He’d almost kissed her.
Had almost dared her to kiss him in payment for obtaining her services. Even more deplorable, for those insane minutes, he hadn’t cared about the potential damage he risked with his actions. Hadn’t cared about the ‘once bitten, twice shy’ warning that had been the dogma of his professional relationships for a decade.
The need to taste her had been unrelenting. Consuming. He remained disconcerted that just beneath the surface of his interactions with her, the need still fiercely burned.
‘Do you wish me to repeat that in Spanish, hermano?’ Gael’s voice brought him back to earth. To the room. To the click of heels drawing closer.
‘Muy bien, if this is the route you wish to take, then so be it.’
He ended the call and turned around.
Elise eyed him from her position before his desk. ‘Good morning.’
He nodded tersely, then made a concerted effort to shake off the barrage of unwanted sensations evoked by his brother and Elise. ‘Buenos días. I trust you had a good weekend?’
Her eyes widened, no doubt because his cordial tone was unexpected. ‘It was okay, nothing life-changing.’
‘How unfortunate. Weekends that aren’t life-changing ought to be stripped of their title and renamed Pointless Days.’
Her head tilted to one side. ‘Is that your attempt at a joke, Alejandro?’
‘Since you’re not laughing, I must respond firmly in the negative,’ he replied, his tone bone-dry.
Her mouth twitched, then she smiled. It was transformative enough to deliver a punch to his solar plexus, causing his breath to snag and the hairs on his arms to rise in near alarm.
Alejandro had dated women who could command the covers of fashion magazines with a snap of their fingers. And yet he was certain none of them could hold a candle to Elise’s smile.
All the same, he shouldn’t be this enthralled.
And yet...
‘Are you okay?’
‘Of course. Why should I not be?’ he quipped.
Her smile dimmed. ‘No reason. I just...overheard a little of your conversation. Something about not wishing to go to war?’
Any trace of mirth disappeared. ‘Eavesdropping, Elise?’
‘Not intentionally.’ She glanced at his phone. ‘Was that your brother?’
Her lack of fear when it came to him should’ve aggravated him. Sure, he tolerated the underlings who challenged him, but it was what he paid them to do.
Elise challenged him because she couldn’t help herself. When she wasn’t irritating him, Alejandro had found himself almost...refreshed by her.
But not right now.
‘Yes,’ he replied, paradoxically going against his better judgment of telling himself he owed her no answers.
A soft look entered her eyes. ‘And?’
His mouth twisted. ‘As predicted, he refuses to listen to reason.’
‘So he’s just like you, then?’
Alejandro stiffened. ‘Excuse me?’
She shrugged. ‘You’re both determined to win.’
‘You say that as if there’s something wrong with winning.’
‘What’s wrong is you gripping that phone as if you’re about to crush it. You want to win, yes, but I’m guessing not if it’s costing you this much.’
He glanced down and visibly unclenched his fingers from the handset. ‘You guess wrong. Pain and the cost of winning only affect you if you give them the power to,’ he replied, then froze at the words that had left his lips without permission.
Elise’s eyes rounded. ‘Unless there’s a mind trick you picked up along the way to dull it, no one is immune from pain.’
A note in her voice tweaked his flaring senses. ‘When have you known pain?’ he asked, then realised he was holding his breath for her answer.
Her gaze flicked away from him. ‘I’m human. I feel pain.’
The thought that she’d been hurt shouldn’t have abraded his equilibrium. And yet it did.
‘You seek specifics from me, yet generalise about yourself.’
‘I was just pointing out you’re not the only one with issues, professionally or personally.’ She jerked towards the drinks trolley and picked up a bottle of water.
Alejandro frowned. ‘You have a professional issue with me?’
She looked up from toying with the lid. ‘What? No. I mean... I like to think our differences have been aired successfully.’
The slow drag in his groin as his gaze landed on her lips informed him his success in that department was distinctly lacking.
‘Then what do you mean?’
Nerves clearly fuelled her sudden twitchiness. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
An answer that birthed further burning questions. ‘Did something happen to you?’
Her cheeks lost a little colour, but her face closed mutinously. ‘Nothing I want to reprise. What’s on the agenda today?’ she hurriedly asked.
It took a huge dose of the willpower he was renowned for to step back from demanding answers from her. Even then, he needed a minute before he tracked properly.
‘Since we’re biding our time till our next call with the Ishikawa brothers, I’d like your help on another matter. Are you free this evening to accompany me to a client dinner?’
She blinked. ‘Uh...yes.’
‘Good. Reservations are for seven. Feel free to leave early today if you need to. I’ll pick you up from your apartment just before seven.’
‘Okay. Will the purpose of the dinner be damage limitation or image enhancement?’
‘A little bit of both. I’m meeting a client and his wife for dinner. She’s taken to overt displays of affection whenever I’m in her company. He’s chosen to encourage it in the hope that I’ll do business with him. My patience is wearing thin but I’d like to put a stop to both without jeopardising our business relationship. You think you can handle that?’
Her relief at the changed subject turned to shock, but she rallied after a few seconds. ‘Sure. Of course.’
Alejandro nodded briskly, despite his continued mental state of flux. He needed to emulate her, and regroup quickly. Gael’s imminent arrival should be what commanded his entire focus, not the banked anguish still shadowing Elise’s eyes.
Heading for his desk, he provided her with the client names and watched her walk away. The suit she wore today was feminine and stylish. Beneath the edge of her jacket, the trousers cradled her pert backside and emphasised her curvy hips. When she shed the jacket upon reaching her desk, he caught a glimpse of her trim waist and the full swell of her breasts.
A sound, rough and unwelcome, punched up from his throat.
She started to look his way.
He dragged his gaze away and focused on the pile of work on his desk. She was off limits. And even outside the scope of their professional relationship were he to consider her for an affair, he would still reject the idea.
Because Elise Jameson exhibited signs he’d hitherto not encountered in a woman before—she had the potential to get under his skin.
He reminded himself