His eyes held hers. Amusement danced there, along with something infinitely darker and more dangerous.
There was an expectant silence. Heads turned to Stefan and finally he stirred.
‘It’s a high-risk strategy but I like it. Put it into five of our hotels to test it and if it’s successful we’ll roll it out across the whole group.’
Selene felt the tension ooze out of her. She’d presented her ideas to a commercial task force put together by Stefan and they’d discussed everything from packaging options and advertising to demographics and market forces until her brain was a blur.
‘Start exclusive.’ Adam, head of Ziakas Business Development, picked up one of the candles and nodded. ‘I can work with that. Jenny?’
Jenny was head of public relations for the Ziakas Corporation. ‘Yes, our campaign should focus on the luxury element. We’ll invite a few journalists for pamper days—they can share their experiences. Spread the word. Create demand. I’ll have some companies pitch ideas.’
By the time the meeting eventually finished Selene had been on her feet for almost four hours, but she’d learned so much and her head was buzzing.
‘We’re done here.’ Stefan rose to his feet, dismissing everyone, but as Selene closed her laptop—her brand-new laptop—he stopped her. ‘Not you.’
Finally the room cleared and it was just the two of them left alone.
‘So...’ Stefan strolled round the table, his attention focused on her. ‘By making it hard to get, people might want more? I can confirm that’s the case. Do you have any idea how much control I had to exercise today?’
Shaken by the look in his eyes, she swallowed. ‘Did you?’
‘Yes. Normally I like to pace during a meeting. Sitting still drives me mad.’
‘So why did you?’
‘Because you look disturbingly hot in your suit and I’ve been aroused for the entire meeting. Not comfortable.’ He slid his hand behind her neck and drew her face to him. ‘Are you wearing stockings under that skirt?’
‘Maybe. Possibly.’ Her heart was pounding. ‘So you would have said yes to anything? Does that mean you thought my ideas were rubbish?’
‘No. It means I thought your ideas were excellent but you talk too much.’ His eyes were on her mouth. ‘You had me sold in the first ten minutes. You could have stopped then and I could have taken you to bed and avoided this prolonged torture.’
‘I needed to convince the rest of your team.’
‘You only needed to convince me. I’m the one who counts. And now I’ve had enough of talking about candles.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘I’m all burnt out.’
‘Very funny. Are you laughing at me?’
‘I never laugh at business. You have a good product. A product you believe in. You should be proud, koukla mou.’
‘You shouldn’t call me that when we’re working. I don’t want people to think this is favouritism.’
‘I don’t care what people think, but just for the record I can tell you that everyone who works for me knows I’m incapable of favouritism.’ He slid his fingers into her cropped hair. ‘I like it like this.’
‘So do I. It was a bit of an impulse but now I’ve got used to it I think it suits the new me.’ She was so aware of him, her body stirring at the memories of how it felt to be with him, and her heart went crazy as he curved his hand around her face and kissed her gently.
‘Pack up your things. We’re leaving on a market research trip.’
‘What sort of market research?’
‘You want to sell your product in my exclusive hotels. You’ve never even stayed in one. So we’re going to take your Seduction candle to a hotel and see how it performs in a field test.’
She gave a gurgle of laughter. ‘Where?’
‘Santorini. You once told me you didn’t know Greek Islands could be beautiful. I’m going to broaden your education. It’s time you experienced sex against a backdrop of dramatic views and spectacular sunsets.’
‘What? Right now?’
‘Yes, now. We’re going to spend time alone together. Just me, you—’ he kissed the top of her nose ‘—and your candle.’