She jerked back. Thank goodness he hadn’t kissed her, because she knew that she would have put up no fight whatsoever. And she hated the part of her that felt bereft of the experience. She looked away.
‘Sidonie.’
The fact that his voice was rough didn’t give her any comfort.
‘What?’ she snapped, reaching for her bag and putting it on her lap so that she could put her stuff back into it.
She found her glasses and stuck them on, even though she only needed them for reading. They felt like the armour she needed. She looked at him and then wished she hadn’t. His face was all stark, lean lines. Nostrils flaring. Eyes dangerous.
People around them were starting to stand up, unbuckling seatbelts, reaching for bags.
Sidonie forgot for a moment that he’d even asked her for dinner. She felt ridiculously vulnerable. Exposed.
‘I’m sure you have an assistant waiting nearby to fast-track you off the plane and out of the airport.’
Alexio’s mouth firmed. She was right. Even now he could see a uniformed official saying, ‘Excuse me...’ as he fought his way through the crush to get to Alexio.
He grabbed for her hand and Sidonie glanced around them, but no one was looking. All eager to get on with their journeys.
‘Sidonie, I meant what I said. Come for dinner with me tonight.’
She looked at him and still felt that awful sting of rejection because he hadn’t actually kissed her. She hated that it made her feel vulnerable. ‘I’m going to Dublin. I can’t stay in London just on your...whim.’
His eyes flashed. ‘It’s not a whim. If you stay I’ll take care of you—get you home.’
Sidonie pulled her hand free. She shook her head. ‘No...I’m sorry, but I can’t.’
The uniformed person was at their seats now and he bent down to say something to Alexio, who made a curt reply. He stood up and reached for his jacket and coat. He looked down at Sidonie, whose eyes had been glued to that magnificent torso as he’d stretched up.
‘Come with me. At least let me try to help you make your flight.’
Sidonie looked at him and gulped. Now he was distant, unreadable. A shiver went down her spine and she knew in that moment that she would hate to cross him. He would be a formidable enemy.
Stiffly she said, ‘You don’t have to do this. I can find my own way and wait for another flight if
I have to.’
He sighed deeply. ‘Just...don’t argue, okay? Come with me—please.’
He held out his hand and Sidonie looked from him to it. This was probably the last time she’d ever see him. On some level she realised with a jolt that she felt as if she could trust this man who was all but a total stranger. Even though she was fighting it.
That revelation stunned her. She’d never trusted easily after the cataclysmic events of her childhood. And losing both parents within such a short space of time, together with the recent revelations about her mother’s nefarious actions, had made the world feel increasingly fragile around her. As if nothing she knew was solid any more. Yet being in the company of this man had made Sidonie feel more solid than she’d ever felt. Protected. Which was crazy.
Even more crazy, though, was the fact that Sidonie couldn’t resist the lure of a few more minutes with this man. Her hand slipped into his almost of its own volition and it was disconcerting how familiar it felt—and yet how deliciously terrifying, as if she were stepping off a ledge.
She was out of her seat and Alexio was leading her towards the back of the plane, guided by the man who had come to fetch him. The back door was open just for them, with the frosty stewardess saying goodbye, sending Sidonie daggers on seeing her hand clasped tightly in Alexio’s.
Hating herself for how much she liked the way her hand felt in his, Sidonie followed him down the steps to where another official and a car were waiting. She heard Alexio give her name to the person and instruct him that her luggage should be brought to meet them on the other side. A VIP customs official inspected her Irish passport.
And then they were in a chauffeur-driven car and speeding towards the terminal Sidonie needed to get to for her connecting flight.
CHAPTER THREE
ALEXIO WAS LOOKING at his smartphone but not seeing anything. He was incandescent with rage...and lust. Angry with himself that he’d not taken the opportunity to kiss Sidonie when he’d wanted to. But something had held him back—something that had whispered to him that she wasn’t like the women he knew. That the strength of what he was feeling was off the charts.
He prided himself on being a civilised man. With very select tastes. Not a man given to random outbursts or to passionately kissing a woman an hour after meeting her. And yet he’d come within seconds of doing just that.
Yet still...had he let her go? No. He’d all but hauled her off the plane. Sidonie was a tense figure beside him now, her bag on her lap, her hands clasping it.