For the first time since she returned she looked unsure and swivelled around to check the clock behind her.
‘Half an hour to go, angel. Maybe we should find something else to do other than argue to make the time go quicker.’
Her eyes took on the size of the dinner plates his lunch had been served on and he cursed his rampaging libido. What was he doing thinking about sex with this woman at a time like this? ‘Forget I said that.’
‘I most certainly will. It was tacky in the extreme.’
Leo’s eyes wandered over her with insolent abandon. ‘Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it, angel.’
She gasped and he smiled at her outrage. ‘I most certainly have not! And do not call me angel.’
He smiled. She had. And so had he.
‘I’ll call you whatever I want and you’re a liar.’
‘And you’re incredibly rude.’
He shrugged and checked the clock. ‘Are you seriously going to make me wait until six o’clock before I can take him?’ He’d never come up against such resistance from a woman before.
‘No. I’m going to call the police.’ She reached for the phone and he leaned across the desk and covered her hand with one of his. Sensation shot up his arm at the contact and for a moment all he could do was stare at her.
Time seemed suspended between them and then she wrenched her hand out from under his. ‘Get your hands off me.’
‘Settle down, Miss Somers, before you get hysterical.’
‘I do not get hysterical. But you are crossing the line Mr Aleksandrov, and I want you to leave.’
Leo scrubbed his face. At least she remembered his name this time. ‘I apologise. Call the police if it makes you feel better but it won’t change anything. Amanda Weston has done a runner for the weekend and I’m all the kid’s got.’
The angel rubbed the back of her hand as if she could still feel his touch and Leo’s fingers flexed involuntarily because he could definitely still feel the silk of her skin. ‘That remains to be seen.’
He glanced at the clock. ‘Five minutes to go. Surely Amanda would be here by now if she was coming.’
‘Not necessarily. She’s often late, sometimes even forgetting to turn up at all.’
‘What?’ He was genuinely shocked by her comment and he saw the moment she knew she’d said too much. ‘How many times?’
‘Pardon?’
‘How many times has she forgotten?’
‘I can’t remember.’ She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and he knew she was lying. He stared at her until she grew uncomfortable. ‘A few since her mother passed away.’
He frowned. ‘Her mother died?’
‘She fell and broke her hip two weeks ago. I understand there was a complication with the surgery.’
He shook his head. ‘I didn’t know.’
‘Why am I not surprised.’
It was a statement, not a question, and he scowled, deciding to ignore her disparaging tone. ‘Why should that affect when Amanda picks the boy up?’
‘Because she doesn’t normally do it. As I understand it her mother was Ty’s main carer.’
Leo frowned. Ty’s grandmother had taken care of him? Maybe he should have read those reports after all.
‘You didn’t know that either, did you?’ The angel didn’t look impressed and he wanted to tell her she had no right to judge him.