Only one thing was going to make her feel better...
‘Can I get you anything else?’
The man’s head on a plate?
‘Could you ask Mr Wright to join me?’
‘Sure.’ Anna turned to leave and paused to look back over her shoulder. ‘Would you like me to do it right now?’
She set her coffee down and nodded with a smile.
Her PA returned it, a mirroring spark in her eye. ‘No problem.’
She waited for Anna to close the door and then lowered herself into her chair, smoothing her hands over her black pencil skirt. She took out her laptop and placed it on the desk, interlacing her fingers and resting them on top as she waited.
It didn’t take long. There was a short rap on the door and she forced her shoulders to relax. ‘Come in.’
‘Jennifer,’ he greeted, entering the room and closing the door behind him.
The thrill of his proximity mixed with her wrath and it was a wonder she could raise her eyes to his, avoiding the open collar of his shirt, the appealing frame within the designer suit, the hint of his cologne crossing the distance between them.
She swallowed subtly, praying he wouldn’t spy it, and forced words out in a level voice. ‘Marcus, please take a seat.’
His eyes flickered. ‘You know I’m in the middle of a meeting, right?’
‘One that I was supposed to attend—yes.’
He wavered. ‘We’re just about to wrap it up with a vote—why don’t you come and join us?’
‘A vote?’ She raised her brows with a wry smile. ‘On something I have yet to be brought up to speed with?’
He tucked his jacket behind his arms and slipped his hands into his pockets. She didn’t want to think about how the move pulled his shirt taut against his firm expanse of chest.
‘Well, I would hope that you’d have enough faith in Maxine to trust her opinion—she’s quite impressive.’
Something smarted but she ignored it. ‘Please take a seat, Marcus.’
She needed him sitting, with at least some of him concealed by furnishings.
He cleared his throat and walked towards the chair across from her, his eyes flicking over her, their chocolate depths assessing.
‘I don’t have long,’ he said, placing his hands on the arms of the chair and resting back into it.
He gave the impression of being relaxed but his eyes were sharp, doing their damnedest to read her.
She’d save him the trouble.
Turning in her seat, she got to her feet and stepped around her desk, feeling his eyes follow her. She didn’t stop until she came alongside him, resting back against the desk-edge so that she towered over him.
Much better.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping her front, and for a split second she saw it, the unguarded fierce hunger, and it almost broke through her anger. Almost.
‘I trust Maxine implicitly,’ she began, ‘but that’s not the issue here.’
‘Mind telling me what is?’
His deep husky voice reverberated through her belly. His nearness was taking over that part of her she wanted to ignore.