What that said to her was that he was not prepared to take things a step further, and she hated herself for knowing that that was what she had ended up wanting. Ended up craving.
Because she had fallen in love with him.
She’d gone and torn up the rule book and done the one thing she had promised herself she wouldn’t do. In fact she had done the one thing she had been so convinced she wouldn’t be in danger of doing because Alessandro Preda and her, as a couple, made no sense.
So much for relationships that made sense. Another myth to be chucked out of the window.
At least she hadn’t gone running back to him with a change of heart, greedy to take the crumbs that might still be on offer. Not that she hadn’t thought about that on more than one occasion. Knocking on his door...telling him that she had thought things over...that he was right...that she wanted to carry on sleeping with him until the fire burnt out...
He wasn’t to know that there was no danger of her fire burning out, was he?
But she had resisted.
It was only now, when she heard his voice, that she realized just how much she’d ached for him to get in touch with her.
And he had.
She didn’t dare contemplate what that meant, but she dared to hope...
She wasn’t sure that she would even be able to play it cool. Of course she wouldn’t leap into immediate acquiescence... She might allow a heartbeat’s pause, so that he could understand that she was actually considering turning him away, but then she would crack. She knew she would because the past eleven days had been the worst in her entire life.
‘I was just about to leave,’ she said, in what she hoped was a cool, calm and collected voice—as opposed to one that sounded breathless, excited, which was how she was feeling. ‘I guess you’re phoning to talk about the problems with the Wilson deal? Watson Russell told me that you were concerned they were going to pull out at the last minute and that I was to do whatever was in my power to stop that from happening. I’m pleased to say that I think I may have persuaded them to go ahead...’
‘The Wilson deal... Yes...of course...’
‘I really do think that it’s a brilliant direction to go in...electronics and telecommunications might be right up there when it comes to making huge profits, but it’s important that we keep publishing companies alive. And this small one, if it’s developed and run properly, stands a good chance of making a profit. I told Ralph Wilson all of this, and he seemed very happy.’
‘Drop the files up for me,’ Alessandro told her abruptly.
‘Sure. I’ll make sure they’re on your desk first thing in the morning.’
‘Wrong response. When I said drop the files up for me, I meant bring them to my office—right now.’
Did he want to see her? Hell, why not?
He phoned through to Rebecca, told her to wait for him in Reception...that he had some last-minute business to tie up...and was told, in reply, that there was no rush. She was working on her laptop in the taxi because her working day never seemed to end...blah, blah, blah...
Alessandro barely heard the tail end of her sentence because there was a knock on his door and his whole body tensed in anticipation of seeing Kate...
Which enraged him.
His face revealed nothing, but in the space of a few seconds his cool dark eyes had clocked her from head to toe.
And he didn’t like what he saw.
Where the hell had the suit gone? Aside from that little window in time when she had let her hair down she had always worn suits. Grey suits, black suits, navy suits, the daring cream one...
No suit. She was wearing a floaty dress in smoky blue colours over which a businesslike blazer did absolutely nothing to hide the sexy body underneath. And she wasn’t wearing pumps. She was wearing sandals. Flat blue sandals with diamanté on the straps. And she had painted her toenails—a pale transluscent pink that matched the polish on her fingernails and also her lip gloss.
‘So sorry,’ he drawled, turning his back on her and walking towards his desk. ‘It appears I’ve stopped you on your way to a cocktail party...’
Kate reddened and said nothing.
She had hoped for...what, exactly? Disappointment raced through her and she could have kicked herself. She had thought...what? That he had called her to his office as an excuse to see her?
‘Here are the files.’
She held them out and was ignored, although he did signal to his desk, where she dropped them before spinning round, ready to head for the door, mortified at the optimism that had made her reapply her lip gloss and straighten her hair. Which was tied back but no longer in its severe bun. Instead it was loose, with only two blue clips on either side restraining the riot of tumbling waves.
‘Wait a sec...’ Alessandro drawled, ignoring the files. ‘How are the team settling into their new roles?’
She turned slowly to face him and focused on a spot just beyond his shoulder. Safer. No perilous eye-to-eye contact. ‘You should know how they’re settling in. It’s early days, but I did have a debrief with my new boss... I filled him in on how everyone’s adapting to their new roles... Hasn’t he reported back to you?’
‘I take it from your remarkable shift in dress code that you’ve vacated the ivory tower...?’
‘I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean.’
‘It means that after a lifetime of suits you seem to have adopted a different dress code for work...’
‘I’ve adopted the same dress code as everyone else...’ She glanced down at her very respectable outfit, feeling the rake of his dark eyes on her and remembering everything she knew she should be forgetting.
Alessandro saw the buzz of his mobile and ignored it. Red-Hot Rebecca could wait for a couple more minutes.
‘And what else has changed...hmm?’ he enquired softly.
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Kate answered tonelessly. ‘But if that’s all I’ll be on my way.’
‘On your way where? You never said...’
‘Actually, I do happen to be going out tonight...’ Did the supermarket qualify as ‘going out’? she wondered. ‘And then I shall be spending the weekend away. So...’
Alessandro clenched his jaw. Where? Where was she going later? And with whom? And would it just happen to be the same person she would be spending the weekend with?
Demanding questions surged through his head with angry force, and making him even angrier was the fact that his libido was rising faster than a rocket from a launch pad. That flimsy dress was made to be ripped off. That little line of tiny pearly buttons would challenge any man with the slightest sex drive—and his sex drive was unstoppable.
Another buzz on his mobile. He shoved it into his pocket and ignored it.
‘Are you going anywhere exciting?’ he asked through gritted teeth.
Kate laughed gaily. ‘Oh, is there anywhere in London that isn’t exciting? So many clubs and restaurants! Although I shall be heading out of London for the weekend. It’s always nice to have a change of scenery...’
What the hell could he say to that?
Hadn’t he told her often enough that it was all about fun? All about sex and letting her hair down?
She had let her hair down...and who the hell was she having sex with...?
He was spared having to say anything else because just at that moment his office door was pushed open and his date...Red-Hot Rebecca, with the medicinal powers to rescue him from his ongoing foul mood...was stepping into his office.
He forced himself to smile. Rebecca was in red. Red dress barely skimming long white legs...red clutch bag...scarlet lipstick... Red was the one colour Kate always avoided. He remembered her saying so. Some passing titbit of information that had stuck in his head.
The hotshot lawyer was dressed for play—and all of a sudden she was the last thing Alessandro wanted. Why hadn’t she waited in Reception?
Kate, positively demure by comparison, still managed to have the sex appeal of a siren, luring him on, making him blind to his date and everything he had hoped she might do for him.
‘Kate...this is...Rebecca...’ He shot his date a sideways glance before his eyes returned compulsively to Kate, keenly noting the barely there flush that tinged her cheeks.
Something insane and ridiculously childish made him want to sling his arm around Rebecca just to see what reaction that would evoke in Kate, but he resisted the impulse. He was jealous of whoever she was about to see...whoever she was going to be spending the weekend with...and he wanted her to be jealous too...
It felt like an incontrollable weakness.
Kate was already looking at Rebecca, her eyes guarded and unrevealing.
‘You must be the finance bod.’ Rebecca broke the silence. ‘You poor dear... I do hope the brute pays you well for working late...?’
She flashed Alessandro an intimate, raised eyebrows smile that made Kate’s teeth snap together.
‘Although my sympathies are with you, my dear...’ she continued in her cut-glass voice. ‘I’m about to take silk and working late is something of a habit now...positively dreadful...’
‘Dreadful,’ Kate agreed dully.
‘Alessandro...’ The striking brunette turned to Alessandro and coiled her arm into his. ‘Shall we let this poor thing get on with the rest of her life...? It’s too, too naughty of you to keep her here—especially when we should be getting on...’