His fingers trailed from her shoulder to her wrist, drawing invisible circles.
“Why are you in London at the moment?”
“We’re not in London.”
“You know what I mean. You’re here in the UK for two weeks. I don’t think that’s happened the whole time I’ve worked for Montebello.”
“Oh?”
“No. Fiero’s here quite often, Raf too, and Max sometimes. You, rarely.”
“True.” He moved his finger to her lips, drawing a slow outline of their curved shape.
“So why now?”
His frown was fleeting, his finger moving to the dimple in her cheek. “The Watney Group acquisition is my project. I’ve been working on it for almost a year. It’s all coming to a head now – if we decide to proceed then it has to be in the next month or so. I’m here to tidy up loose ends, meet with our appraisal team, go over things with a fine tooth comb, and finalise the paperwork.”
“I’ve never understood how the six of you manage to work together so closely, without ego getting in the way.”
“We’re a team.”
Her heart lurched at the simple, beautiful description. “Even Gabe?”
He lifted a brow and she winced.
“I’m sorry. It’s just – he’s rarely around.”
“No.”
She shook her head once. “Please forget I said that. That was rude.”
“Not at all. Observant, in fact.”
“It’s hardly observant to notice that one sixth of you doesn’t come to the London office for more than an hour at a time, and only then perhaps twice a year.”
“Gabe is – he marches to the beat of his own drum.”
“But it works.”
“Yes, it works.” Something crossed his expression, as though he wanted to reveal something more, but then he smiled, a little forcibly.
“Well, I’m glad you were the one who got sent to London this time,” she said with a wink, and he laughed, a sound that flushed desire through her body.
“As am I.”
Her smile slipped a little, and she reached over for his hand, catching it and squeezing it with her own. “No regrets?”
His eyes seemed to be mining hers for information, and then he was shaking his head. “None. You?”
She thought about that for a moment. This was her boss, and there was an inherent difficulty there, but no, she could say with complete honesty she had no regrets.
“I think this was inevitable,” she murmured in response.
He made a soft noise, encouraging her to continue.
“I don’t know. I can’t explain it. It’s not as though I’ve ever looked at you before and thought – that I wanted –,” her skin flushed as she tried to express her desires in words. “More,” she settled on, dropping her eyes to the centre of the bed.
His chuckle showed he understood.