My heart was pounding like I’d just run a mile at full pelt and my whole body hummed with agitation.
Cliff was dead.
I wondered whether my father had heard and if so why he hadn’t told me.
I jumped as the door to the room opened behind me, flooding it with light from the corridor.
I blinked at the outline of the tall, broad-shouldered man who stood in the doorway, instinctively knowing who it was even before my eyes adjusted and I was able to make out the familiar features of his face.
‘Good evening, Jamie,’ I said with as much indifference as I could muster. I didn’t want him to see me in this weakened state, and I knew if I gave anything away he’d jump on it immediately. I hoped, once he realised it was me alone in there, he’d just turn and walk away.
But it was not to be.
‘April, fancy finding you here skulking in the dark.’
Irritation clawed up my spine at the disparagement I heard in his tone.
‘I’m just taking a moment out. It’s so hot in there,’ I said blandly, keeping any emotion out of my voice so he had nothing to comment on, hoping he’d soon get bored and go away.
But of course he didn’t. This was Jamie, after all. The man who never passed up an opportunity to torture me.
Instead, he closed the door behind him, throwing the room back into shadow, and walked over to where I stood stiffly by the window.
Right at that moment I was immensely grateful for both the darkness and the cold breeze.
‘Is there a reason you chose to do it in my dressing room?’ he asked, the streetlight from outside casting his face into light relief.
‘I thought it was an empty office. I didn’t realise it was your room,’ I countered, aware of my face flushing with embarrassment at my unlucky faux pas.
‘Is that right?’ he replied, his scepticism clear.
There was an awkward pause as I tried to think of something to distract his attention away from my obvious discomfort.
‘I was sorry to hear about you father passing away,’ I said, deciding I might as well tackle the subject head on. No doubt it would come up at some point soon anyway. Jamie already thought my family was responsible for everything bad that had happened to his father and would no doubt try to pin this heart attack on us as well.
If only he knew the truth...
The air in the room had become very still, and I thought I caught a flash of pain cross his face, but in the semi-light I couldn’t be sure. My stomach still swooped at the thought. Jamie hadn’t shown me any real emotion—apart from anger—for years.
‘You heard about that, huh?’ he said eventually.
‘Yes, just now at dinner. I was surprised I hadn’t heard about it sooner.’
He shucked off his jacket and tossed it onto the back of an office chair that was tucked under a nearby desk. ‘No, well, my father didn’t want his death spread around like gossip. He’d had enough of that shit, thanks to your family.’
I had a lot of trouble biting my tongue at that, but somehow I managed it, despite the usual resentment building inside me. He’d have a very different attitude if he knew how much I’d done to protect both Cliff and him from gossip. And worse.
‘Speaking of which, I hear your father’s been spending time in hospital himself recently,’ Jamie went on, tugging undone his bow tie and popping open the top button of his shirt.
‘Yes, he was there for a week or so, but he’s back at home now recuperating,’ I said stiffly, trying not to think about how distractingly arousing it was to witness him messing up his neat formal attire.
‘You mean he’s actually taking some time off work? I thought I’d never see the day.’
I forcibly had to restrain myself from crossing my arms. ‘He’s not well enough to be back in the office yet and probably won’t be for a few months. He’s in constant pain and the painkillers he’s taking make his head too fuzzy for him to concentrate for long periods of time.’
Jamie nodded, his hair falling into his eyes. I watched him push it away from his forehead and my disloyal pussy gave a throb in response.
‘So he’s taking a break from terrorising his employees? That must be a relief for them all.’ He tilted his head, his gaze boring into mine. ‘Or have you muscled straight in to take over that role?’ The hostility emanating from him made my whole body prickle with an edgy, disturbing tension.
‘I’m acting CEO at the moment, if that’s what you mean, but I’d like to think I’m a fair and approachable boss.’
He snorted. ‘Approachable? You?’
And there it was, the inevitable slide into insulting me. Even though I’d been preparing myself for it, it still stung. I blinked hard, banishing the hot tears that pressed at the back of my eyes. No way was I showing him an emotional reaction. He’d only use it against me.
He took a step closer and I had to steel myself not to take a pace away, especially when his familiar musky scent hit my senses, making my head reel and my body pulse with an unwelcome carnal ache.
‘How does it feel to finally be allowed to stand on your own two feet without Daddy calling all the shots?’ he murmured, his bright-blue eyes searching mine, clearly looking for weakness in me.
Which I was not about to show him.
I let out a withering sigh and rolled my eyes. He might have just lost his father but that didn’t give him the right to be so vile.
‘You don’t change, do you? Still reeling out the same old, tired lines.’
‘Well, if you ever manage to do something new that was even vaguely worthy of my attention instead of being so fucking boring and soulless, I’ll finally be able to change my repertoire,’ he bit back.
Despite my resolve not to react to his contempt, I still flinched at that.
For one breathless moment I thought I saw something like regret pass across his face, but I wasn’t prepared to hang around and find out. I was too afraid my insouciant front might completely crumble, so instead I pushed back my shoulders and said, ‘Well, Jamie, it was predictably unpleasant seeing you again. If those are all the snide remarks you have for me this time, I think I’ll be leaving now. I don’t want to keep you from your doting audience. I know how much you need to be adored.’
‘April. Wait...’
As I turned away I saw him reach out as if to try and stop me leaving but, instead of his hand landing squarely on my arm, his fingers caught the thin spaghetti-strap of my dress. In my determination to get away from him I was moving too fast to give him a chance to untangle himself and I felt a sharp tug, then the strap give way on one side of the dress and slither down my back.
I sucked in a breath of agitation and turned back to glare at him.
‘Oops.’ The twitch of a smile at the edge of his mouth was more than I could stand.
‘This is a five-thousand-pound, custom made, Eva Verdano dress!’ I yelped, anger and frustration at his unapologetic amusement making my voice unsteady.
‘It’s not as if you can’t get Daddy to stump up for another one,’ he said with a condescending flick of his eyebrow.
‘I can afford to buy my own clothes, you arrogant prick,’ I couldn’t help but retort, despite hating the fact I was rising to his