.

time there was no static to blame.

      It was all him.

      ‘The light is green, Miss Little,’ he said in his deep, rough voice.

      And it took me at least five seconds to process what he was saying. And then I did.

      Oh, crap.

      My face burned and I wrenched my gaze away, pressing my foot down hard on the accelerator. Too hard. Much to my shame the car bunny-hopped a couple of times before I managed to bring it under control again. I stuttered an apology, keeping my attention resolutely forward this time.

      He didn’t answer, but I was just about combusting with embarrassment, angry with myself for staring when I knew I shouldn’t, and also at my own reaction. At the pulsing, insistent ache between my thighs.

      I didn’t understand it. Australis’s continued existence was on the line and here I was, letting some stupid sex stuff distract me. And now he’d caught me watching him...

       He’ll probably fire you.

      Shit. The thought made my palms even more sweaty.

      I tried to dismiss it, plaster my smile in place, get back into a more professional space, but I was still blushing furiously by the time I pulled the car up outside Mr Evans’s hotel.

      ‘Stay there, Miss Little,’ he growled as I reached to undo my seat belt.

      Oh, great.

      He said something to the woman that I didn’t catch, but I didn’t dare look this time to see what was going on.

      Instead I waited, staring out of the widow, listening to the rear door open and then close with a thunk.

      There was a long silence.

      Eventually, I had to glance in the mirror, because the suspense was killing me.

      The blonde had gone, but Mr Evans hadn’t.

      He was still sitting in the back seat.

      And he was staring straight at me.