Relief and fury coalesced, leaving him confused as hell. He gritted his teeth, but the curiosity leeched out of him anyway. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing that’s relevant to this situation.’
Right.Angry, he glared at her. But those full lips tempted him—he would lick, taste, tease—he would make her tremble and take him in with that wild abandon. He almost lost it in the urge to haul her against him and trigger her surrender to their chemistry here and now and—
He was behavingappallingly. He was atwork. She was trying to put him in his place and he should already be there. He’d just done everything he’d promised himself he wouldn’t. So much for self-control. Her personal life and her pastweren’this business. Except he wanted to smack the guy. And she was staring back straight at him with a passion that she couldn’t hide and he knew he was the same.
‘Phoebe—’
‘You’re right. We need to establish firm boundaries,’ she interrupted fiercely. ‘We’re never alone. We only discuss work.’
It was exactly what he’d wanted, except now he didn’t.
‘I meant what I said,’ she said. ‘I need this job.’
He took a second—two—to rebuild control and nodded.
‘I understand,’ he said curtly. ‘I’m not a jerk. Any employment decisions will be entirely merit-based.’ So much for a smooth conversation to circumvent awkwardness. He didn’t know what this was.Whohe was. ‘I’ll be gone from here as soon as possible.’
CHAPTER FOUR
PHOEBE SURVIVED THEfirst three days without major incident. Barely. Edoardo Benedetti had taken over the boardroom as his office. Which meant George was working in there too. Which meant she was in there more often than not. Yes, working in the same space as Edo was totally a problem but she was determined to pretend it wasn’t. She was ferocious in her intention to detail, put in long hours pre-empting the needs not just for George, but Edo too. No way was she letting himwishhe could restructure her out of a job but feeling handcuffed by the fact they’d had a one-afternoon stand. She would be perfect. Irreplaceable. Her presence might be an inconvenience to him, but too bad. She kept her eyes locked on whatever was right in front of her and ensured that was almost never him. She desperately tried not to remember those moments when he’d grabbed her hand and glared at the ring she’d bought in part because ofhim. It was too ironic.
But their agreed rules had to work, they had to be enough. She had no choice. Had he thought she could just walk away from her job? He had no idea of her reality. And she’d certainly had no idea of his. Not the wealth, not the power, the connections. But she knew his body, his scent and couldn’t stop herself seeing so much despite rarely looking at him directly. He worked with savage efficiency, with a level of focus that made her irrationally angry.
Though she still slept like the dead, she woke feeling more tired than before. He was the last thing she thought of and the first thing when she woke. Her body hummed even when she was beneath an ice-cold shower and clamped every urge down. It wasexhausting.
‘Is everything okay, Phoebe?’ George asked in a low tone. ‘You’re very quiet.’ He glanced towards the window and frowned. Edo was standing out in the corridor talking with an analyst. ‘You know you’re not to worry, I’ve insisted he keep you in your current position.’
Phoebe inwardly grimaced. The last thing she wanted was George putting pressure on the man to retain her. But the older man watched her with astute sharpness. ‘He’s very highly regarded in the industry. He’s achieved phenomenal success in only a decade, you can trust him to do a good job with this.’
Oh, she was bitterly sure Edo was fantastic at his job. He seemed to be fantastic at everything. Even though she shouldn’t, she couldn’t resist curiosity. ‘It’s not his family company?’
George shook his head. ‘I think his grandfather headed an investment firm but that’s a separate entity. You can find out more in Milan.’
‘Sorry?’ She blinked. Milan?
‘I want you to accompany me to the meeting there on Wednesday,’ George added. ‘I know it’s late notice, but it would be helpful to have you there.’
Instant excitement at the prospect of returning to Italy kicked. But for safety’s sake she should say no. Except she liked George, and if his health wasn’t all that, she didn’t want to do anything to stress him, and her latent pleaser elements were hard to shake. So she didn’t formulate her refusal in time.
‘I’m just checking Phoebe’s ability for Milan, Edoardo,’ George raised his voice.
Phoebe turned to see Edo had walked back in. For the first time in days, she looked him right in the eyes. His held a gleam that shouldn’t be there.
‘It would be helpful if you’re able to come, Phoebe,’ he said softly.
Surely there was no double entendre in that statement—she was only hearing it because of her own gutter-dwelling mind. ‘I can come.’
‘You can take the weekend there,’ George said jovially, oblivious to the undercurrents whirling around them. ‘Go see some sights.’ He turned to Edo. ‘Phoebe loves Italy. She had the holiday of a lifetime there just before starting here.’
Phoebe shrivelled inside. She suspected George had picked up on her cool interactions with Edo and was trying to foster common ground between them. If only he knew.
‘The holiday of a lifetime? Wow,’ Edo echoed dryly. ‘What was so good about it, Phoebe? Did you meet some friendly locals?’
She couldn’t look away from him, there was a vestige of that sly humour he’d shown that day—and there wasallthe challenge.
‘It was the scenery that was spectacular, more than the people,’ she countered calmly.
