‘Merely stating my preferences.’
‘But it’s hardly dinner table talk.’
‘I don’t object to tables.’ As though to reinforce the point, he presses his palms into the solid, wooden surface, testing stability. ‘A versatile item, the table.’ His teeth are exposed in a smile, white and wolf sharp.
All the better to bite me with, if I’m lucky.
We’ve been in each other’s company no more than five minutes and we’re already talking sex, like it’s our default mode. Not that I’m complaining. I find it exhilarating and can’t help match him word for word. It doesn’t hurt that he’s seriously hot. Maybe Niamh’s right; maybe he’s just the distraction I need.
‘The question is,’ he asks, folding his arms on the table and leaning in, ‘do I beguile you?’
Tapping my finger against the wood, I answer, ‘Not enough to get me on this.’
‘Pity.’ He smiles, leaning back in his chair.
‘I’m glad you’re here, whatever the reason.’ Our eyes meet for a long, thoughtful moment, my smile wavering hesitantly under his gaze. ‘You’ve gone awfully quiet.’
‘I pretty much am,’ I answer, twisting a linen napkin in my hand. ‘Despite what you see.’ One eyebrow rises a fraction, but he offers no response. ‘The thing is, the hotel, that was so out of character for me. Despite giving good... banter,’ I add, to the further ascent of his brow, ‘I’m not usually easy.’
I continue my torture of the fabric. How can I justify how I feel when I can’t make sense of it myself? Beyond the fact that Kai is pretty much irresistible and the new Kate is a bit of a goer, apparently.
‘I’m going to take that as a compliment to my vast powers of persuasion.’ His tone is playful as he rests his elbows on the chair arms. Fingers steepled beneath his chin, his body language is casual but contradicted by his amber gaze. I feel like a small animal gazing back at the large bird of prey again.
‘What I’m trying to say is, Thursday I was—’Drunk? Horny? Easy?
‘You were exquisite.’
Oh, man, he’s good.
Heat fills my cheeks—and my underwear—as I shoot him a dubious look.
‘It’s still the boss thing, isn’t it?’ Quite honestly, I hadn’t given it a thought today but a tiny spasm of panic flares in my gut. ‘I’ve told you it doesn’t matter.’
‘Other than the fact your family owns the place I work.’
‘It doesn’t have to be an issue. I like you and I think you like me. Anything that happens between us will be entirely separate.’ He pushes a rough hand through his hair. ‘You make it sound almost sordid, like I’m some despotic noble abusing the staff.’
I snort now myself. ‘Master Kai in the conservatory, rogering the governess?’ Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit, but it’s absolutely my favourite.
‘I’m up for role play,’ he answers instantly.
I close my ears to his tone, now rearranging the glassware on the table. ‘Are you my boss or not? I’m not sure I know.’ Capricious Kai, it doesn’t take much to flick his switch. He makes an art out of distraction, of lowering the tone. But I can’t help but like it. Like him.
‘Not.’ He chuckles, reaching out and stilling my hands with his. ‘I don’t have any responsibility for the day to day running of the school. But I could pretend, if that’s your thing.’
I fix my gaze on the back of his hand, studying the protrusion of knuckles and veins. Should it make a difference that we’re from such different worlds?
‘Seriously, I just want to get to know you,’ he says, fingers tightening. ‘Is that so bad?’
‘Isn’t that what we’re doing, talking?’ My voice sounds small again as I try, and fail, to hold his gaze.
‘Seems more like verbal foreplay, and much of it your doing, I might add.’
‘You must be rubbing off on me,’ I mumble as he releases a bark of a laugh. ‘What?’
‘I’d like to. Rub off on you.’
I roll my eyes, wondering as I do so if his behaviour is instinctual or if he’s just trying to put me at ease. Then, as his amber gaze stares back at me, I wonder if he wasn’t kidding.
