‘Yup, and then you can fill me in over coffee,’ EJ called after her.
She shook her head further, her smile stretching wider.
Hell, EJ was right, all work had made for a pretty rough year. Whereas last night, on the other hand...
She was still smiling when she got outside, her pulse rocketing as she spotted him on the pavement, casually leaning back against the rear of a blacked-out limo. His stare collided with her own and the heady thrill she’d spent the morning trying to suppress came back with relentless force. As did EJ’s words: all work and no play.
Perhaps it was time for a bit of both?
She headed for him, her smile warm and loaded with a multitude of memories. If his sister was in the car watching her, heaven knew what she would think. But she couldn’t help it. He had this power over her, and since he’d left her place of work at two that morning, barely a second had passed without her thoughts being on him.
He straightened as she neared, his grin making clear his mind was keeping hers company in the gutter. Did he find the attraction impossible to resist too? Was he already on for a repeat? Despite their—her—one-night agreement?
Whatever the case, you still have a job to perform, said her reality-checking conscience.
‘Morning.’ She paused before him and tore her eyes away long enough to flip open her bag and pull out the addresses for the day—work, focus on work. ‘Do you want to give this to your driver?’
She passed him the sheet, not that he even looked at it as he took it from her, his golden eyes mesmerisingly intent as he asked, ‘How did you sleep?’
‘Like a baby,’ she lied. She’d tossed and turned, her body craving the presence of his. But such an admission was hardly the way to start a professional road trip. ‘You?’
‘Same.’ He nodded and the tilt to his grin told her he’d caught her lie and was working right along with it. His eyes searched hers. Was he looking for the answer to the same question as her—on for a repeat?
A sharp rap on the car window invaded the moment, jarring them both to their senses.
‘That’ll be Julia,’ he said, shaking his head ruefully. ‘Did I tell you she was an impatient minx?’
She laughed. ‘You can hardly blame her when we’re finding her a new home. It’s exciting.’
‘That’s one word for it.’ He sighed. ‘Did you think about what I ask
ed you?’
‘I did.’ And she had. In between the restless thoughts of him, she’d taken on board his request to speak to Julia about her budget. To see if she could get her to accept his financial aid and get a home that he deemed more suitable.
Initially, she’d balked at the idea, her own affinity with the woman’s situation making her understand why she wanted to go it alone and be indebted to no one.
But she’d also sensed Daniel’s feeling of responsibility towards his sister, admired it even, and he clearly had the money to back it. Not to mention it would increase her commission.
Still, no matter the benefit to her business and his admirable reasoning, the idea of convincing another woman to do what she would not didn’t sit well, and her face must have said so as his shoulders sagged. ‘You won’t do it, will you?’
‘It’s not that I don’t agree with your motivation for doing it,’ she reasoned gently. ‘I think it’s lovely that you want to give her the means to purchase a more expensive home.’
‘But?’
She gave a sigh and looked away from his earnest expression, needing to guard her own rising emotion as their conversation struck a more personal chord. ‘I understand why she wants to do it on her own. She’s a grown woman and, after everything she’s been through, she doesn’t want to be beholden to anyone.’
‘Even her big brother?’
She looked to him then, facing off against the exasperation clear in his amber gaze. ‘Even you.’
‘But she’s all I have,’ he stressed. ‘All I care about in this world, and from the moment she was born she’s had it rough.’
‘I’d hardly call being a trust-fund child rough.’ The flippant remark was out before she could stop it and she watched his face harden, her tummy twisting with guilt. ‘I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair of me.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ he ground out. ‘Money isn’t everything.’
Money isn’t everything. Did he not see the irony in that?