She tried not to let her eyes devour the sensual movement of his throat as he swallowed. With a deep breath that cost her every ounce of self-control she possessed, she lifted and grabbed her other foot behind her, extending her body into a taut stretch, while studiously avoiding his gaze.
She’d never been more aware of the tightness of her gym clothes or the sheen of sweat coating her skin. Thankfully, she’d secured her hair so tight it hadn’t escaped its bun...yet.
Sinking low, she extended in a sideways stretch that made her inner thigh muscles scream. Her heartbeat was hammering so loudly in her ears, she was sure she’d imagined Sakis’s sharp indrawn breath.
Silence grew around them until she couldn’t bear being the sole focus of his gaze. Rising after her last stretch, she contemplated the wisdom of approaching where he stood, right in front of the weights she needed.
Contemplated and abandoned the idea. Instead, she mimicked him and went to the well-stocked fridge for a bottle of water. ‘How did the rest of the board meeting go?’ she asked to fill the heavy silence.
Sakis tossed the empty bottle in the recycle bin, pulled his tie free, rolled it up and stuffed it in his trouser pocket. ‘I had no doubt we would find the relevant weak points. Everyone has skeletons in their closets, Moneypenny. Things they don’t want anyone else to discover. Growing up as a Pantelides taught me that.’ His voice was pure steel, but she caught the underlying thread of pain beneath it.
She wanted to offer comforting words but the mention of skeletons sliced her with apprehension, tightening her insides so she could barely breathe. ‘What sort of skeletons?’
‘The usual. In this case, less than stellar financial record-keeping; one or two shady dealings that deserve closer scrutiny.’
‘Are...are we talking about Landers Petroleum?’ She held her breath.
‘No.’ He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. ‘They’re small fry compared to Moorecroft Oil and were probably hitching their wagon to the big boys in hopes of a large pay-day. For now, I’m more interested in Moorecroft. They’re the ones who started this, but they should’ve cleaned up their own backyard before attempting to sully mine. Tomorrow morning, their CEO, Richard Moorecroft, will be receiving a call from the Financial Conduct Authority. He’ll need to answer a few hairy questions.’
She told herself it was too early to hope this was over but she allowed herself a tiny breath of relief. ‘And...you think that’s the end of it?’
His hand went to the next unopened button and slid it free. ‘If they know what’s good for them. If they don’t and they keep sabre-rattling, things will just get decidedly...dirtier.’
‘You mean you’ll dig deeper,’ she murmured, unable to take her gaze off the hands slowly revealing more and more of his mouth-watering torso. ‘What are you doing?’ she gasped, her fist tightening around the plastic bottle as another bolt of heat drilled through her belly. It cracked under the force of her fist, echoing loudly through the room.
‘Taking a leaf out of your book.’ He shrugged out of his shirt, balled it up and threw it into the corner.
‘I... But...’
He paused, his hand on his belt. ‘Does my body make you uncomfortable, Moneypenny?’
Her tongue threatened to not work. ‘You’ve undressed in front of me many times.’
‘That wasn’t what I asked you.’ The belt slid free.