Gambling With the Crown(33)
The only defense she had was the truth. “If you want me to be at my best, you really need to stop. We aren’t at war, Kadir. There doesn’t need to be a victor.”
He snorted. “And what I am trying to tell you is that you have a rather warped idea about seduction. It’s not a win-or-lose game.”
Yet it was for her. At least where he was concerned. Because if she ever crossed that line, if she ever slept with him, then her career at Hassan Construction was over. She couldn’t slip back into her role as his PA if that happened. Not only that, but sleeping with him would make her the sort of woman she was determined not to be. Giving in to the sensual side of her nature with a man like Kadir? Utterly destructive.
Emily drew in a breath, tried to instill herself with calm energy rather than the chaotic emotions whipping through her. And then she figured out what was happening between them. The answer popped into her head with such clarity that she was surprised she hadn’t realized it before.
Kadir wasn’t serious. He was prodding her because she’d argued with him. He was taking the conversation as far as he could with the goal of shutting down her protests. She’d seen him do it in negotiations a hundred times. She’d seen him take the most unwilling landowner and turn them into an enthusiastic seller by the end of the day.
He conquered people. And he was intent on conquering her, simply to prove he could. Not with sex or seduction, but with words.
Relieved, Emily smiled at him. “Whatever you say.”
His gray eyes glittered hot as he seemed to go very still. “Is that an invitation, Emily?”
“Not at all. It’s an admission you’re right. That I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. I’ve misjudged you, and I apologize. I’m sure the women you seduce are perfectly, ecstatically happy right up until the moment you dump them. So can we please talk about something else now?”
“But I find this conversation so fascinating.”
“Of course you do. It’s about you.” She studied her newly manicured nails—that was something she had to get used to, since she kept them neat and trimmed and never wore polish. “You are, of course, fascinating and fabulous. But I give in, you are correct in everything you say, and now we can move on.”
He leaned toward her then, and it took everything she had not to press herself into the door in an effort to keep distance between them.
“Sassing me isn’t working, Emily. If anything, it’s having the opposite effect of what you want.”
Emily tried to laugh. It didn’t come out sounding very much like a laugh, but she decided to pretend it was anyway. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. I’m not aiming for any particular effect. I just refuse to argue with you another moment.”
His gaze slid over her until she tingled as if he’d actually touched her. “Do I need to spell it out for you, habibti? Or would you like a demonstration?”
Emily swallowed. “It’s all fun and games with you, isn’t it?”
He actually looked offended. “You think this is a game?”
Her chest was tight. But that’s because Kadir suddenly seemed bigger than life in the small space of the limo. It was like walking into a closet and finding a tiger on a very loose chain.
And this tiger was about to break the chain and pounce.