Page 19 of The Tycoon's Affair: Tempted By Desire
Sidonie took a deep breath, as if that might ease the tumult in her breast and in her blood. The ease with which this relative stranger seemed to have sneaked under her skin scared her and exhilarated her in equal measure. It was like being on a rollercoaster ride with no one at the controls.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEXIOCAUGHTAmovement out of the corner of his eye and looked up from where he was pouring some wine into two glasses. His heart stopped in his chest.
Sidonie stood at the bottom of the stairs, her hands clasped together. She was in black figure-hugging denims and pointy shoes. She wore a grey T-shirt with something that sparkled on its shoulders. She hadn’t put her hair up—because she knew he’d just take it down?—and it tumbled over her shoulders, glowing with an inner fire that flared under certain lights.
Despite the obvious cheapness of her clothes, once again he was struck by her natural beauty, and he wondered how on earth he’d ever dismissed her. The jeans he’d put on felt restrictive, and he gritted his jaw against his newly rampant libido. He had been mourning its dysfunction only twenty-four hours ago. The irony was not lost on him.
He put down the wine bottle and walked over. He saw her cheeks flush as he got nearer. His blood leapt in response. It was as if they were linked. Attuned to exactly the same rhythms. Making love with this woman... Alexio knew instinctively that one night would not be enough, but he pushed that revelation down rather than deal with the skin-prickling awareness of something dangerous that accompanied it.
She looked nervous and gestured to her clothes, clearly self-conscious, making Alexio feel as if he wanted to reassure her in a way that no other woman of his acquaintance ever needed.
‘I didn’t come prepared for a fancy dinner. You’ll have to excuse me.’
Alexio took her hand. His voice was gruff. ‘I want you to be comfortable. I didn’t make much effort either.’
He saw her eyes drop to take in his plain white shirt and faded jeans. Bare feet. She looked back up again and her eyes had grown wider, their pupils dilated. Her cheeks were more flushed.She wanted him.
She obviously heard movement in the kitchen and said, ‘Was I longer than twenty minutes?’
He smiled. ‘About forty...but I allowed for that. It seems a safe bet where a woman is concerned.’
He immediately saw the aquamarine fire in her eyes, the way her small chin tipped up, and expected a tart reply. But he wouldn’t let her hand go when she tried to pull away. He had to keep touching her. It was like a compulsive need.
‘You’ve known a lot of women, then, to make this empirical study of their time-keeping on a general level?’
Alexio’s smile faded. He could see past the bluster to where there was a hint of genuine insecurity. He touched her jaw and saw her mouth firm, as if warding off his effect on her.
‘I’m no monk,glikia mou. But neither am I half as promiscuous as the press would like to paint me. When I take lovers I’m always up front. I don’t offer anything more than mutual satisfaction. I’m not into relationships right now.’
Sidonie looked at him with that incredibly direct gaze that seemed to sear straight through him.
‘Okay...’ she said, and smiled, showing that gap between her teeth.
Alexio wanted to throw her over his shoulder so that he could take her upstairs right now and to hell with dinner.
She grinned then in earnest, and bent down to do something. Alexio saw her shoes being kicked off on the floor and her height dropped by an inch.
‘Well, seeing as you’re not making an effort to wear shoes,’ she clarified, ‘I don’t see why I have to go through the pain.’
Before he did something to inadvertently demonstrate how off-centre she made him feel, Alexio tugged her towards the dining area, where a table had been laid for two, complete with lit candles. It was by the window, with a view of London lit up by night beyond the river and the bridge.
The chef’s assistant was setting out their starters and Alexio said, ‘Thanks, Jonathan. I think we can take it from here. Say thank you to Michel for me.’
The young man exited swiftly.
Alexio had done this many times before—for business meals in his apartment as well as for women—but tonight it felt different. Sidonie was looking at everything with such wide eyes.
‘I presumed you were joking earlier about being a vegetarian.’
Alexio lifted the platter’s lid to revealconfitduck dumplings and saw Sidonie’s eyes gleam with anticipation. It had a direct effect on his body, and he wondered if she would have that same hungry look when they made love.
She had the grace to glance at him sheepishly. ‘I had you figured for a chest-beating carnivore who would be horrified at the thought of watching me chew a lettuce leaf for half an hour.’
Alexio held Sidonie’s chair out for her so she could sit down, and said in a low, throaty voice as she did so, ‘I had a vegetarian option lined up just in case...but don’t you know by now that nothing you could have said would have put me off?’
He was rewarded by pink cheeks when he took his own seat opposite her. He raised his glass of white wine and she took hers.‘Yiamas.’
