The woman was busy sifting through a document but as she spied them her jaw fell open, her eyes flitting past Zara to the man following close behind.
Of course they would. He was Charles all over again...
She sent her warning look—snap out of it. ‘Have you sorted that shortlist for me?’
EJ came alive, flustered but alive. ‘Sure, I’ll email it across now.’
‘Thank you.’
EJ’s gaze flitted pointedly between them.
Introductions?
She let go of a small breath and gestured to him. ‘Elizabeth, meet Daniel, Ms Larsson’s brother. Daniel, meet Elizabeth, my personal assistant.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ EJ cooed, colour spreading in her cheeks and exacerbating Zara’s nerves.
Yes, definitely Charles all over again.
‘And you, Elizabeth,’ he said smoothly.
Her PA let out a small ripple of laughter that seemed to surprise even herself. ‘Is there anything else you need from me?’
To keep your head on, Zara wanted to reply but, hell, who was she to talk? ‘No, that’s great, thank you.’
She turned to face him. ‘I’ll go through the shortlist and send it on now. Please tell Julia I look forward to hearing from her.’
His eyes wavered over her face, working to understand her shift in mood, she was sure. ‘And as for tomorrow?’
She looked to EJ briefly, not wanting to give the woman any more ammunition. She already sensed the grilling that was coming. ‘Let’s discuss that later.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll send you my number.’
‘Great.’
Like hell it was great.
She had to stop herself from saying, You can go, but her eyes must have done the job for her as he said, ‘I’ll leave you ladies to it, then.’
With that he turned and walked away, relief flooding her even as her eyes feasted on his seriously sexy exiting rear. Confusion, frustration, fear—they all swamped her and she fisted her hands, forcing herself to turn and head for the sanctity of her office.
She was about to swing her door closed when EJ’s hand hit the frame. ‘What the actual fuck, Zara?’
She said it under her breath so that the outer office couldn’t hear but the force of her reaction was clear and Zara turned to her, baffled. ‘What?’
‘I can’t believe you kept it from me,’ she said, wide-eyed.
‘Kept what?’
‘His chuffing identity!’
‘His identity?’ Zara frowned, dropping her things onto her desk and rolling her head on her shoulders. Her lack of sleep the previous night was catching up with her, and muscles she hadn’t known she possessed were starting to ache like crazy.
‘You don’t know who he is, do you?’
She looked to EJ’s narrowed gaze and gave a tired laugh. ‘Who he is? Lord, you make him sound infamous.’ And then she remembered: his reference to publicity, his sister’s mention of the press, the growing sense that he wasn’t just anyone...
‘You really don’t know, do you?’ EJ let go of a flustered breath and raced back to her desk, pulling out her magazine stash and slipping the one from the top—her most recent, Zara would guess. She strode back towards her, swinging the door closed as she went.