This wasn’t the setting for so much skin. That was why she was reacting so primally, right? Frankly she wasn’t used to seeing half-naked men, ever. No matter that it was an office situation, not in any situation was she used to this.
‘You’re...’ she trailed off, forced to swallow in an attempt to ease her dry throat.
‘Still wondering why you’re here,’ he snapped.
Couldn’t the same be said for him? It was ridiculously early and what was he doing here barely dressed? Black sports shorts and trainers were all he had on.
Alvaro Byrne.
Tall, dark and wild. Even his hair was a little long and now he swept it out of his eyes with an impatient hand. The already tense muscles in his chest rippled.
‘Why are you here?’ he demanded. ‘Didn’t you get my message?’
‘I—’
‘Don’t need to be here. Leave. Now.’
Seriously? He wasn’t even going to listen to her? Wasn’t going to take a breath? ‘No. I’m here to—’
‘Why aren’t you moving?’
‘Why aren’t you listening?’
He folded his arms in front of her. The stance just made his biceps pop more.
Jade, who’d held her nerve for so many years, in so many public situations in Monrova, was completely distracted. For the first time ever, her brain slipped into mush territory and her tongue slipped away from her.
‘You...’ It wasn’t good enough. She needed to do better for Juno. She drew a deep breath and began again. ‘You need to give me a chance.’
‘You’ve had plenty of chances. But you haven’t answered any calls or messages for forty-eight hours. And now you walk in here looking...’
Jade tensed warily. Looking what? Had he guessed already?
‘Like butter wouldn’t melt,’ he finished with a growl.
She was buffeted by a wave of relief that she might pull this off. He hadn’t instantly recognised that she wasn’t Juno. She struggled to stare calmly back at him. Never had it been so hard to stand still and stay cool.
‘Forty-eight hours, Juno,’ he repeated. ‘Why didn’t you return any calls?’
It was always best to answer with honesty, right? Or at least with as much honesty as she was able at this point in time. ‘I was out of range.’
‘Really? That’s what you’re going with?’ He couldn’t look more disbelieving. ‘Maybe you should have stayed out of range.’
‘I’m here now.’
‘Why?’
‘Why do you think?’
‘What do you think you can possibly do to make this better?’
She had no idea. Never had she been challenged with such hostility or fury and she was lost for words.
His eyebrows lifted. ‘Way too little, way too late.’
Jade was tired from the flight. Stressed from maintaining a stupid lie for such a short time already. This had been such a bad idea. The little ‘snafu’ that Juno had mentioned had apparently morphed into something bigger. But this—creature—couldn’t be that unreasonable. And she needed to re-engage her brain. ‘I couldn’t...’
‘I’m going to shower and dress,’ he interrupted, apparently bored already. ‘You’ll be gone when I return.’