‘So prim!’ He smiled mockingly. ‘I think you’ll find it will pass off a lot easier coming from me.’
‘And I’m equally sure it won’t,’ she said with saccharine sweetness. ‘It’s perfectly all right, Carly won’t read me the Riot Act. She doesn’t happen to rule with an iron will.’ Her tone implied that she left that sort of thing to people like him.
His eyes narrowed. ‘With a little spitfire like you I think she ought to.’
Lauri gave him a cold look. ‘I happen to respect Carly’s authority,’ she retorted.
‘And it’s pretty damned obvious you don’t respect mine!’ His eyes were glittering with a dangerous anger that made Lauri move nearer to the door. ‘Well, respect this!’ His hand snaked out to curl about her nape, pulling her resistingly forward, grabbing a handful of her fiery hair to pull her head back. He moved with slow deliberation, enjoying the torment in her eyes before his mouth claimed hers.
Lauri felt as if she were drowning, that her body was no longer her own but was part of Alexander Blair as he ravaged her lips with a hunger that devoured her very soul. No one had ever kissed her like this, his mouth demandin
g her surrender to his domination, to the male sensuality of him.
And she was surrendering, offering no resistance as he pushed her back againt the seat, his body half covering hers as he made her aware of the desire he couldn’t hold in check, the clamouring of his senses for fulfilment.
But it was Alex who finally became aware of the fact that the car was parked on the side of a particularly busy road, and that they were providing a free show for the passers by. He moved back into his own seat, pushing his tousled hair back with hands that weren’t quite steady.
‘You see,’ he muttered grimly, his breathing ragged. ‘I told you you’re explosive to my equilibrium—for equilibrium read sexual urges.’
‘Yes.’ She was totally breathless, dazed by his fierce lovemaking.
Alex eyed her impatiently. ‘You have a way of saying that word that makes me wish we were in more suitable surroundings.’
‘Like a bedroom.’
‘Exactly!’ He sighed. ‘This is hardly the way I should be behaving in the middle of the street!’ He sounded disgusted with himself.
‘And with a little typist too,’ Lauri taunted to cover her confusion. She hadn’t given a damn where they were a few minutes ago, she had just wanted him to go on kissing her.
He didn’t rise to her taunt, and some of the angry tension left his body as he smiled. ‘I thought all good bosses had affairs with their secretaries. It’s traditional, you know.’
‘I’m not your secretary, and we are not having an affair!’ She glared at him, her usual fiery nature returning to save her from making a fool of herself. She had been totally shaken by that kiss.
‘True,’ he acknowledged. ‘But have you learnt to respect my authority yet?’ He reminded her of the remark that had challenged him to that devastating reaction.
She thought of defying him yet again, but didn’t dare incite another of those shattering kisses. ‘Yes,’ she said quietly.
‘And you’ll admit that there is an attraction between us, and go out with me willingly?’
‘Yes,’ she agreed huskily. There was no point in denying the attraction, he would only have to kiss her again to find that out, and being attracted to him she wanted to go out with him.
Alex shook his head in a dazed fashion. ‘You never say what I expect you to say,’ he mused. ‘Maybe that’s why I find you so intriguing. You won’t bore me, Lauren,’ he denied her earlier claim. ‘You’re much too unpredictable for that.’
‘I really will have to go now.’ She avoided getting into a discussion about how he felt about her, anxious to get away from the male magnetism of him.
He nodded. ‘Sure you don’t want me to explain to Miss Hammond?’
‘You’ll only make matters worse.’
‘About Saturday,’ he stopped her hasty flight, ‘am I allowed to pick you up at your home?’
‘No!’
‘Then where?’ he mocked.
‘I—I’ll meet you at the end of my road. You must understand,’ she said desperately at his look of anger, ‘it could make things very awkward if people knew we were going out together, especially for Jane. Think how she would feel if she knew you were dating her niece. Besides, it could be very embarrassing for you too.’
‘I don’t give a damn about me. My employees are paid to work, not to speculate about my private life.’