“Interaction,” he scoffed. Inthe past? It was two short weeks ago. Still a very vivid memory that he relived at least once a day. In the shower. It was all he could do not to think of other uses for that counter ledge right now.
Dios, her effect on him was as strong as it had been when he’d first glimpsed her. Stronger, now that he knew what a volatile match they were. Distracting.
“What do you want to call it?” She held her chin up, mouth tight, stare as cold as ice. “You made it clear it was nothing significant. I feel the same.”
Liar. She was too angry for him to believe that. And, try as he had to diminish it into a pleasant but trivial memory, he couldn’t.
“Blame fate. She’s having a laugh, I suppose.” Her lips stretched in a facetious smile before she added in a mutter, “But if you think I made achoiceto see you again, you’re wrong.”
He narrowed his eyes, surprised how deeply that got under his skin.
His phone pinged, notifying him of Oladele’s email.
“She’s on her way back.” He unlocked the door and peeked out, then held it open. “My office.”
Chapter Four
“You don’t reallyintend to fire me,” Siobhan said as she entered a room that was full of heavy furniture and the embedded funk of cigarette smoke. “You can’t.”
“I absolutely can,” he contradicted. “I don’t even need a reason beyond the fact I’m restructuring.”
“But that’s not fair. No one needs to know anything happened between us.” How could he be so casually ruthless? Standing there with all the mesmerizing confidence that had attracted her so inexorably in the first place while only giving her half his attention as he read his phone?
“Six languages? You were taking your degree in that, weren’t you?” he recalled. “Why Arabic?” He lifted his gaze from his phone, scrambling her brain in a new way.
“What are you reading?” She hurried toward him, trying to see while feeling exposed.
“Is this security reference authentic?” He expanded the PDF. “I supply components to TecSec. I know the man who signed this.Personally.”
“So do I. Obviously.” She was standing too close. She was acutely aware of his height and the faint scent of his aftershave. That particular fragrance had been all over her skin that night until she had skulked back to her room and furiously scrubbed it off in the shower.
“How?” he demanded.
“Pardon? Oh.” How did she know the man who ran one of the most elite security companies in the world? “That’s confidential.” She looked to her nails.
“I’ll check it,” he warned.
“Go ahead. Call him right now.” She held his stare, but it wasn’t easy when she knew that delving into her security clearance risked dredging up her connections. Her past.
The sting of that old humiliation began to scorch her cheeks.
He noticed.
For a few seconds, they were locked in a long stare. The atmosphere shifted from animosity to something else. Awareness. Sensual memories.Pull.
There was a tap on the door and Oladele entered.
They both took a quick step back from each other.
Oladele faltered, clearly sensing the crackle of tension. “Should I come back?”
“No. Come in.” Joaquin flashed Siobhan a stern look that saidthis isn’t over, but waved them to take a seat. “My team is on their way from Barcelona. Siobhan, advise the LV Global executive we’re meeting in the board room in thirty minutes. I want to finalize this acquisition before my father finds yet another way to damage the ship.”
Siobhan hadn’t eaten since her avocado toast first thing this morning. It was closing on seven o’clock, but she had one more meeting to schedule before she left for the day. She was both limp with exhaustion and wired with adrenaline as she typed out the blessedly short agenda.
After Joaquin had unceremoniously ghosted her in San Francisco, she had done her best to turn the page. Thankfully, she’d been running flat out with the move and starting her new job. That meant that, until today, Joaquin had only intruded onher dreams, where he once again ran his hands and lips over her skin, setting her on fire with carnal need.
She always woke ashamed of herself, but now she was reeling at having seen him again. She was still reacting to the roller coaster of learning he wasnotmarried, but had definitely taken charge of her place of employment. Erotic spot fires shouldn’t be cropping up at every turn, but they did, ambushing her with a flood of heated yearning followed by a cold bath of humiliation when she recalled the horrible way he’d left her.
