The Man She Shouldn't Crave

‘Da, the destiny date,’ he said easily.

Rose couldn’t repress a smile at the way he said it in that deep, dark voice. As if it were a little children’s toy she was wheeling out when of course it was so much more.

‘I’m looking to sign one or two of your players up to do a publicity piece for my agency.’

‘You didn’t think to approach our PR people?’

‘Uh-huh, I’m sure that would have worked.’

He lifted those big shoulders in a heavy shrug that said, What can I do? I’m an important man. I don’t handle the small stuff.

Yet he had. He’d turned up at her front door.

‘Why did you turn up at my house?’

Yes, why not just blurt it out, Rose?

He seemed about to say something, then shook his head as if whatever he had been thinking had amused him. ‘My security team showed me your blog,’ he said.

Rose scrambled to remember what she had written.

‘I was concerned, naturally. I thought I would check it out.’

The blog or her? Rose peered back at him warily.

‘Why would you be concerned? I didn’t defame anybody. It was just a silly laugh.’

‘Is that what it was, Rose?’ He didn’t show it by any particular movement in his face or note in his voice but Rose sensed his sudden watchfulness.

‘My blog bothered you,’ she said slowly.

‘Let’s just say it drew attention to a couple of things the media don’t need to get wind of. But I accept you are who you appear to be, Rose. A young woman running an internet dating site.’

‘Is this about the Sazanov brothers?’

He shrugged negligently. ‘It doesn’t matter now. It’s taken care of.’

‘Then why did you come to my house?’

Plato drummed the table with his left hand. ‘Sometimes even grown men can behave like hormonal boys, dushka.’

Rose forgot about the Sazanov brothers. Forgot about the embarrassment of him reading her silly blog. She even—almost—forgot about how he had bossed her around in her own home, in her underwear. Was he saying he was attracted to her? He’d wanted to see her again?

‘You wanted to see me,’ she said, hoping the thrill that gave her didn’t show—or her subsequent

embarrassment.

‘Da.’ He didn’t look embarrassed at all. ‘I meet beautiful women all the time. Many give me their contact details. You did so in an unusual way.’

Rose’s excitement dimmed. So much for being special.

‘Then, of course, I learned you had done the same with each and every member of the team. I was—disappointed.’

‘Right.’ She struggled to find something amusing to quip back at him, but she was feeling her own disappointment.

‘I was concerned as to your motives, and when Security located you I decided to handle it myself.’ A half-smile tugged at that firm mouth of his. ‘As I said, my judgement was somewhat clouded by other considerations. The main one being I wanted to see you again.’

Rose gripped her champagne flute. ‘Well, there is that,’ she said faintly.