‘Have another one,’ he commanded huskily. He raised the sterling silver mixer, his gaze riveted on her mouth.
He wanted to kiss her badly. The same way she wanted to kiss him. Or would have if she didn’t know from painful experience how treacherous and volatile sexual attraction could be.
‘No, thanks. It’s getting late. I need to go.’
One beautifully winged brow rose. ‘You need to go.’
‘Yes.’
‘And where exactly do you intend to go?’
She frowned. ‘Back to my hotel, of course.’
He slowly lowered his arm. ‘I thought you understood your role here,’ he murmured coolly.
Icy foreboding shivered down her spine. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means, the moment the last guest arrived, the whole building went into lock down. You’re stuck here with me until tomorrow at six.’ He discarded the canister and stepped closer. ‘And I have the perfect idea of how we can pass the time.’
* * *
Narciso watched a myriad expressions dart over her face.
Excitement. Anxiety. Suspicion.
Two of those three weren’t what he expected from a woman when he announced they were effectively locked in together. Most women would be salivating at the thought and making themselves available before he changed his mind.
Not this one.
Even the hint of excitement was fading. Now she just looked downright frightened.
He frowned. ‘I expected a more enthusiastic response.’
Her gaze went to the watch—his watch—then back to his face. Narciso decided not to think about why the sight of his large watch on her delicate wrist pleased him so much.
He would gift it to her. She could keep it on during sex. Once he’d dispelled that unacceptable look from her face.
‘You just told me I can’t leave. And you expect me to be excited?’
‘You have some of the world’s richest and most influential men gathered in one place. Everyone who attends these events has the same agenda—network hard and party harder, especially the Petit Qs. You, on the other hand, are acting as if you’ve received a prison sentence. Why?’
Her eyelids lowered and she grabbed the lapels of her coat.
Faint alarm bells rang at the back of his mind. Going against a habit of a lifetime, he forced himself to ignore it as she raised those delicate lids to lock gazes with him.
Her sapphire-blue eyes held a combination of boldness and shyness that hugely intrigued him. She wanted something but wasn’t quite sure how to get it.
He had every intention of showing her how to get exactly what she wanted once he got her to his suite upstairs. He might even tempt her into using the velvet ropes that held back his emperor-size bed’s drapes...
Desire slammed into him with a force he hadn’t experienced in years...if ever. The strength of it struck him dumb for a few seconds before he realised she was speaking.