it hit him. That smell.
The smell that had been haunting him around the clinic for the last few days.
Strike that. Actually, for the last few months. Ever since Lexi Robbins had started working there.
Sensual woody amber distinctive notes with gentle floral notes of jasmine. Along with the feel of some very distinctive soft curves that only a plastic surgeon could recognise merely by touch.
He could feel the assailant’s soft breath beneath him, along with the strangled voice. ‘Iain?’
‘Lexi?’ He sprang backwards, moving swiftly to the door and trying to flick on the light. Nothing. Still darkness.
‘I think I blew the lights,’ came the whisper from the couch. She was still breathless. He’d obviously winded her.
After a few seconds she fumbled for her phone and pressed the button to light up the room. She held it towards him. ‘Do you know where the master switch is?’
Rage was circulating in his belly. What on earth was she doing? He snatched the phone from her hand and strode down the corridor towards the electricity box, opening it quickly and flicking the master switch, allowing instant illumination in parts of the clinic.
Bright. White. Everywhere.
Sometimes he could groan out loud about the décor in the clinic. Leo Hunter had wanted brilliant white and clean lines everywhere—thank goodness he’d been allowed to decorate his office to his own taste.
But now that he could actually see what he was doing he was furious.
‘What were you thinking of, Lexi?’ He stormed back into the room.
But Lexi hadn’t moved. Even though the room was now flooded with light she was still lying on the couch, her hands pressed to her chest, her face as white as a sheet. One shoe was twisted on the floor, the other dangling from the end of her foot. Her usually pristine suit was a little askew and it looked as if the top button had popped from her shirt.
Yikes! He’d thought he was tackling a burglar. Maybe he’d been a little more forceful than he thought.
‘Lexi? Are you okay?’ He stood over her, giving her a few seconds to collect herself.
After what seemed like an age she finally blinked. Colour flooded into her face and she pushed herself up. ‘Wow. Talk about sweeping the legs from under a girl.’
Iain felt colour come to his own cheeks. He was trying hard not to stare at Lexi’s cleavage. He was a plastic surgeon. He spent his days with his hands on women’s breasts. But he’d never clocked Lexi Robbins as a boob job kind of girl. She’d surprised him.
In all the time she’d been around him in the last few months, wearing her designer suits, he’d never noticed her additions. But then again, he’d never seen her undressed.
He pushed the thoughts that sprang to mind aside instantly. He sat down on one of the leather armchairs and put his head in his hands. ‘What on earth are you doing here at this time of night, Lexi?’ He was tired. And he was definitely feeling crabbit.
She straightened on the couch, looking down at her shirt and frowning at the missing button. ‘I could ask you the same thing.’
She was obviously feeling a bit better. Lexi Robbins could give as good as she got. He raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a cheeky smile. ‘Avoiding you?’
She shot him a glare.
He held up his hands. ‘Seriously, Lexi. I thought you were a burglar. You’re lucky I didn’t do you some permanent damage.’
‘Who says you didn’t?’
She was adjusting herself on the couch and he felt instantly uncomfortable. What did she mean? He hadn’t done anything more than push her onto the couch and hold her down. There was no way he could have damaged her implants.
Her blonde tousled hair fell over her face as she shuffled on the edge of the couch. Iain was torn between panic and embarrassment. It didn’t help that his curiosity was naturally piqued.
He’d heard of Lexi before she’d started work here. Even for a man who had as little interest in celebrities as humanly possible—other than to contemplate what procedures they’d had done—it was impossible to miss Lexi Robbins.
If there was an event she was at it. Albeit usually trying to fade into the background behind her mother and father, but dazzling all the same. He’d instantly dismissed her as a wannabe and had been more than a little surprised when Leo had hired her as their head of PR.
But Leo Hunter only hired the best. And Iain could vouch for that as Leo had pursued him relentlessly to get him here.
She lifted her head and gave her hair a shake, catching him with her blue eyes and winking. ‘Gotcha!’
He couldn’t stop the instant smile that appeared on his lips. Even this late at night, after pursuing him all day, she could still joke with him.
She slid off the chesterfield and moved over towards him, folding her arms across her depleted shirt. ‘So, Iain McKenzie, your mission to avoid me has failed. Resistance is futile.’
He raised his eyebrows. Surprised by her knowledge of his favourite TV show. Lexi Robbins did her homework.
‘You’re going to have to agree to the interview and to me shadowing you for a few days. I mean, after all, some people could be very upset about being mishandled.’
He sighed. ‘Ms Robbins, are you trying to blackmail me?’
She gave a perfunctory nod. ‘You bet I am.’
He shook his head. ‘Lexi, find someone else. Some happy, shiny person who likes doing this kind of thing. I just want to do my job.’
‘And so do I. Believe it or not, Ethan Hunter is even more difficult than you. Would you call him happy and shiny? Because he’s my other potential interviewee.’ She raised her eyebrows at him.
His head was spinning. She’d moved closer and he was getting a waft of that perfume again. Predator perfume. At least that was what his brain was telling him.
It was making him uneasy, on edge. Or maybe it was just reminding him of how up close and personal they’d just been.
When was the last time he’d been up close and personal with a woman?
He didn’t even want to think about that. He’d known from the second he’d laid eyes on her that Lexi Robbins meant trouble for him. His body reacted in ways it shouldn’t when she was around. The sound of her voice, the smell of her distinctive perfume, even the sound of her stiletto heels clicking along the corridor were enough to send his imagination into overdrive and remind him of why he’d been avoiding her at all costs.
He rubbed his sleep-heavy eyes. Maybe his nightmares had taken a new turn and an alien was about to burst from her stomach and eat him alive. Nope. She was still there. Still staring at him with her big blue eyes and pink lips.
She held out her hand towards him.
‘What?’
‘Let’s go, Iain.’
For a second he was confused. ‘Go where?’
She shot him a dazzling smile. ‘Home. I’m going to take you home.’
SHE WAS TRYING not to show her nerves. Trying to pretend that this was an everyday occurrence.
But Iain McKenzie wasn’t helping. His brow was wrinkled, deep furrowed wrinkles that marred his handsome complexion.
She leaned forward and grabbed hold of one his hands, bending down in front