It had been going on for years and I had no plans to build bridges any time soon. Not after what he’d done to me.
I flicked a glance in the rear-view mirror of the limo and found my chauffeur for the evening, the sexy little Australian, staring back at me.
And for a second, all thoughts of my hated half-brother vanished.
When she’d come to the door of my hotel, I’d been expecting Bill, white-haired and grizzled and pushing sixty-five. Instead, what I’d got was brunette and fresh-faced, and pushing twenty-five, if that.
Not to mention small and curvy, with a pretty, freshly scrubbed face, glossy brown hair in a no-nonsense ponytail, the usual chauffeur uniform of black trousers, white shirt and a black tie doing its best to hide the fact that she was unequivocally female.
Oh, yes, and she had a sunny attitude to match.
She hadn’t appeared to notice my scars or to be in the least bit intimidated by my manner, and she had looked me in the eye, which most people never did.
Then there had been that smile. That pretty smile like a bright burst of sunshine. As if she’d never heard of my reputation and had no idea what a bastard I was.
Those things shouldn’t have made her so immediately fascinating to me, because she was nothing like my normal type. I preferred them beautiful and expensive-looking, all the better to soil with my rough, dirty hands, not with a dusting of freckles, dressed in a chauffeur’s outfit, and telling me with a cheerful smile how my assistant not briefing me on her arrival wasn’t her problem.
Not many of my employees would have dared say that to my face.
Correction, none of my employees would have dared say it.
What made her think she could?
She stared at me in the mirror, hints of gold and emerald glinting from beneath long, silky dark lashes, and there was no deference in her gaze. It was full of curiosity and a certain boldness that I found...exciting.
Been a long time since you had a worthy opponent.
Yes, it was true. A very long time. Not that I was into physical fights these days, at least not outside the gym and never with a woman. But it had been a while since I’d met anyone who could hold their own against me. And every fighter needed a challenge to improve their game.
If you didn’t get better you didn’t win, and if you didn’t win, all you got was your teeth kicked in.
I’d never been a fan of getting my teeth kicked in.
She grinned at me. ‘Are you ready to go, Mr Evans?’ Her tone was ridiculously chirpy, yet her voice had a soft, smoky edge that somehow made it sexy at the same time.
She could be your challenge.
Nice idea, but no.
I’d felt the chemistry between us the moment she’d taken my hand back in the hotel room, and when she’d jerked away, her skin pink, I knew she’d felt it too.
Normally that would be something I’d explore, since I never denied myself something when I wanted it, but fresh-faced, tomboyish little Australians who should know better than to smile at men like me were not worth the trouble of tangling with.
And besides, I had a golden rule: never screw the staff.
She might only be a substitute for Bill for a couple of nights, but she was still a staff member. Which made her out of bounds.
‘I’ll go when I’m good and ready, Miss Little,’ I growled, irritated for no good reason.
‘Of course,’ she replied with the same chirpiness, apparently impervious to my annoyance. ‘You can sit here as long as you like. I only asked so I could be ready to open your door for you.’
My irritation increased. She looked so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and eager to please.
You could think of a few ways she could please you.
Yes, but again, not happening.
I stared hard at her, trying to put a dent in her insufferable cheerfulness, but