‘I see.’
‘Do you?’ Galen checked. ‘Because for this to work that needs to be understood.’
‘Galen, if you don’t think I’m suitable, then why are you even offering it to me?’
‘I do think you’re suitable.’
Galen knew that it was then that he outright lied, for never in a million years would he hire a woman whose scent reached him from across the room, as it was doing so now, who tripped wires and crossed firm boundaries with every throaty word those full lips delivered.
Damn you, Costa!
‘I am just stating how it is, and then it is for you to decide.’
Say no, he pleaded silently. Because the mystery of her dark brown eyes was too distracting for his workspace.
Say no, he pleaded silently.Because right now I want to take you to that bed and lay you down and taste you.
‘I’m flattered...’ Roula said. ‘But I have commitments here. And also...’
He watched as those lips parted and she drew a breath to continue, but then those gorgeous lips closed. Worryingly for Galen, he found hewantedto be privy to her thoughts.
She gave him a very efficient smile. ‘You understand that I need time to consider this?’
‘Of course.’ He moved to hand her a business card, but then seemed to change his mind and took up a pen. ‘Usually all calls go through my PA,’ he said, ‘but this is my personal number.’
‘I see.’
‘If you...’
How did he say that if she needed a friend, if she was ever in Athens, or here on Anapliró, and it was all too much then she should call him? How did he resume their friendship when she might soon be working for him?
More pertinently, how did they both ignore this attraction?
And it was mutual. Galen could feel it, breathe it, almost touch it.
Yet he could notseeit.
Her skin was pale, her eyes cool when they met his, and there was no visible sign of the vibe that thrummed in the air between them...
Galen was aware that he was not brilliant at reading people. Yet, he’d known Roula once...
Not now.
How he hated this ruse already.
‘Whatever happens, you have my number.’ Galen concluded the conversation and hoped that if she needed to some day then she might read between the lines.
There was little time to think about it as most of the prominent guests were helicoptered off the island and the retreat was being prepared for the next.
Late that evening—way past her rostered time—Roula checked that all was in order for the upcoming bookings. But she scrolled down and saw that, indeed, Galen’s PA was due to come to Anapliró for her babymoon in two weeks’ time.
And then she looked up Galen on the Internet. Gosh, she known about the platform game, but she’d had no idea how prominent he was in the tech world.
And what the hell was DeFi and Blockchain?
Working for Galen Pallas, even temporarily, really was a career opportunity. And of course the upcoming drama with Nemo made it doubly tempting...
But there was another issue to consider. One that Roula had never dealt with in any way shape or form before, because it was startling to acknowledge that she was attracted to him.