Within fifteen minutes she’d secured dark indigo jeans, stylish enough to pass muster as smart-casual, and two tops: one a sleeveless black satin peplum and the other a flowery lilac billow-sleeved blouse she could wear during the day. Her kitten heels would work with both. Adding a couple of accessories and paying quickly, she hightailed it back to her suite and into the shower.
She tidied her hair into a loose bun with a compact hairbrush, and she was halfway through pulling on her clothes when the knock sounded. Buttoning her jeans, she caught up the hook earrings and managed to secure one, only to get flustered when the other one refused to situate in her lobe.
The knock came again, more insistently.
Stifling a curse, she rushed towards the door. ‘I’m coming!’
Still attempting to do up the side-zip of her topandslide one hoop in her ear, she gave up with the earring, turned the handle and immediately turned away. ‘I’ll be another minute, Capaldi. Sorry, time got away from me.’ She tried a second time, blew out a breath when she got the hoop into her ear, then tackled the zip once more.
At the taut silence, she frowned over her shoulder.
Nelios stood tall and imposing in the doorway, dark-brown eyes fixed squarely on her. A shudder slammed out of nowhere, rippling through her body.
Shock—it was shock—notsizzling awareness with a heavy dose of electricity that gripped her very core and rattled it mercilessly.
‘Oh, I thought you were Capaldi.’
‘That is apparent.’ His searing scrutiny and biting tone froze her as he stepped into the room and shut the door, her hand still on the zip of the top that half-gaped, displaying the side edges of her bra. Face flaming when his gaze tracked her from top to bottom, she twisted away and tried to finish what should’ve been a simple task but had instead become an arduous challenge.
‘Are you in the habit of letting men into your room while half-dressed?’ he asked.
She snorted. ‘Hardly. And you didn’t have to come in, did you? Or be so impatient?’
Her answer clearly didn’t please him. His eyes narrowed, the expression in them blazing to life at her continued wriggling. ‘What are you doing?’
Was his voice raspier or was it just the buzzing in her ears? Another wave of heat washed over her as she was forced to admit, ‘My zip is stuck. I think.’Damn it.If it didn’t budge, there was no way she could get it off. And she could hardly go to dinner half-dressed, could she?
Cringing, she faced him. ‘Could you…could you help me?’
One brow quirked, and he said nothing for uncomfortably long seconds. Then, prowling closer, he nudged his square chin at her. She released the pull tab and kept her arm aloft. Did she wish the ground would open and swallow her? Very much so.
Somehow she managed to keep her chin up and he studied her.
‘I’ll have to insert a finger to protect your skin.’ His voice was lower, definitely with a deeper rasp, and she dragged her gaze up to find his rising from her side to rest on her face. This close, his brown eyes didn’t look so dark and ominous. They looked…warm; heated, even, with dark-gold specks that made them glint as he waited for her response.
‘O-okay.’Dear heaven.Could she sound more breathless?
The sight of his large hands and elegant fingers tackling her delicate zip shouldn’t have been erotic. Shouldn’t have made heat pool low in her belly or simmer between her legs. And yet there she was—dying and praying he would mistake the tiny shivers coursing through her for something else. Nelios’s knuckles brushing the skin over her ribs shouldn’t have been more than a ticklish sensation. Instead, Vayle became abruptly aware of an erogenous zone she’d had no inkling of before today.
She bit back a moan as her very skin jerked and shivered. Her peaking nipples were unmistakable through the shiny satin. The rise and fall of her chest blared her agitation.
‘Easy. You need to remain still, Vayle,’ he murmured.
Oh, God. It was impossible, she wanted to protest. Between the deeper gruffness of his voice, the faintly accented way his voice curled out her name and the new sensation of his masculine scent filtering through her senses, she had to shut her eyes to contain her wayward reactions.
‘It is done,’ he said curtly.
She took a giant sidestep as she opened her eyes, attempting to blink reason into her sluggish brain. ‘T-thank you.’ Another step. ‘I’ll be…’ She looked around for her phone and, spotting it where she’d left it on the coffee table, rushed across to snatch it up. A quick glance showed Agnes hadn’t returned her call. Stemming another tendril of worry, she sucked in a breath and faced him. ‘I’m ready.’
Again he watched her for several more seconds than was strictly polite, his aura deceptively calm, a technique she was learning was very effective in disarming his opponents. Thank goodness she would not be in his orbit for very much longer.
Then, without a word, he turned and strode for the door. She followed him, watching him activate the lift with a special keycard and, when it arrived, he stood to one side to let her enter.
Still wordless, they rode up one floor.
Vayle was stunned all over again by the plush surroundings. But, before she could take in any specific details, Andreas walked towards them, a neutral expression that belied the mild censure in his gaze as he exchanged words in Greek with Nelios before he eyed her.
‘Enjoy your evening,’ he said with a distinct lack of sincerity that made her grimace.
