He grabbed the towel slung over the machine and cut the call, launching his contacts list next. He scrolled through them, drying off his face as he headed into the foyer, his mind made up. He would deal with Jennifer and then he would go out on a date. He had options. Even if a suitable companion wasn’t leaping out of his contacts just yet, he would find one.
He came to a stop before the mirror-finish lift doors, his semi-naked body reflecting back at him. Should he chuck some clothes on? He was hardly dressed for a business discussion, not on any level, but to hell with it—what did she expect, coming to his home uninvited? If the sight made her suffer half as much as he had already, then it would be worth it.
Grinning, he slipped his mobile into the back pocket of his shorts and took hold of each towel-end, casually leaning back against the wall as he waited.
The lift slid into place, its doors opening and presenting him with the doorman, who stepped back to allow Jennifer to pass. She froze mid-step, her mouth parting in that appealing way he had become fascinated with.
‘Marcus?’
‘In the flesh,’ he said, spreading the towel-ends and straightening up, his eyes leaving hers to dismiss the doorman. ‘Thank you.’
The guy nodded and pressed the button to close the doors behind her.
She wore the same clothes she’d been in earlier that day, overlaid by a long beige trench coat—the kind she could wear with nothing beneath when the need arose.
His cock twitched. Just get through this. Fun can come later. And not with her.
‘So, to what do I owe this pleasure?’
She scanned him from top to toe, her cheeks heating, her eyes alive. And then she swallowed, a shutter falling over her expression as she stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
‘Can you do something for me?’ she asked softly, pausing an arm’s reach away.
The word anything rushed to the tip of his tongue and he buried the crazy retort. ‘What is it?’
She raised a hand to his chest, and the unexpected touch sucked air into his lungs, holding it there as her fingers trailed down, spread out over his naked torso.
‘Can’t you guess?’ she purred, her eyes following her fingers and her delicate touch sending ripples of pleasure straight to his defiant groin.
What the fuck?
He fought to keep his head clear, to remember his plan of action—the sensible one. ‘Considering you couldn’t wait to be rid of me a few hours ago—’
He broke off as her fingers met with the waistband of his shorts and he dropped his gaze, saw his cock swelling at her touch mere millimetres from where he desired it. His mouth dried up, and his well-exercised muscles turned rigid with anticipation.
‘No,’ he continued tightly.
Business. It needs to be about business. But, God, the desire to push her, to see how far she was going to go...
‘You’re going to have to enlighten me.’
She stepped closer, her eyes lifting to his mouth. ‘It’s you that needs to enlighten me,’ she said, raising her hands to twine them through the ends of his towel and pulling him down.
He told himself to stop, to end it before things went too far, but his head still bowed. Her smell was invading his senses, her mouth beckoning.
God, he wanted her.
She was a hair’s breadth away when the mood suddenly shifted, her eyes snapping to his as she shoved at him. ‘You can start by telling me what the hell you’re playing at.’
He stumbled back against the wall, surprise knocking him off-kilter. She was beyond angry—he could see that now. Her eyes were shooting daggers, her skin flaring like her hair.
‘Hell, Jennifer.’ He righted himself, fingers raking over his face, desire still burning through him, intensifying his confusion. ‘Seems I should be asking you the same question—coming here, throwing yourself at me and—’
‘No,’ she cut in. ‘That little scene was about making myself feel better for what you did to me. Make no mistake. I had no intention of following through.’
‘Is that so?’ He shook his head.
So it was payback?