She gazed at him through narrowed eyes. Not sure she could believe him.
‘I enjoyed every second with you in my bed, but I’m not slimeball enough to use our fling in my business decisions,’ he said quietly but firmly. ‘Just as you’re not slutty enough to think sleeping with me could make me change my mind, right?’
‘Right,’ she said. ‘But the fact is we don’t know each other very well.’
‘And as far as you’re concerned we’re not going to get to know each other any better.’
‘I think that’s best, don’t you?’
‘Not at all,’ he answered bluntly. ‘But unlike your colleague I’m gentleman enough to respect your wishes. I’m not into harassing people.’
Just how much of that conversation with Nathan had he overheard?
‘I’m capable of keeping my business and my personal life separate,’ he continued easily. ‘It won’t make any difference.’
Well, he was more capable of that than she was—she couldn’t think straight with the guy around.
‘Truth is I’m in the midst of a new deal to take on two new boutique hotels so a cash injection plus publicity could be useful. That’s why I’m more open to film negotiations now than I was a couple of months ago.’
‘Well, you’ll need to talk to Nathan. I no longer work for the location company.’
Utterly silent, he stared—his brown eyes shifting to black and hard in a whisker of a second. ‘You got the sack?’
Ellie shivered in the face of iced fury. The ultimate in easy-going humour had a frozen fiery depth she hadn’t anticipated. Ruben Theroux wasn’t someone to make angry. And now she knew he hadn’t listened in to the whole conversation she’d had with Nathan.
‘Nathan didn’t have the authority to sack me. I resigned,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘With immediate effect.’
His jaw dropped. ‘Why?’ Now he looked even more angry. ‘You’re just going to quit and run from some silly little mess?’
It wasn’t a silly little mess. It wasn’t anything to do with Ruben. She’d seen the light. She’d been taken on by that company to keep the paperwork tidy and to flooze where necessary. She might be a complete pleaser but that was taking it too far.
He glanced down at her clothes—and, no, her jeans weren’t designer like his. Hers had frayed at the edges from use, not been bought that way.
‘What are you going to do?’
Pride surged. ‘I’m not so stupid to throw in a job without having something else lined up. It’s all sorted already. I start next week.’
‘Doing what?’
She didn’t want to tell him the finer details—not that she was embarrassed, more that she sensed it would be safer to keep him distanced. He was in her ‘past’ already. ‘Same industry, different job.’
‘You’ve got a part in a film, then?’ He suddenly grinned. ‘Lead role?’
‘No.’ She bit back an answering smile. ‘I’m not a wannabe actress.’
‘But you have leading-lady looks.’
She vehemently shook her head. ‘Please not the flirting again.’
‘It’s impossible not to,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, tell me.’
She shook her head. ‘Not acting.’
‘That’s really not a fantasy?’ he scoffed. ‘Any woman who works in the industry has that fantasy.’
‘Well, I don’t. I can’t think of anything worse than being judged harshly on a giant screen.’
He gave her a sideways look. ‘Well, you got your new job organised pretty quick.’
‘She’s been after me for some time.’ It was true. She’d only had to send a text asking Bridie if she was still keen and the emphatic ‘yes, start Monday’ had been received less than a minute later. ‘I’ve been mulling it a while.’
Fact was she was tired of trying to please everyone—and of not progressing.
Ruben Theroux still looked troubled. Ellie’s pride bit deeper. ‘Don’t think that my decision has anything to do with what happened with you.’
‘It doesn’t?’
‘I’ve been thinking of a change for months.’
‘You’re not letting that Nathan drive you out, are you?’ he asked carefully. ‘Because he’s not worth it. Trust me, no relationship is worth killing your career for.’
‘You know this from personal experience?’ she asked, happy to get the focus on him for a change.
‘Possibly.’ He shrugged. ‘Just don’t let anyone get in the way of what you want to achieve.’
‘Okay.’ She laughed, not needing the ‘best friend’ advice from her random-stranger lover. ‘Actually I feel liberated.’
She wanted the fun back—to be involved in the industry where she was among her own kind: the fans. And that was what Bridie was offering her. They’d met one day at a location—Bridie took fans on set tours, and she knew just how much of a movie buff Ellie was.
‘How liberated are you feeling?’ Ruben Theroux’s expression had sharpened.
Already she knew what that gleam meant. ‘Not that liberated.’
‘There’s absolutely no conflict of interest now.’
‘That’s definitely not why I resigned.’
‘But you know that, despite everything, we never did kiss.’
‘We did a whole lot more than kiss.’
He shook his head. ‘But we never kissed mouth to mouth. I remember that clearly. I’ve spent the last hour remembering every second we had, very clearly.’
She mirrored his head-shake. ‘We’re not going to kiss now.’
‘You can’t tell me you’re afraid.’
His whisper stirred right where she refused to be stirred. ‘You can’t try to tease me into it.’
It wasn’t right that she have the best sexual experience of her life with a complete stranger. One who’d no doubt share himself with the rest of the female population given half the chance. She convinced herself it had been so amazing because she’d been without so long. She’d been celibate for so many months, it had been like a cork releasing from an all-shook-up bottle of champagne. But these things didn’t last. Another sip and she’d discover how flat it had gone. It had to be that one-off pop of pleasure.
‘I think we should try just the once, just to see.’ A winning, teasing, tempting smile.
She laughed. It was very apparent that Ruben Theroux wasn’t used to having his plans thwarted. He got what he wanted. And while part of her wanted what he was offering, she knew she’d want more than what he was prepared—or even able—to give in the long run.
‘No.’ She could say that to him and mean it. Sure she could.
‘There’s nothing so simple as a kiss.’
‘And nothing so complicated.’ And unfortunately, nothing else she could think about. His lips caused the problem. That natural curve upwards made them so inviting. Then there was that screamingly masculine line to his jaw. And those wretchedly captivating, laughing eyes.