Xenon’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think you’d better tell him yourself.’
The weight of the inevitable sat heavily on her shoulders and Emma’s instinct was to turn on her heel and run. But surely she had the guts to tell him herself, after everything that had happened between them. ‘Okay,’ she said slowly. ‘I’ll ring him in New York tonight.’
‘No need.’ Xenon leaned forward to buzz his secretary and spoke into the intercom. ‘Tell Zak that I have Emma in my office, will you?’
Emma sprang to her feet, aware of a sudden rage of emotions, which were making her heart pound so loudly that it felt as if it were about to leap from her chest. ‘He’s here?’
‘Right here,’ said Zak, walking straight into the office and making Emma wish that she’d stayed sitting because suddenly her legs had turned to jelly. Had she forgotten the impact of his presence—the charismatic lure of his jet-dark hair and olive skin? The way that he could look like some sort of Greek god in nothing but a pair of dark trousers and a simple white shirt?
‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded, briefly registering Xenon’s startled look and the fact that her belligerent demand was not a normal employee-to-boss query.
‘You wouldn’t take my calls.’
‘Are you surprised?’
‘With you? Constantly.’
‘The reason I didn’t take your calls was the same reason why people usually refuse to take calls—because I didn’t want to speak to you. And that much hasn’t changed. So I’m going.’
‘You’re not going anywhere until you’ve heard me out. Xenon, I wonder if you’d mind leaving us?’ questioned Zak, his eyes not leaving her face, registering her pallor and the dark shadows around her eyes.
‘Xenon, please stay!’ Emma chimed in urgently.
‘No way! I am out of here!’ said Xenon, and she watched with a mixture of disbelief and despair as the big man scrambled to his feet and beat a hasty retreat, still shaking his head. ‘She wouldn’t take his calls,’ he was repeating to himself, in an incredulous voice.
The sound of the slamming door echoed around the room and Emma stood facing her erstwhile lover, her heart beating so fast that she longed to clutch at the desk for support, but didn’t dare for fear that it would come over as a sign of weakness. And she wasn’t weak, she reminded herself. She was strong.
‘I’ve just handed my notice in,’ she said, trying not to react to his towering presence and that earthy scent of sandalwood, which made her want to press her nose to his chest and inhale it. Because she wasn’t going to fall for his charismatic presence and sexy Greek charm. She gave him a defiant stare. ‘And there’s no point trying to talk me out of it.’
He nodded as he registered the determination which seemed to radiate off her, despite the rather frightening pallor of her cheeks. ‘I realise that.’
His agreement took her by surprise. ‘You do?’
‘I’ve realised a lot of things, Emma—’ His breath felt like sandpaper rasping over his dry throat. ‘The main one being that I’ve really missed you.’
Don’t let him sway you with soft words he doesn’t really mean. ‘You haven’t had a chance to miss me,’ she scoffed. ‘I’ve barely been gone three days.’
‘And what if I told you that they’d been the longest three days of my life?’
‘I’d say that maybe you should get yourself a new scriptwriter because that line’s as old as hell.’
For a moment he wanted to laugh, until he saw the furious look on her face and realised that she meant it. His voice became softer. ‘And what if I told you that I’d been a fool?’
‘Then I’d be inclined to agree with you.’
‘A total fool,’ he said quietly, ‘who took the best thing he’d ever had and then threw it away.’
‘You live and learn.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe you’ll know better next time.’
Zak’s eyes narrowed as he came up against the solid wall of her resistance. ‘But there isn’t going to be a next time. Don’t you realise what I’m saying to you? That it’s you I want, Emma. You.’
‘And I’m supposed to run around the office, whooping for joy at your sudden change of heart? What’s brought this on, Zak—couldn’t you find anyone at the party who was easy enough to strip for you?’
‘That’s not fair!’
“Isn’t it? I think it is.’
Frustratedly, he clenched his fists by his sides, wanting to pull her into his arms and kiss away that horrible frozen look on her face—but for the first time in his life, he didn’t dare. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he said gently. ‘And I continue to miss you.’