She gasped. “I’m not flirting with your staff!”
His eye brow went up with her declaration, silently challenging her assertion. “What would you call showing up here with a man who is trying to climb the corporate ladder? You’re not exactly the good little wife sort, now are you?”
That hurt. “That’s the worst thing you could say! Take it back!” she said through gritted teeth, one hand fisted at her side while the other one held onto her wine glass with a firm grip, trying desperately hard not to toss it in his face for that last insult.
Alec snarled at her. “Why should I?” he demanded and pulled Jim’s card out of her skirt waist band, holding it up like a gauntlet. “Give him up, Helen. Or I’ll fire him without any kind of recommendation. He’ll never work in Europe again.”
Helen snatched the card out of his hand and snapped, “You’re horrible! I can’t believe you’d even stoop so low as to fire someone in your company simply because I’m friends with him.”
He leaned in closer, his anger almost palpable. He grabbed her hand that was still holding the business card aloft and leaned forward, his body language trying to intimidate her, bend her to his will. “Getting a man’s private phone number constitutes more than just a friendship! Or are you so free with your wiles that you’ll sleep with just about any man?”
She squared her shoulders and glared at him, furious with his arrogant attitude and his ungentlemanly comments which, as far as she could tell, were completely unprovoked. “You’re out of line, Alec. And you’re being horrible!” She pulled her hand out of his grip, thankful that he let her go. She started to walk away from him but he stopped her by grabbing her elbow and swinging her back to face him, tearing the card back out of her hand. “I’m not kidding, Helen. I never make idle threats.”
“For your information, Mr. Dionysius,” she slurred his name like an epithet a moment before grabbing the business card out of his hand and putting it behind her back so he couldn’t snatch it again, “this phone number is not for me but for someone else. And I’ll appreciate it if you’ll stay out of my business in the future. I’ll catch a cab home tonight.”
Helen was so furious, she forgot to be circumspect about the plan she’d hatched a half hour ago. Instead, she walked over to Amanda, handed her the card and apologized. “Here,” she said as the blond woman took the card, looking a little wary. “Jim’s a great guy. He’ll treat you well but don’t hurt him,” she said softly.
Without another word or look at anyone, she walked to the stairs, intent on leaving and never speaking to Alec again. She’d almost made it when she felt Alec’s hand on her elbow. She didn’t want to make a scene but she was too furious with him to accept his bullying techniques.
“Leave me alone,” she whispered, glaring up at his handsome face and trying desperately to keep some space between their bodies. She couldn’t get close to him or she’d... she didn’t want to even think about what could happen if he touched her. She was angry with what he’d said, but her anger didn’t seem to diminish her attraction for the awful man.
“I can’t,” he replied back through gritted teeth and moved her over to one of the other groups. He introduced her to several of his vice presidents and Helen was stunned when the charm she’d witnessed that first night reappeared. She kept stealing glances at him, wondering what had ticked him off earlier. She didn’t care, she huffed and took another glass of wine, sipping it angrily. She kept trying to scoot out and add a little space between them, hoping she could escape and get home, get away from him but each time she tried, Alec foiled her plans by anticipating them and countering them. She spent the next three hours gritting her teeth and trying to escape, while at the same time, wishing her jelly like knees would become stronger when he touched her casually, or that her eyes didn’t stray so often to his firm mouth, wanting him to kiss her, feel his hands on her body.
She sipped her wine slowly, careful not to get drunk by switching to club soda later in the evening. That would only tip the odds in his favor and she definitely wasn’t going to give him that much power over her. Each time she found her eyes on him, she pulled them away, knowing that her thoughts would also stray.
The crowd slowly thinned out but Helen wasn’t aware of that. She stayed on the patio, ignoring the air that was cooling down as the sun set. It was still warm but she didn’t notice. In an effort to counter his tingling touch and the heat that emanated from him while he kept her close by his side, she fueled her anger about his irritating manner. She was polite and interested in what anyone else had to say, but ignored him when he spoke.
Suddenly, she looked around and noticed that everyone else was gone and was startled. “I need to leave,” she said when she caught him looking at her with an odd gleam in his eye. She set her glass down on a table and shivered. She could feel his eyes watching her, boring into her back.
“How are you going to get home, Helen?” he asked softly, the intimacy of the night closing in on them now that all the other guests had departed.
“I’ll…” she wasn’t really sure about that. Looking around, she realized that even Jim had left her. Then she remembered giving Amanda Jim’s business card. “Did Jim and Amanda leave together?”
Alec’s mouth frowned. “I believe so. You should give up on him. He wasn’t right for you.”
“I know that,” she said in exasperation. “Why do you think I help the two of them get together?”
He looked at her curiously and walked forward. “You really aren’t interested in Jim?” he asked.
“No.”
He watched her for a moment before he finally accepted her answer. “Good. I’d hate to lose him. He’s a good man.”
Helen’s mouth dropped open. “You really would have fired him? Just because he was dating me?”
“Yes.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
He took a strand of her hair between his fingers, feeling the texture. “You’re mine, Helen. The sooner you come to realize that, the better for both of us.”
His words sent a shiver of tension, of excitement through her body and she was ashamed. She shook her head. “No, Alec. I can’t. Nothing’s changed.”