Outraged, Hilary hovered while Roel engaged in smooth chit-chat with her friend and then deftly concluded the dialogue by announcing that their flight had been called.
‘How dare you?’ Hilary bit out in a tremulous voice, so mad she was shaking with fury as Roel escorted her across the tarmac towards the jet.
‘Dannazione! You left me with no choice.’ Scornful golden eyes skimmed over her angry face. ‘You were on the brink of blabbing everything—’
‘I don’t “blab”,’ Hilary forced out between gritted teeth.
‘You could blab for England. You have the discretion of a public address system,’ Roel contradicted icily.
On board the jet, Hilary stalked down the aisle of the luxurious cabin and picked a seat as far away from him as she could get. She was furious that he had interfered with her call and accused her of being a gossip. How dared he?
‘Just who do you think you are?’ she heard herself demand when they were airborne and the steward had left them alone again.
Darkly handsome face unapologetic, Roel held her accusing gaze with level cool. ‘I am a very private individual. What happens between us should be equally private. Girlie chatterbox sessions are out.’
Hilary turned her head away and curled up in her comfortable seat. Tears were not her style but all of a sudden she felt as though she could weep a river dry. Perhaps that was because she was feeling so tired that it was an effort to keep her heavy eyes open. The steward tried to interest her in a meal and she shook her head, her tummy reacting with a queasy roll at the prospect of food. She wanted to fight with Roel but for once she had to acknowledge that she did not have the energy. The following morning, Hilary slept late. When she woke up she was eager to confront Roel with all the arguments she had been too enervated to employ when lunching with her sister, Emma, had been on the agenda. Over breakfast Umberto informed her that Roel had long since departed for the Sabatino Bank.
Her recollection of how she had got to bed the night before was dim but embarrassing. Having dozed through the flight, she had stumbled like a zombie through the airport, drifted off again in the limo and had allowed Roel to cart her up to bed when they had finally arrived at the town house. Never before had she suffered from such overpowering fatigue and it was a relief to feel the restored spark of her usual energy.
She had thought that she was really really hungry but when the cooked breakfast that she had ordered arrived her appetite suffered a sudden mysterious disappearance. Pushing away the plate, she nibbled at a fresh roll and savoured a hot chocolate drink, which was sinfully rich and satisfying. Having decided that a visit to that holy of holies, the Sabatino Bank, required a special effort in the grooming department, she was relieved to discover all the designer clothes that Roel had bought for her stowed away in the dressing room. She donned a burgundy lace slip dress, which took on a much more conservative aspect when teamed with a short floral cotton coat.
The Sabatino Bank in Geneva was hugely intimidating in size and very contemporary in design. Her nervous tension began to increase. Explaining that she was Roel’s wife created a decided stir of discreet interest at the reception desk. A young man in a smart suit escorted her up to the executive floor. He showed her through double doors into a very large office.
Roel was lounging back with tigerish grace against the edge of a sleek light wood desk. Garbed in a dark blue tailored suit, grey shirt and stylish silk tie, he looked nothing short of spectacular. ‘Fill me in,’ he invited softly. ‘It’s not anyone’s birthday. To what do I owe this interruption? What is the special occasion?’
‘I just wanted to speak to you—’
‘Then you should get out of bed earlier,’ Raul spelt out drily. ‘This is the middle of my working day and I am not available for personal visits.’
‘That’s good…cos this is a business call,’ Hilary informed him, hoping to really grab his attention with that declaration.
Role vaulted upright and extended an authoritative lean brown hand. ‘Come here. I want to show you something.’
Disconcerted, Hilary moved forward. He closed a hand over hers and proceeded to urge her towards a door on the other side of his office. ‘Where are you taking me?’
It was a washroom. Stepping behind her, Roel posed her in front of the vanity unit, so that she could see their reflections twinned in the mirror above the basin. Her grey eyes focused on his lean bronzed face. Pulses quickening and heart racing, she sucked in an audible breath.
‘What do you see?’ Roel asked as he tipped the light coat off her taut shoulders and slowly removed it.
Hilary was mesmerised. ‘Us?’
As though to draw attention to them, Roel flicked the narrow beaded straps of her dress, which bared her slender shoulders. Then his long fingers glided from her tiny waist up over her narrow ribcage to rest just below the burgeoning thrust of lush breasts enhanced by the flattering fit of the stretchy lace fabric. Hilary stopped breathing altogether. At that precise moment the reason why she had come to Roel’s office was a complete blank to her. His big powerful body was touching hers and she was infinitely more aware of his bold masculine arousal.
‘Is this how a woman dresses for a business appointment, cara?’ Roel enquired silkily.
‘I know the dress is a bit flirty but I love it, so I put the coat on top of it so that I would look more conservative,’ Hilary told him breathlessly.
‘That’s not the point I was making. Just for the record, put a dress like that over a shape like yours and the result could not be described by any stretch of the imagination as…conservative.’
Hilary leant back into him and gave him a huge dreamy smile. ‘You like it?’
‘Isn’t that what you wanted?’
‘I didn’t think about it but you’re probably right.’
A superior gleam in his brilliant golden eyes, Roel set her back from him with gentle but firm hands. ‘So this scene belongs in the bedroom, not inside my bank.’
Absorbing that speech, Hilary blinked on the sizzle of pure rage that lit up like a neon sign inside her. He actually thought that she had come to his precious bank to try and seduce him away from a working ethic set in ancient stone!