He watched the movement of her tongue, noted the increased pulse at the base of her long, sexy neck and smiled lethally. “So you owe me, as far as I can see.”
Helen blinked in confusion. “I owe you?” she gasped. “How so?”
He moved in closer, his eyes noting the small shiver that ran down her slender form and the slight color that was pinkening her lovely, high cheekbones. “You are here in my building, using my office to take pictures which you’re then going to turn around and sell to someone else, probably a magazine or some sort of collection, correct?” he stated.
His questions suddenly made sense and for a moment, she was suddenly extremely disappointed that this conversation had turned to profit. She shrugged as if she did this kind of negotiation all the time. . “You want a portion of the sale, is that it?” she asked, her heart falling to her stomach because she wouldn’t get much for the pictures and every penny counted when one was a photographer.
His eyes didn’t reveal any hint of his next words so they took Helen by surprise. “No. You owe me dinner,” he stated firmly. He took her bag from her shoulder and started walking away.
Helen gasped, completely off kilter with his demand, and thrown completely for a loop by his action. “What are you doing with my cameras?” she almost yelled, chasing after him as he started to leave his office. “Give them back!”
“I’m not taking them from you,” he said, turning so suddenly that she plowed into him. His arm immediately went around her waist to hold her steady, her small frame trapped against his taller one and he immediately liked the feeling. He saw her mouth open and his mind had to work hard to control his body. He wanted this woman. And if his body had anything to say about it, it would have to be soon. “I’m simply carrying them for you until we reach my car. This bag is heavy.”
Helen tried to form a thought but she couldn’t. Her mind was spinning and her fingers itched to touch him, to further investigate the hard muscles that her body was currently feeling. Her hands touched his arms to steady herself and her eyes followed, fascinated by the muscles underneath the smooth Egyptian cotton of his shirt. He was amazingly strong, she thought absently.
Her mind clicked back, refocusing on the issue at hand and dismissing her fascination with his body. “I can’t go to dinner with you.” She quickly dropped her hands down to her side and prayed she wouldn’t fall down.
“Why not?” he asked, enjoying her breasts that were pressed against his chest. They felt full and soft and extraordinarily good.
“Um….because….” she couldn’t think when he was this close. She needed to put space between them but her arms and legs weren’t following the direction from her brain. “Because,” she said once again but this time, it came out only as a whisper.
“Not a good enough excuse,” he said softly, his voice husky as he watched her attraction for him on her face and in her beautiful, expressive soft green eyes. He stood up quickly and released her, knowing that remaining in that position would only scare her. He’d only met the woman fifteen minutes ago and all he could think about was getting her into his bed. From the wariness he was seeing, he would have to take things a bit slower than he’d like.
He turned and walked out of his office. “Edith, call The Westin and get a table for two in…,” he glanced at his watch, “twenty minutes,” he said to the still nervous Edith as he passed by her desk.
Helen raced along behind him, her mouth dropping open at the mention of the very exclusive restaurant located in the heart of the financial district of London. Now that she had some breathing room, her anger was able to diffuse the more mystifying feelings she’d been experiencing. She liked anger much more. It was cleansing and helped her regain her focus. “She can’t get a table on this short a notice at The Westin,” she snapped, instantly defending the woman who had helped her earlier. “That’s impossible.”
In response, Alec turned back to look down at the brunette, his dark eyes holding her green ones hostage. He didn’t say a word but simply waited, listening for Edith’s voice. He smiled wolfishly as his secretary calmly informed the maitre’d of the restaurant that Alec and a guest would be arriving shortly. “Thank you very much, Jeffrey,” she said. Placing the receiver down, she smiled at Helen. “The table will be waiting for you when you arrive,” she stated efficiently.
Helen shook her head in amazement. “How is that possible? You need reservations so far in advance it isn’t even worth trying. And yet you call up only a few minutes before you want to eat and you get a table?”
“Of course,” Alec replied. “This way.”
He walked to a private elevator which opened immediately for him. He waited for Helen to enter but held back his chuckle at her obvious irritation as she followed at a slower pace, every movement of her slender figure showing him her irritation.
They rode down the elevator in silence and stepped out into a parking garage where his chauffer was already waiting with the back door open. Two other men stepped into an SUV parked behind the limousine while a third stepped into the passenger seat next to the chauffer.
“Who are they?” she asked, slightly nervous of the angry looking men with black suits and suspicious bulges at their sides.
“My security detail,” he replied curtly before putting a hand to her back and urging her into the car.
Helen watched nervously until they were all in the vehicle. As soon as the door closed, the car sped away.
She sat in the back of the limousine, her arms crossed over her chest and wondered when she had agreed to have dinner with him. This was crazy! She should demand that he pull over the vehicle and let her out.
Just as her head turned towards him and her mouth opened up, he stopped her with a simple denial. “No,” he said, obviously reading her mind.
Helen decided to play dumb, give herself time to formulate a response. “No, what?” she asked, knowing he couldn’t really be reading her mind.
“No, I’m not letting you out of the car. So sit back and enjoy the ride. We’ll be at the restaurant in a moment.”
Helen tried not to show her increased irritation at the accuracy of his mind reading but she couldn’t help the small breath that he heard. “How did you…?” she started to say.