‘No, I haven’t.’
Was that a tremble in her voice? Every instinct screamed at him to ask her about the text.
Private or not, if Brianna was hiding something should he not confront her about it now rather than later?
Heartbeat accelerating wildly, he shrugged on his shirt and faced her.
‘Great. Then do you mind telling me what that text on your phone is all about?’
* * *
He knows!
It took every single ounce of control Brianna could summon not to let out the cry of anguish that ripped through her chest.
‘The text?’ She hated the breathless prevarication but she needed to buy herself more time.
‘Your phone rang in the middle of the night. Someone asked for Anna then hung up. Then the text came. Care to explain?’
No, no, no, she wasn’t ready. She’d woken up this morning and had lain in the bed knowing without a shadow of a doubt that she’d fallen for Sakis. And also that she needed to come clean and throw herself at his mercy. But she hadn’t planned to do it now. Not when Sakis had so much on his plate. She’d planned to type up her resignation then hand it to him with a confession about her past in the hope that he would choose forgiveness over condemnation for her lie about who she really was.
‘Brianna?’ Sakis’s voice was as cold as his expression.
Despair washed over her. ‘It’s a friend... He wants a favour from me.’
He frowned. ‘A favour. And he calls you at three in the morning? What sort of favour?’
‘Help with his...his work.’
His frown intensified. ‘So it wasn’t a personal call?’
That she could answer without flinching at the half-truth. ‘No.’
Her breath caught as he stalked to where she stood. The sight of him, standing so close with his shirt loose and his ridged chest within touchable distance, made heat spike through her.
‘He’s not from a competitor, is he? He’s not trying to poach you?’
‘He’s not trying to poach me, no.’
His hand tugged her chin up until her face was exposed to his scrutiny. Whatever he saw there must have satisfied him because after a minute he nodded. Tugging her to him, he grabbed the towel she barely held together and whisked it from her body. He sealed her mouth with his and then proceeded to explore her exposed body with demanding hands. Just when she thought she would expire from need, he set her free.
‘That’s good to know because otherwise I’d have hunted this man down and torn him limb to limb, as I promised. Now, go and get dressed. And wear one of those no-nonsense suits. It’ll kill me to imagine what’s underneath it but at least outwardly it’ll keep me from jumping you every time you walk into my office.’
A ragged gasp left her at the reprieve she’d been granted and the cowardly way she’d grasped it. In a way, it was a testament to just how pressured Sakis was that he hadn’t probed deeper.
Or it could be that he’s beginning to trust you?