Page 22 of Worth the Risk

So maybe I was imagining that crazy tingling moving inexorably down my back, intensifying and leaving my whole body gripped in little tremors.

Or maybe it was my need to be fucked, specifically by Gideon Mortimer since those intense minutes in his bathroom, that was driving me insane.

I fished my phone out and typed out a short message.

I’m here.

His reply was equally short and immediate.

Are you? You seem otherwise engaged.

Excuse me?

No, you’re not excused, Leonora.

Even via the stark typeface, I could tell he was disgruntled. I was staring at my phone when the next message popped up.

Turn around.

I spun around.

He stood five feet away, piercing grey eyes locked on me. The man was pissed, even as he stared at me as if he owned me.

Those eyes shifted a second later to Andy, dismissed him before returning his stormy gaze to me. ‘Leonora.’

It wasn’t exactly a greeting. His voice throbbed with something savage and visceral that raced fresh skitters of awareness over my skin.

I stared at him, let his gaze rake me from head to toe, let that barely disguised hunger in his eyes wash over me. I indulged in it for a stolen moment, let it sting my nipples and saturate between my thighs so possessively that it felt as if he were stroking my clit without lifting a finger.

I was still absorbing the effect of his presence when he closed the gap between us.

Andy shifted towards us. ‘Hey, how about that drink?’ he asked.

Gideon’s face tightened. ‘That’s not going to happen. She’s here for me,’ he said through stiff lips, his gaze not once leaving my face. ‘Aren’t you, Leonora?’

Something in his demeanour sent a different set of tingles racing down my spine. A warning that something else was going on here.

I was so caught up in figuring it out, I barely saw Andy leave.

‘Shall we go somewhere a little more private?’ Gideon asked with that escalating edge in his voice.

‘Let’s get something straight first. I’m here for a meeting with you. Nothing else.’

‘I never suggested otherwise. But since we’re casting insinuations about, is that how you use your premeeting time? Having men slobber all over you?’

A blush surged into my face. ‘Excuse me?’

‘Again, no,’ he rasped.

I took a breath, and bit back my hot response when I noticed we were attracting attention.

Confidentiality rated very high on my list. I never discussed client business in public. Even if this particular client seemed determined to burrow his way under my skin.

‘The request still holds,’ he extended after half a minute.

I swallowed my irritation. Come Monday he would be my client. I had to maintain a degree of professionalism.

‘Fine, lead the way.’

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