Christos, the world had truly turned upside down!
‘Okay. If you’re in a position to deposit another sample, perhaps I could contribute financially towards the future storage?’
Bitterness and bleakness lanced me in equal spikes. ‘You don’t look as if you can afford decent attire, let alone the fees of a clinic that charges upward of six figures. Do you have secret access to a gold mine, Sadie Preston? Or clairvoyant insight to the next set of lottery numbers?’
Her eyes flashed. ‘Has anyone ever told you it’s a mistake to judge a book by its cover?’
‘If I am misjudging you, I’ll consider rendering you an apology. Am I?’
She managed to hold my gaze for all of three seconds before her eyes dropped. Against her smooth cheeks, her long, unadorned eyelashes fanned in a seductive curl, highlighting her delicate eyelids. The combination of delicate, defiant and alluring made me grip my glass harder. But, more than that, I wanted her to lift her gaze, to show me those hypnotic green pools once again.
When she did, my breath caught.
I was attracted to her.
This woman, who’d brought me news of an apocalyptic kind, had awakened a libido grown so jaded I’d set it on the back burner in favour of pursuing even more success in the challenging boardrooms of Xenakis Aeronautics.
Was it the heightened bleakness of it all triggering this? And why was I wasting time deciphering it when I had no intention of following through on it?
‘No, you’re not wrong. I can’t afford to foot the bill now. But perhaps we can come to an agreement?’
Here it comes. The age-old proposition.
The idea that she would offer herself to me on a platter drew deep disappointment. Enough to make me down the rest of my drink in abject resignation.
‘Enlighten me about this agreement.’
‘I’m two semesters away from completing a marketing degree. I’ve been top of my class every year. I can maybe work for your company from when I’m done? Pay you back that way?’
Surprise jolted me, followed by the familiar echo of wanting something because I’d been denied it. Had I wanted her on a platter? More specifically in my bed?
Yes!
I ignored the blaring affirmation, concentrated on what she’d said. So she wasn’t just a simple receptionist.
The determination stamped across her face almost made me believe her. Almost. For all I knew she was just spinning tales. Just as Anneka had spun lies around our relationship until an unguarded phone conversation had revealed the depths of her deplorable nature and the lengths she’d been prepared to go to ensure she received an unrivalled payday.
‘How old are you?’
The mutinous look that crossed her face said she was debating not answering. Perhaps suggesting I mind my own business. But she realised very quickly that the question pertained to the proposal she was making.
‘I’m twenty-five,’ she offered, with clear reluctance.
‘Most twenty-five-year-olds are done with their education.’
‘My circumstances are different. I had to interrupt my education for personal reasons.’
Reasons she clearly wasn’t about to disclose. I hid my disgruntlement. For now. ‘Why a receptionist? Why not a paid internship in your chosen field?’
Impatience crossed her face. ‘With respect, my reasons are private. But what I’ve said can easily be verified with my university professors.’
Enough. This had gone on long enough. ‘You walked in off the street to confess a crime. As admirable as you seem to think admitting your culpability should be, I have zero reason to trust you. Not with my personal property and certainly not with my business. Your offer is declined.’
She inhaled sharply, the action drawing my attention to her chest. To her parted lips. Christos.
‘So that’s it? You’re going to throw me to the wolves?’
‘For what you’ve done? Yes, Sadie Preston. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.’
Despite his doom-filled decree, he didn’t move.
In the hours I’d been stuck in his opulent penthouse, one question had persistently swarmed my mind—why did a man whose every breath and expression spelled out his masculine potency and unapologetic virility need to store a sperm sample?
Eventually, curiosity had got the better of me. And the internet had been breathlessly efficient in providing high-resolution digital answers.
‘Is this to be a staring contest?’ he mused now, in a bone-dry tone tinged with that note I’d mistaken for bleakness earlier when I delivered my news. ‘You’re attempting to hypnotise me into reversing my verdict, perhaps?’
‘What if I am?’ I parried. If he was about to throw me to the wolves, what did I have to lose?
One corner of his mouth twitched with stark amusement. But then his face settled into a hard mask. My heart lurched. With every breath I wished I could go back, take my time, pay better attention—even with Mr Donnelly’s unpleasant presence hovering over me.
But it was too late.
The damage had been done.
Neo Xenakis took another step closer, bringing that hard-packed body brimming with tensile, barely leashed power into my space. I wanted to step back, flatten myself against the glass wall, but that would exhibit a weakness I couldn’t afford to show.
The internet had supplied ample examples of his shark-like business savvy too. This was a man who relished challenge. He’d never step into the arena with a weaker opponent, and the inevitable victory of his trouncing bigger targets was all the sweeter for it.
Was that why I didn’t look away?
Was that why I even dared to clench my jaw and all but urge him to do his worst?
Because I wanted him to conquer me?
White-hot sensation flashed through me, made my nape tingle and my body blaze with the same anticipation I’d felt earlier, even before I knew that he’d entered the room. That misplaced illicit thrill that had ratcheted higher when I turned around to find him watching me with those hooded eyes containing an indecipherable gleam.
Here it was again, eating me alive when all I needed to do was hold my tongue and continue to demonstrate appropriate contrition.
For how long, though? And then what?
He’d given his verdict. Clemency was off the table. And yet, despite what he’d said about throwing me to the wolves, he seemed in the mood to play with me. Seemed perfectly content to indulge in the staring contest he’d ridiculed moments ago.
‘Would it work?’ I asked.
Dear God. Be quiet, Sadie. Just shut—
To my eternal shame, my stomach chose that pithy moment to announce its intense hunger.
Neo Xenakis’s gaze dropped to my belly at the unladylike growl, then returned to mine with a dark frown. ‘When was the last time you ate?’
I shrugged. ‘I don’t remember. It doesn’t matter.’
‘It matters if I wish to enjoy my evening drink without your digestive system providing accompanying acoustics.’
Heat burned my face. ‘I...I had a coffee this morning.’
His frown deepened. ‘That’s all you’ve had all day? It’s six in the