She’s right. I have a great pitch. Primarily because everyone in our office spent two days straight throwing ideas round the boardroom, leaving only to pee and eat, until we were all one hundred percent satisfied we’d nailed it.
But however ready I am for the pitch, nothing can prepare me for spending time with Jayden, and it has nothing to do with the fact his father is currently languishing in jail for killing my parents with his erratic driving and everything to do with the man himself.
His personality.
His arrogance.
His demeanour.
The way he lives to torment me with stupid one-liners.
The fact he breathes the same air I do.
My blood boils in his presence. I can’t help it. He radiates this innate air of superciliousness, grating every nerve end inside of me, leaving me seething with irritation.
He’s self-righteous, conceited and condescending, all rolled up in an infuriatingly self-appreciative parcel. And the fact he looks like a goddamn male model only serves to infuriate me further.
‘See you tonight.’ I wave to Ruby before grabbing my oversized handbag and riding the elevator thirty-six floors down to the underground car park to find my convertible BMW in the same space I always leave it. What can I say? I’m a stickler for routine.
With a warm gentle breeze blowing deliciously through my hair and the sun beating down on my face, I navigate my way through the early afternoon traffic to the airport.
I’ll pick Jayden up, drop him off at whatever hotel he’s staying at, and be on my merry way. Tonight, I have plans. Tomorrow, we’ll talk shop.
In the arrivals lounge, I clear the twenty-two emails which have landed in my inbox in the forty-minute window since leaving the office. All around me, people hustle and bustle to greet loved ones. It’s utterly alien to me. On the rare occasion I return home, I lie about my arrival time. My sisters think I hate the fuss, but actually I hate the idea of anyone I care about risking their life on the road because of me after what happened to my parents.
A problem Sasha and Jayden obviously don’t have.
Each time the automatic doors open behind me, a fresh wave of heat bursts through from outside. So when every minute tiny hair stands to attention on my forearm and my heart lurches skywards in my chest, I know without a shadow of doubt it’s not because I’m cold.
He’s arrived. The fizzing, excruciating stirring in every vein and artery beneath my skin proves it.
I glance up and my breath catches in my chest as I spot Jayden’s enormous frame. The man might be an exasperating alphahole, but he’s one handsome bastard.
Women stare open-mouthed as he struts cockily towards me, radiating a commanding presence, a condescending smirk curling his lip to one side.
Ink-coloured hair, cropped into a short snappy style, matches the dark stubble dotting his sharp jawline.
It’s his eyes that get me though.
Every single fucking time.
Deep swirling silver pools blaze with a heat every bit as blistering as the Asian climate. The deliciously distinct aftershave he wears plumes the air around me, tinged with his own unique masculine scent. Intoxicating. I mean, infuriating.
‘Sorry to keep you waiting, but as they say, good thingsdocome to those who wait.’ Hot lips linger against my cheek in a greeting that’s too intimate to be polite.
Ugh. How can one sentence cause every hair on my neck to prick up?
Cocking my head to issue a sideways glare, I forget Jayden typically favours the French greeting. When his lips land on my face for the second time, instead of meeting my other cheek, they land squarely on my parted lips.
Jolting back like I’ve been electrocuted, blood flushes my face. Steely grey eyes glitter with unashamed delight at my social faux pas.
I stalk across the gleaming polished floor to put some space between us. He follows hot on my heels, dragging a charcoal-coloured Samsonite case behind him.
‘I knew you didn’t truly despise me, but you know, I thought kissing in public like that was illegal here.’
‘Trust me, I do despise you. And if you recall correctly, it was your lips that landed on mine.’
‘They did, didn’t they?’ His accompanying grin is enough to ramp up my fury to the next level.
