And he felt like it. But instead of obeying the urge of his body, he softened his words with a smile. ‘Face it, Danielle, you don’t really have a choice. You’re not getting paid tomorrow because you got paid when you left the agency. You could only pay for one more night here. You have no money, no friends to call on. And you’re obviously not fine, because if you were you never would have been so worked up that you had to come and see me today.’
Her eyes were huge in her face now. He saw her blinking fast a couple of times and gentled his tone even more. ‘Get your things. I’ll take you to a hotel or something.’
For another long moment he thought she was going to refuse. But then he saw her swallow and turn, bending to pull her pack from the bed. He moved to help her but was lanced through with her glare.
His lips twitched but he managed to bite back the smile as he froze. She had to accept his help anyway and she hated it. She’d hate him more if he showed his amusement. So he looked away, checking the cupboard beside her bed was bare. Just as he turned to go he caught sight of something under the bunk, and bent to see what it was. A little candle, deep red in colour and new—the tip of the wick was still white. He picked it up and sniffed. The fragrance was delectable. Edible.
‘This yours?’ He held it out as she turned, the pack now on her back.
Soft colour rose in her cheeks. Interesting.
‘Yes,’ she answered shortly and took it from him.
Alex watched her tuck it into the pocket of her handbag. So beneath the snappy defensiveness there was a feminine side—she liked pretty candles with sweet smells. The kind of scent he could handle in his sheets.
No, Alex.
His moment of irresponsibility in the lift last week had caused her trouble enough already. She might be attractive, but he wasn’t going to mess around with her more. He’d see her right and then run far, far away. He had enough to deal with without lust fogging up his brain—and that was exactly what was happening every minute he was near her. The fog blurred everything—especially his reason. So the sooner he had her sorted, the better it would be, because he had far bigger issues to stomach.
He glanced at his watch, surprised to see how late in the afternoon it was. Lorenzo would be waiting for him. He might as well take her home and figure out what to do from there.
Dani watched the sky-high metal gates in front of them roll back and then Alex drove the car into the garage. Only once the engine and his seat belt were off did he look at her, brows lifting. ‘Safe at last.’
Oh, yeah. Real safe. She listened as the heavy garage door sealed shut. So here she was in Fort Knox with the guy she barely knew but who had all but ravished her in the lift last week. And she’d let him. Really, really safe.
He was wearing that far-too-wide smile again. ‘Come on, Danielle. Let’s go sort this out.’
‘This isn’t a hotel.’
‘No.’
‘This is your house.’
‘Yes.’
‘This isn’t a good idea.’
‘Relax.’ He led the way up the short flight of stairs. ‘I want to find a solution to this mess just as much as you do. Here we can do that in privacy.’
‘Is there really a job?’
‘Danielle—’
‘Dani,’ she snapped, unable to bear hearing her full name a second longer. She hadn’t been Danielle in years. She was Dani. Her tomboy name—keeping her sexless and uninteresting to her mother’s boyfriends, until puberty had really hit and her body had let her down. Then she’d had to go for more forceful tactics.
‘Dani,’ he repeated, smile vanishing.
She regretted correcting him. When he said it with his rounder New Zealand vowels it sounded so much smoother. The tingle went in her ears all the way down her centre to her toes—causing them to squirm restlessly in their boots.
‘Everything OK?’ Someone else spoke—with more than a hint of dryness.
Dani craned her head round Alex. There was another tall guy waiting for them at the top. So much for privacy.
‘It will be.’ Alex climbed the last of the stairs.
‘It better be.’ Dani followed him up into the room, determined to master her chaotic emotions. ‘Who are you?’
‘Lorenzo,’ he answered as bluntly as she’d asked.
‘Do you live here?’ She couldn’t keep the challenge out of her voice—it was the way she’d always hidden her fear.
A glance passed between the two men. Lorenzo took a step towards the stairs. ‘I’m guessing we’ll talk later.’
‘No, I want you to meet Dani,’ Alex said so smoothly that Lorenzo paused and looked. ‘She’s going to take over when Cara goes on maternity leave.’
Lorenzo’s mouth opened, but then shut.
‘Full-time position, of course, but starting from now,’ Alex added.
Dani darted looks between Alex and Lorenzo—saw Lorenzo’s eyes had widened slightly, but still he said nothing.
‘You’ll get Cara to show her what to do.’ Alex was telling, not asking.
‘Absolutely. No problem.’ Lorenzo’s impassivity shattered with a smile. ‘And as Dani is obviously staying here with you, you can drop her to the warehouse tomorrow.’
Alex’s eyes were the ones widening now.
‘Talk more later, Alex,’ Lorenzo said.
‘Yep.’ It was amazing sound could emerge from the mask his face had become.
Lorenzo looked at Dani and then at Alex again, his smile turning into a total smirk. ‘Nice to meet you, Dani. See you tomorrow.’
CHAPTER FOUR
DANI waited ‘til he’d gone down the stairs and she’d heard the door shut after him. Then she turned to Alex. ‘What job?’ She’d deal with the most palatable issue first.
‘Administrator for the Whistle Fund.’
The charitable fund his company supported. Alex was on the board. She knew this from his fangirl at the water-cooler.
‘Lorenzo is the chief exec. The organisation is based in his building. Cara, the current administrator, is pregnant and needs some help.’
‘And it’s a paid position? Full-time?’ She’d always thought these kind of jobs were voluntary—wealthy wives doing some part-time hours for fun and fulfilment.
‘Yes.’
Dani thought. ‘I’ve done numbers more than admin.’
‘Which is perfect, because this is all about dealing with money and there’s a huge overlap in terms of dealing with systems for paperwork. And there’s probably more variety. You’d be taking lots of calls, answering queries, sending out info packs, sorting the requests, updating the Web site. I’m sure you can manage a phone and talk nice to people.’
She’d started as a teller. She liked the interaction with the public—more so than the back-room dealing with the corporate banking she’d gone into.
‘Cara really does need help.’ His persuasion continued. ‘You’re good at your job. I’m sure you’ll pick it up, no problem.’
‘How do you know I’m good at my job when you didn’t even know my name?’ She couldn’t resist sticking a pin in his smooth-talking bubble.
‘We only recruit exceptional employees—even temporary workers have to be of Carlisle standard.’
Carlisle standard? Oh, he had an answer for everything. And what was the bet he had a standard in bed too? If it was anything like his kissing standard it wouldn’t just be exceptional, it would be nothing short of spectacular. But it wasn’t helpful to think about that now. She took a step back towards the stairs.
‘Why don’t you do a week’s trial?’ He was relentless, taking a step after her—not letting her increase her distance from him.
OK, so she really didn’t have a choice. But she had to admit she was actually interested to see what it was like too. ‘OK,’ she answered, crossing her fingers that this wasn’t a huge mistake. ‘Thanks.’
He smiled then. ‘Now that’s sorted, come on through and have a drink.’
He was walking off before she coul
d refuse. And she couldn’t refuse, could she—couldn’t be completely rude—not now he’d given her a job?
The town house was gorgeous—a traditional wooden villa on the outside but one that had been rebuilt on the inside. High ceilings and big windows let in lots of light. Neutral but warm colours made it welcoming. A huge painting hung on the wall above the fireplace. The lounge was big and the sofa comfortable-looking. But she didn’t sit, instead she walked to the window and saw the last of the sun’s light was turning the clouds a fiery orange. She was unfamiliar with the geography of Auckland, but somehow she’d expected a view of the city buildings, or perhaps the water. She wasn’t expecting the verdant, lush garden. It was like a miniature forest. So gorgeously green in the middle of winter and so private.
‘Can I get you a drink?’
She turned her back on the beauty of it. ‘No, thanks.’
He didn’t get himself one, either, just stood on the far side of the long, low coffee table by the sofa. ‘Take a seat, Dani.’
‘I don’t feel comfortable about staying here.’
‘Why not?’
She opened her mouth and then shut it again.