‘Do you know what this is?’ He gestures to the papers in front of him. I spare them a glance then lift my shoulders. I wish I hadn’t when the shirt strains a little at the front. I resist crossing my arms.
‘No.’
‘I’m in negotiations to buy out Roosevelts.’ He names a famous burger chain in the States.
‘So?’
‘So, it’s highly confidential. It’s an example of why everyone around me signs a confidentiality agreement. I need to know I can trust and rely on each person I work with. I don’t want to have to be guarded with what I say in your presence.’
‘First of all—’ I lean forward unconsciously ‘—I don’t work for you. I’ll only be around you for another five hours or so. Secondly, you just told me about your deal. I wouldn’t be any the wiser if you hadn’t blabbed it.’
‘Blabbed it?’ He half smiles once more and my heart rate kicks up a notch.
‘Revealed it,’ I correct with a shake of my head, but my own smile is lifting across my face.
‘You’ll need to sign an agreement before you disembark.’
I have no problem with that and yet I say, ‘And if I don’t?’
His eyes hold mine for several beats. ‘Then I’ll keep you on board as my prisoner.’
Something dances down my spine. Anticipation? My mouth’s dry again. My pulse is heavy. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’
‘I’ve recently learned that I can never rule anything out.’
It’s like a switch has been flicked. He focuses on the papers in front of him and doesn’t look up again, so I wonder if he even knows I’m here. It’s like I’ve been dismissed and for no reason I can fathom. I was actually enjoying our sparring.
Hell, I even enjoyed his ‘threat’ of keeping me prisoner on this plane—though I wish I didn’t. I suspect it’s some kind of betrayal to the sisterhood, but I don’t think I’d be human if I didn’t look at Holden Hart and have a few fantasies running through my brain. I’m kind of comforted by my physical response, actually. It’s been a long time since I’ve had any interest in a man, so it’s nice to feel something, even if it is inconvenient and inappropriate.
‘Are you done with me then, sir?’ I infuse the words with snark even when I know I shouldn’t. Jeez, he’s my boss! Okay, not my boss, but Amy’s boss, and how I act is going to reflect on her and I don’t particularly want her getting chewed out because I couldn’t curtail my responses.
He lifts his eyes to mine and now there’s something very dangerous in their depths. Something that swirls from him to me and shifts deep into my blood. He leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, his gaze never dropping from my face. My breasts tingle, my nipples tightening against the soft cotton of my bra, so all I can think of is how long it’s been since a man’s touched me there. I look at his hands—big, long-fingered hands that would be capable of...
Oh, God. Stop it!
‘Do you want me to be done with you?’
The heat that threatened to fill my cheeks floods my whole body now, and it’s most powerful and full of intensity between my legs. My sex throbs, my insides churn.
‘I—’
Where’s my snark gone now?
His smile is knowing. Mocking. Sexy. My stomach rolls.
He reaches for his papers, shuffling them into a neat pile and placing his pen on top. ‘You’re still sitting there.’
I am. I need to move. My knees are heavy.
I force my body into action, standing, my mind running at a thousand miles an hour, no way of discerning what I feel and want. It’s clear that I’ve been weirdly bested by this guy though.
That’s highly unusual. I always, and I mean always, hold the upper hand. With guys, sure, but with passengers too. I don’t second-guess myself.
‘I’m going.’
I take a step past him but he reaches out, grabbing my wrist. He’s looking at his phone, not me, but his thumb rubs across my inner wrist so heat is a literal lava stream in my body.
‘Ask the captain for a confidentiality agreement.’