He jerked his head to a connecting door at the far side of the room. ‘There’s a Michelin-starred chef employed to prepare and serve whatever dish you desire to my personal dining room. All you need to do is ask.’
Elise was aware the scenario he’d just described would be most professionals’ idea of a dream perk. Certainly, her parents would relish the chance to laud such a privilege over their competitors and brag about it to clients.
‘I have simple tastes, Mr Aguilar. A sandwich from a bistro is perfectly adequate for me. Besides, taking a few minutes away from the office to walk to said bistro helps my cogitative process.’ She took a breath. ‘But I concede that you’re under time pressures. If the chef isn’t offended by making me a sandwich, then I’ll be happy to eat in your dining room.’
Another hard non-smile twitched his sculpted lips. ‘I do believe you’ve just jumped again, Miss Jameson. Although in a puzzlingly overcomplicated way.’ He nodded at his door. ‘Don’t keep Margo waiting.’
Elise forced fists that had unconsciously curled to loosen. She stared at him as he resumed his seat...his throne...and carried on ruling his kingdom as if he hadn’t just swatted her away like an annoying fly.
‘Is there something about me that rubs you the wrong way, Mr Aguilar?’ she asked, suppressing the part of her that questioned her compulsive need to go head to head with him. She reassured herself it was because she didn’t want to be caught by a horribly unpleasant surprise further down the line, the way she had last year. If something swirled beneath Alejandro’s forbidding mask, she preferred to uncover it sooner rather than later.
He scrutinised her from head to toe, then back again. Slower. More intensely. Until her whole body tingled from the penetrative stare.
‘Are you about to start another argument with me?’ he enquired silkily.
She shook her head but stood her ground. ‘No. But if there happens to be something bothering you about me, I think we need to address it now, before...’ She stopped, unwilling to bring the ugly past to this discussion.
One brow lifted. ‘Before?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t like surprises, Mr Aguilar. I like working in a fraught environment even less.’
His jaw clenched for an infinitesimal moment, then he did something unexpected. He pressed two fingers against each temple and rubbed. The sigh he emitted was filled with thick weariness.
‘This deal should’ve been done months ago. I don’t mind the challenge of a difficult deal if it’s warranted,’ he murmured, surprising her further by admitting to being anything other than omnipotent. ‘But I’m bored by the games the Ishikawas have suddenly decided they want to play.’
‘I don’t think—’
Cool green eyes met hers. ‘Yes, I know what you think. But I’m bored nevertheless. Boredom makes me...unpredictable.’
He was skimming the real issue behind his acerbic attitude. What she wasn’t sure of was whether the real reason, somehow, involved her. Just as she was certain he wouldn’t answer if she probed further.
She needed to leave this office. Go find Margo and get the HR papers signed. The earlier she got to work, the quicker her last ever commission for Jameson would be done. Then she could truly put the past behind her.
So why was she picking up a sleek bottle of mineral water from the coffee tray and holding it out to him?
Alejandro looked from the bottle to her face. A face she willed with everything inside her not to redden again.
When he didn’t take it, she set it down in front of him. ‘Try drinking some of this instead of guzzling down gallons of caffeine. It might ease that tension headache you’ve got going on.’
He ignored the bottle. ‘I don’t anticipate adding nursemaid to your list of duties. The ones I have in mind for you will be quite involved. Let’s concentrate on those, shall we?’
‘Duly noted. You can be assured that if I happen to be around when you’re struck by lightning or a murder of crows decide to use you for pecking practice, I’ll continue on my merry way.’
The smile that twitched his mouth was a shade warmer than the last one. Elise found herself wondering what a genuine smile from him would look like and abruptly stepped back.
Turn around. Go.
She headed for the door.
‘Miss Jameson.’
It wasn’t a request. It was an order couched in psuedo-reasonable, even tones.
Keep walking. She took another step.
‘Elise.’
She froze, the sound of her given name so unbelievably sensual coming from his deep, slightly accented tones, that she couldn’t suppress a gasp. She slowly turned around.
He was no longer massaging his temples. But he’d wrenched the top off the water bottle, the tip of it poised an inch from his lips.
‘One last thing. My company isn’t the place to find your next boyfriend or a husband. As long as you’re contracted to work for me, you’ll practise a zero-fraternisation policy. I find that petty lawsuits are best avoided that way.’
‘Are you speaking from personal experience?’ she asked before she could stop herself.
His face tightened into a rigid, forbidding mask. Hell, she’d struck another nerve. God, what was wrong with her?
‘That is not your concern. Just be sure to let Grandma know you’ll be disappointing her for a while longer where potential wedding bells are concerned, would you?’
Elise turned back around, too filled with roiling emotions to trust herself to speak.
Keep walking.
IS THERE SOMETHING about me that rubs you the wrong way?
Of all the words she could’ve chosen.
Alejandro snorted, inwardly grimacing at the sexual bent he’d afforded the words. But they wouldn’t fade away. Like the headache pounding his temples, each heartbeat flashed an image of Elise Jameson onto his retinas, each one more vivid than the last.
Madre de Dios.
He didn’t need to waste time on an attraction his principles wouldn’t allow him to act upon.
Now he knew the cause of the stalled merger, he could simply pay Jameson PR for services rendered, plus a generous bonus. He had no doubt that Gael had arrived at the same realisation as he had, but, since negotiations hadn’t yet been severed with SNV in favour of Toredo, it was most likely Gael hadn’t found a satisfactory way to appease the Ishikawas, either.
With that last puzzle unravelled, he didn’t need Elise Jameson.
Except she’d rooted out his problem with a single, albeit unorthodox, phone call, whereas his strategy team had spent weeks trying to unravel the mystery of the stalled negotiations.
Sending her away would save the irritating prickling of his senses whenever she was near. Or he could keep her around as the extra pair of eyes she’d advocated until this deal was in the bag.
He stemmed the need to call HR and retract the contract. He never set rules for his staff he didn’t follow himself. Regardless of how looking at Elise Jameson’s face and body made certain parts of him stir, his only focus in dealing with her would be this merger.
A pep talk. He was giving himself a pep talk. Por el amor—
He tossed the curiously empty water bottle on the tray, having no recollection of drinking it. He refused to believe his easing headache was because of his water intake.