He'd left her so abruptly this morning she hadn't had the time to question him about sleeping arrangements. A closer examination of her suite after he'd left had revealed no presence of another occupant, and after talking to Teresa, his housekeeper, she'd found out that the senhor's suite was directly above hers, taking up the whole glass-roofed top floor of the house.
The fact that she wouldn't be expected to share his bed immediately should've pleased her. Instead she was more on edge than ever. Or maybe that was what he wanted? That she should be kept guessing, kept on a knife-edge of uncertainty like some sort of game?
Deus!
She'd barely spent one day under his glass roof and already she was being driven mad. His response to her admiring his sculptures had been too infuriating for her to explain how she'd come to acquire such knowledge of sculptures-her late mother's talent. If he wanted to believe Inez appreciated beautiful art purely with dollar signs in her eyes, that was his problem.
Her breath caught as she heard distinct footsteps in the hallway. Teresa had shown her how to shroud the bedroom glass for privacy and she'd activated it before she'd gone in to take a shower. It was still shrouded now although she could make out a faint outline of the towering man who knocked a few seconds later.
'Come in.' She cringed at the husky breathlessness of her voice.
The heavy glass swung back and Theo stood framed in the doorway.
Light hazel eyes locked on her with the force of a laser beam for several seconds before they travelled slowly down her body.
Before meeting him, Inez would've found it hard to believe she could physically react so strongly to a look from a man. Constantine, with all his misleading smiles and false charm, had never affected her like this, not even when she'd believed herself in love with him.
With Theo the evidence was irrefutable-in the accelerated beat of her heart, the tightening and heaviness of her breasts and the stinging heat that spread outward from her belly like a flash fire.
She watched his mouth drop open as his gaze reached her shorts and her own mouth dried at the look that settled on his face.
'What the hell are you wearing?'
'What? I'm wearing clothes, Mr Pantelides,' she snapped, once she was able to get her brain working again.
He stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind him. All at once, she became aware of the sheer size of him, of the restriction in her breathing and the fact that her eyes were devouring his magnificent form.
'Let's get one thing straight. From now on you'll address me as Theo. No more senhor and no more Mr Pantelides, understand?'
'Is that an order?' She tilted her chin to see his face as he stopped before her.
'It's a friendly warning that there will be consequences if you don't comply.'
'What consequences?' she huffed.
'How about every time you call me senhor I kiss that sassy mouth of yours?'
CHAPTER SEVEN
'EXCUSE ME?' HER VOICE was a little more breathless. With excitement. Deus, what was wrong with her? This man was threatening her family, was effectively turning her life upside down for the sake of some unknown grudge. And all she could think of was him kissing her again.
'No, you're not excused. Use my first name or I'll kiss it into you. Your choice. Now tell me what the hell you're wearing.' His gaze dropped back to her shorts, his eyes glazing with hunger so acute, her heart hammered.
'These are shorts. You said "short and sexy".'
His mouth worked for a few seconds before he nodded. 'I said short, but I don't think I meant that short, anjo.'
Heat raced up her neck and she barely managed to stop her hand from connecting with his face. 'They are not that bad.'
His rasping laugh made her face flame. 'Trust me, from where I'm standing, they're lethal.'
'I have nothing else to change into. Everything else is too formal for a club.'
Dark eyes rose, almost reluctantly, to clash with hers. 'I find that very hard to believe.'
'It's true. I didn't have enough time to pack properly. Besides, I didn't take you for … '
His eyes narrowed. 'Didn't take me for what?'
She shrugged. 'You don't strike me as the clubbing type.'
One corner of his mouth lifted. 'Have you been forming impressions about me, anjo?'
She kicked herself for that revelatory remark. 'Not really.'
He looked down at her shorts one more time and he turned abruptly for the door. 'I'll be ready to go in fifteen minutes. You can tell me what other impressions you've formed about me at dinner.'
Inez exhaled and realised she hadn't taken a full breath since he'd walked into her presence. Her whole body quivered as she shoved her feet into three-inch platforms and made sure her cell phone and lipstick were in the black and gold clutch.
She caught sight of herself in the hallway mirror as she made her way down and cringed at the feverish look in her eyes.
Reassuring herself firmly that it was anger at Theo for his overbearing treatment of her, she made her way to the living room.
Floodlights illuminated the pool and gardens in a stunning display of shimmering light and shrubbery. Like every single aspect of the building, the sight was so breathtaking her fingers itched with the need to draw.
Setting her clutch down, she went to the large duffel bag she'd brought down this afternoon and took out her sketchpad and pencil.
She was so lost in capturing the vista before her, she didn't sense Theo enter the room until his unique scent wrapped itself around her.
She jerked around to see him standing close behind her, his eyes on her picture.
'You draw?' he asked in surprise.
Unable to answer for the loud hammering of her heart, she nodded.
He reached forward and plucked the pad from her nerveless fingers. Slowly, he thumbed through the pages. 'You're very talented,' he finally said.
Expecting a derogatory remark to follow, like his comment on his art this morning, her eyes widened when she realised he meant it. 'You really think so?' she asked.
He closed the pad and handed it back to her, his eyes speculative as they rested on her face. 'I wouldn't say it otherwise, anjo.'
Pleasure fizzed through her. 'Thank you.' She smiled as she stood. Crossing over to her duffel bag, she bent to place the pad back into it.
'Thee mou!'
She dropped the pad and hastily straightened. 'What?'
'You bend over like that while we're out and I will not be responsible for my actions, understood?' he growled.
Her mouth dropped open at the dark promise in his voice. A shudder ran through her body as hunger further darkened his eyes. She licked her lip nervously as the atmosphere thickened with sensual charges that crackled and snapped along her nerves.
'We … we don't have to go out if what I'm wearing offends you … Theo,' she ventured hesitantly, sensing that he held himself on the very edge of control.
He inhaled deeply, his chest expanding underneath the dark green shirt and black leather jacket he wore with black trousers. 'That's where you're wrong. What you're offering doesn't offend me in the least. But I'm a red-blooded, possessive male who is finding it difficult not to roar out his primitive reaction to the idea of other men looking at you.' He said it so matter-of-factly she couldn't form a decent response. 'But I'll try to be a gentleman. Come.' He held out his arm.
With seriously indecent thoughts of Theo fighting to the death for her flitting through her mind, she crossed the room to his side.
He led them out and held the passenger door of his car open. The first few minutes of the ride to Ipanema was conducted in silence. Every now and then, he raked a hand through his hair and slid a glance at her naked thighs. Each time, he exhaled noisily.
A wild part of her wanted to flaunt herself for him, revel in his very physical reaction to her attire. Another part of her wanted to run and hide from the volatile emotions swirling through the enclosed space of the luxurious sports car.
By the time they drew up in the car park of the exclusive restaurant her pulse was jumping with anxiety. She forced the feeling down and followed him into the restaurant. Finding out they were dining in the even more exclusive upper floor led to all sorts of renewed anxiety as she preceded him up the steps.
The moment they were seated, he leaned forward. 'The moment we return home, I'm burning those shorts.'
She glared at him. 'No, you are not, senhor! They're my favourite pair.'