I have,’ he stressed. ‘All I care about in this world, and from the moment she was born she’s had it rough.’
‘I’d hardly call being a trust-fund child rough.’ The flippant remark was out before she could stop it and she watched his face harden, her tummy twisting with guilt. ‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair of me.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he ground out. ‘Money isn’t everything.’
Money isn’t everything. Did he not see the irony in that?
‘No, it isn’t,’ she agreed. ‘And that’s exactly why you should let her go it alone. She’s happy with what she can get.’
‘But I’m not.’
He said it so fiercely her eyes widened in surprise and Zara had to wonder, was this purely about him wanting to share his own wealth or was there more to it?
‘Look...’ He broke off and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, scanning their surroundings as though struggling for the right words. ‘It’s hard to explain.’
‘Try me.’
His eyes returned to her, hesitant and probing.
‘You can trust me,’ she said, guessing at what he needed to hear.
‘I know that.’
His simple admission warmed her through, giving her the confidence to press. ‘So?’
‘It’s just hard to talk about the past. You never know when it’s going to be thrown back in your face again.’
She pondered his words, kind of understanding where he was coming from, but he needn’t have worried. ‘I’m not going to raise it again, unless you want to, but it may help me to at least understand, to help fight your corner.’
She smiled a little on the last, hoping to reassure, and he returned the gesture, his hand rising to cup her chin gently as he looked into her eyes, that same curiosity from the previous day shining through. ‘You’re right.’
And then he released her, his hand falling to his pocket, his eyes to the ground as he kicked aside a stone. ‘She was abandoned as a baby,’ he said bluntly. ‘Her mum literally dropped her on our doorstep and legged it.’
She gasped, she couldn’t help it, the image he painted so tragic, his expression suddenly so empty.
‘As you can imagine, my mother lost it, having my father’s betrayal thrust upon her in such a permanent way. She insisted Julia be sent away, spending her entire childhood in boarding schools and under the care of people employed by my parents.
‘She never had a real home.’ He looked back to her. ‘She never had it easy.’
Her words came back to hound her, and she shook her head. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘You don’t need to apologise,’ he said. ‘Just understand. It wasn’t until I became an adult myself that I learned of her existence. When I found out what had happened, I tracked her down. She was going off the rails by then and it took me years to bring her back from the brink, to make her realise she wasn’t alone any more.’
‘You’d never guess at any of it. She seems so grounded, so happy in spite of her recent break-up.’
‘Yes, she’s quite the character.’ His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘So you see, my efforts saved her then and they can do so again.’
Zara frowned up at him, admiration making her heart swell, even as she saw the error in his reasoning. ‘You love her, that’s effort enough.’
‘Is it? Surely if I’d looked out for her more she never would have married that jerk. I would have seen him for what he was.’ His hand was back in his hair, his stress and guilt ringing through his every movement. ‘That’s the reason for this mess, that’s the reason I have to make it up to her again. She went through hell with him and I should’ve been there to prevent it.’
‘You can’t be held responsible for her mistakes.’
‘Can’t I?’
She reached a hand out instinctively, resting it over his arm. ‘No, she’s lucky to have a brother who loves her. You could have followed in your parents’ footsteps but you didn’t.’
He looked to her touch upon his arm, and covered it with his own hand. ‘No, and I won’t let her down now either.’
She shook her head slightly. ‘Letting her do this by herself isn’t letting her down.’
‘No, but helping her will go some way to ease how I feel.’ He met her eye. ‘You have to understand that?’
She nodded. She did. And her heart swelled with just how much she got it. But her emotions were at war with one another. Her need to ease his suffering colliding with the woman’s need for independence. But ultimately, it couldn’t hurt to do as he asked, to at least talk to her. ‘I will speak to her, but I’m making no promises.’
His expression brightened, taking her own mood with it. ‘Great.’
‘Don’t get your hopes up,’ she said swiftly. ‘I’ll talk to her, perhaps over lunch, and if she says she’s not interested, she’s my client—what she says goes.’
‘I have no doubt you’ll convince her,’ he said, his attention pulled away by the gentle whir of the window rolling down behind him.
‘Come on, people,’ Julia exclaimed over it. ‘I’m dying of excitement here.’
‘Keep your hair on,’ he teased, his good humour coming to the fore as he reached through the window to roughly caress his sister’s head.
‘Touch my hair again, Daniel, and you’ll lose a finger.’
‘Which one? I’m particularly fond of—’
The window started back up, her face creased into a severe scowl. He started to laugh, his eyes dancing as they returned to Zara and she lost sight of everything, including how to breathe. His laughter kicking up a frenzy as it reached into her belly, his eyes so alive, so sexy, so captivating. She trapped the sensation in her gut, trying to douse the sudden ache.
And he read her reaction, his amusement trailing off, his eyes heating, regret creasing at his brow. ‘There are so many things I’d rather be doing right now, but duty calls.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, really...you, for one.’
She gave a sharp intake of breath, her body tightening over the thrill of his blatant remark. ‘And what of work?’ she blustered. ‘Don’t you have more pressing matters that you should be tending to there?’
‘Not until she’s sorted.’
‘Uh-huh.’ She nodded, but she was barely aware of what they were discussing now, her body still dancing
over his, ‘You, for one.’
He stepped past her and headed to the front of the vehicle, leaving her eyes to trail after him, helplessly devouring the way his dark jeans and charcoal sweater fitted him to perfection. Surely this burning anticipation should’ve been well snuffed out by last night’s antics, not rising ever higher. It should’ve been setting off alarm bells too. Instead she was getting high on it, thriving on the mutual desire coursing between them.
EJ’s words seared her mind—‘Get back in the field.’
Hell, she was already there, naked and waiting as far as he was concerned.
The driver’s door swung open before he reached it, a chauffeur in full-on livery stepping out. ‘Sir,’ he greeted, nodding respectfully in her direction too.
She gave him a smile and hugged her bag to her chest, regulating her breathing and trying to remember, no matter how high she wished to put Sexy Big Brother on her priority list, work still came first.
‘Ms Anders has kindly pulled this schedule together for you, Peters.’ He flicked her a glance and her breath caught mid-regulation, hanging in her throat until his eyes released her and the air with it.
‘Very well, sir.’ Peters took the sheet from him and made to move off. ‘I’ll just get the door for—’
‘No need.’ Daniel stopped him with a grin and raised palm. ‘I can let us in.’
‘Of course, sir.’ His driver nodded and as he climbed back inside, Daniel headed back towards her.
‘Shall we?’ he said, his hand closing over the door handle. ‘That’s if I can remember how to use one of these...’
She laughed. ‘Doors can be quite complicated, by all accounts.’
He pulled it open. ‘You’re telling me. Wait until I introduce you to my Vantage.’
‘Your Vantage?’ she repeated softly—she knew what a Vantage was, had hankered after one herself, but that wasn’t what had a question mark hanging on the end of her words. No, it was what he’d meant by it. Was it his way of saying that he expected there to be future outings together, alone, outside business? Outside their arrangement?
Even though neither of them had confirmed it out loud, was it a done deal? Were they now—dating?
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