He hung up and looked at us. “Someone told him about ‘inappropriate relationships between management and staff.’ He’s calling an emergency board meeting.”
“Who would do that?” I said immediately.
“I don’t know.” Leo’s usual playfulness had vanished. “But I have to address it before it becomes official board business.”
Ares swore quietly.
The limo pulled out of traffic and idled at the curb.
When Orion’s car pulled up alongside us he shot me a regretful glance. “I’m sorry,” he said, meeting my eyes. “This timing is?—”
“Go,” I said. “Save the investment. We’ll celebrate later.”
He hesitated, then leaned across the space between us and kissed my forehead. Quick. Claiming. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Then he was gone.
Leo’s phone buzzed again. “Richard, again. I need?—”
“Go,” Ares and I said simultaneously.
Leo looked between us, something complicated passing over his face. Then he squeezed my hand, kissed it. “Ares. Take care of her.”
“Count on it.”
Leo hopped from the limo and flagged a car before it joined the traffic flow, then jumped in. And he and Orion were gone.
The limo pulled away from the curb and merged into traffic. And it was just the two of us in the limo, the city lights sliding past the tinted windows, the air thick with everything we weren’t saying.
Ares scoffed lightly. “Orion kissing your forehead. Leo kissing your hand. Isn’t that sweet?”
My face burned. “I’m sure they were enthusiastic about how well things went tonight.”
Ares turned his face to mine, and his gaze burned with feral intensity. “I’d show my enthusiasm more concretely.”
I sucked in a breath. The way he stared at me made my pulse quicken.
“How?” I said.
He looked out the window and didn’t say anything for a long minute. Then his voice, low with a jagged edge, filled the limo. “I’d start by ripping off that dress.”
I sat there and gripped the edge of my seat, digging my manicured red nails into the leather, feeling naked before him.
“If I were so inclined,” he added.
The limo slowed for a light. In the relative stillness, I could hear his breathing. Could feel the heat radiating from his body. I could imagine exactly how his hands would feel on my skin.
“Tashi,” he said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“You did fantastic today.”
“Just today?”
His lips curved. Dangerous. “Every day since you walked into our hotel and accidentally set everything on fire.”
“That wasn’t—” I stopped. “Are we talking about the actual fire or the metaphorical one?”
