Unfortunately, although I made sure the seat next to me at the restaurant was empty, James chose a different table and by the end of the long night I was no closer to talking to him than before. I’d booked him into the Hilton as he’d asked but as soon as we got there he disappeared to his room.
Friday morning I packed and went to the hotel dining room for breakfast, feeling disgruntled. James and Greg didn’t need me for the morning meeting, so the only thing on my agenda was going to Sr Doria’s villa. It was farther along the coast and I was looking forward to it. We’d be doing a bit of work, lazing around the pool and then partying. Tough life, I know.
I’d had another late night and was a little worse for wear, glad I wouldn’t have to stay sharp during morning negotiations. I tried to read but gave up a few minutes later. The hero was hot but he was tall and dark, and every time he got it on with the heroine I imagined myself with James. Frustrated and annoyed, I propped my Kindle against the table vase and stared out the window at passers-by.
I was reaching for my coffee when I saw James coming towards me with his breakfast. He was in a charcoal grey suit and light yellow shirt with a discreet tie. Ready for business. I was at eye level with his waist and that was the only reason I noticed the way his trousers moulded to his bulge. Honest. I grabbed it—the coffee I mean!—and knocked my Kindle over.#p#分页标题#e#
James looked at the patterned cover. Thank God I hadn’t brought my current paperback to Valencia, a nineteen eighties bodice ripper called Savage Lust. The cover showed a shirtless Viking embracing his half-naked captive and I didn’t want to see James’s condescending look when he saw it. As it was, Harem on Phallica Space Station was nicely hidden.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
I looked at the empty tables around us. “Please do,” I said, as a polite and nonchalant employee should.
James tucked into his breakfast as if eating with me were the most natural thing in the world. I gaped at his heaped plate.
“Baked beans and sausages? Mushrooms, bacon and scrambled eggs? Three different kinds of pastry? Plus toast?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Hardly what I’d thought you’d go for.”
“I like pastry.”
I tsked, shaking my head. “Don’t tell me you’re one of these people who go abroad and refuse to eat local food or try anything different.”
“Of course not, I’ll have a kebab if I can find one.”
Huh? Where was the posh lawyer who lived in a Georgian mansion and drove a Porsche? The one who drank specially imported tea and ate his lunch in expensive restaurants, disgusted at my burgers and chips.
My expression must have been pretty damn funny since that same man, the one who hadn’t cracked a proper smile at me since I came back to work, actually laughed. A sexy laugh that hit me like a bullet train, speeding up my heart rate and leaving me gasping at the burn. The teasing light in his eyes made them sparkle emerald green.
“Okay, you got me,” I said grudgingly.
I narrowed my eyes at him in mock anger. <<But payback will be sweet.>>
<<I hope so.>>
I gulped. Had I read that correctly? James had shifted from iceberg to volcano and I didn’t know what to do about it. I prided myself on being a good flirt, a no-nonsense “let’s go for it” kind of woman when the mood struck. Not quite the same as my slutty teenage years but I was still pretty confident. James’s teasing stumped me, especially after his behaviour the past few days.
I tried to read him but he didn’t give me an encore. He swallowed his coffee and finished his breakfast, eyes on his watch. Any warmth disappeared with the last bite of his pastry and he was back to his usual demeanour.
Cold.
Hot.
Cold.
He didn’t look like a schizo, but who knew with all the interbreeding between blue bloods?