My heartbeat got faster. ‘And?’
His gaze was very direct. ‘I don’t change my mind often, Miss Little. And when a thing is done, I consider it done. But I’ve had a week to think about what you asked me and I’ve decided that I was too hasty in refusing you.’
I swallowed, taken aback despite myself. I really hadn’t thought he’d reconsider. ‘You were?’
‘Yes. I had a chance to look at your family’s company personally this week and I’m willing to give Australis more time before we need to see some return on our initial investment.’
Yes!
Despite how I’d nearly screwed it up, my gamble in going from Paris to England to face Mr Evans personally had paid off. Dad was going to be so pleased.
Triumph glowed in the centre of my chest and I grinned like a lunatic. ‘That’s just fantastic, Mr Evans. I can’t tell you—’
‘But you’re going to have to do something for me in return,’ he went on, as if I hadn’t spoken.
The triumph glowed a little bit less bright.
‘If you’re wanting sex—’ I began.
‘Sex is not required,’ he said before I could finish, a spark of his usual bad temper glowing in his eyes. ‘You must know by now I’m not that kind of man.’
‘But I don’t know,’ I shot back. ‘All I know is your reputation and, to be honest, that’s pretty shitty.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘Fair point. But understand me, I don’t need a business deal in order to get sex and I certainly don’t blackmail people into it.’
I refused to feel ashamed about it. After Mark, who knew?
‘You can never tell,’ I said. ‘So what do you want from me, then?’
The scar pulling at his mouth was very white against his olive skin, his sneer pronounced. ‘What do I want?’ The scar twisted further as his mouth curved, making his smile seem savage. ‘I have an event I have to be at in Dubai in a week’s time. And what I want is for you to be my date.’
CHAPTER TEN
Ash
‘YOUR DATE?’ ELLIE ECHOED, her eyes wide. ‘For...what?’
She was sitting on the end of the couch with her arms crossed, her shoulders hunched, clearly trying to keep what distance there was between us.
Which was probably a good thing.
I hadn’t realised that seeing her in the flesh would be quite so problematic, though I should have.
She was in her chauffeur’s uniform as usual—white shirt, black trousers, black tie and hat. And her glossy brown hair was tied back. Again, she wore no make-up at all.
Again, she was the fucking sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
She was staring at me suspiciously, hazel eyes narrowed, yet all I could think about was how she’d looked straddling me, with that white shirt pulled open, her bare breasts pressing against my chest. The tight clasp of her pussy around my cock. She hadn’t been so suspicious then. No, she’d been full of hunger and demand, gripping onto me as if she couldn’t bear to let me go, warming up the cold places inside me with her heat.
But you’re not going to keep thinking that, are you?
Bloody hell, no. I wasn’t here for sex. And besides, I’d been there, done that, and I never went back.
Fighting down the relentless pull of our chemistry and the anger of thwarted desire, I tried not to snap at her. Because that wouldn’t get me what I wanted. Playing nice wasn’t in my nature, but I’d do it. I knew how to play the long game, too.
‘I’m a member of a very exclusive club that hosts a lot of charity events around the world,’ I said. ‘In fact, that event you took me to in Paris was one of them.’
‘But you didn’t need a date for Paris.’