‘Yes. Is it working?’
‘Yes.’ A glimmer of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth and Evie’s limbs weakened because he was even more gorgeous when he smiled and because she knew exactly what he could do with that mouth. And she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She squirmed with awareness, furious with herself for being such a pushover. Rich, powerful guy—adoring girl. It was an embarrassing cliché.
As if—
‘If I’m going along with this plan of yours,’ she said quickly, ‘there is one other thing I want at the end of it.’
‘You can’t renegotiate terms once they’re agreed,’ he said silkily, but Evie lifted her chin, refusing to let him intimidate her.
‘I want a job when this is over. And, to be honest, that will look better for you, too. If I’m going to dump you and people find out I’ve lost my job they’ll just assume you’re petty and small-minded and you wouldn’t want that.’
‘Thanks for protecting my image.’ His eyes gleamed with sardonic mockery. ‘Do you have a particular job in mind? Santa’s cheerleader?’
‘I was employed to work on Reception,’ Evie said firmly, ‘and that’s what I want to do. I was good at it.’
‘So, if you were employed to work on Reception, why were you working as a housekeeper when I a
rrived in the early hours this morning?’
‘Because Tina demoted me. She said I talked too much.’ Evie’s eyes flashed defensively. ‘But I don’t see how you can talk too much as a receptionist. I was making people feel welcome. That’s the job my grandfather thinks I’m doing, and that’s the job I want when I finally dump you.’
‘All right.’
Evie gulped. ‘All right? You’re saying yes? I can have my job as receptionist back?’
‘I’m saying yes,’ he drawled softly, ‘although, if you’re missing your grandfather that much, it strikes me you might be better taking a job closer to home.’
‘There isn’t anything. I tried that. No one needs my skills. What will happen to Carlos?’
‘I have no idea.’ Rio pressed a button by his seat and a panel opened. ‘Do you drink champagne?’
Evie didn’t want to admit she’d never tasted it. ‘Of course.’
He withdrew a bottle from the fridge, popped the cork and poured the bubbling liquid into two tall slender-stemmed glasses. ‘To our deal.’
Evie sipped from the glass he handed her and choked as the bubbles flew up her nose. ‘Oh—that’s—’ she coughed ‘—yummy.’ She took another mouthful. ‘Happy Christmas. How long do we have to keep this up? When will you know if you’ve rescued your deal?’
He looked out of the window. ‘We’ve arrived.’
And he hadn’t answered her question.
Wondering once again what it was about this particular deal that was so important, Evie followed his gaze and gasped. ‘We’re at the Natural History Museum.’ The famous building was illuminated against the winter night and thousands of tiny sparkling lights had been threaded through the branches of the trees. In front of the building was an ice rink and the whole place had been transformed into a winter paradise. ‘I had no idea they held events here.’
‘This is a very prestigious fund-raiser.’
‘Can we ice skate?’
‘Absolutely not.’
‘But it’s snowing.’ Evie leaned forward, captivated by the atmosphere. ‘It would be magical. Do you think we’ll have a white Christmas?’
‘I couldn’t care less. Do you want an umbrella?’
‘You don’t like snow? Seriously?’
‘It’s useful when I’m skiing. The rest of the time it’s an inconvenience.’
‘When did you last make a snowman or throw a snowball?’