Page 17 of About Last Night
He felt the corner of his mouth twitch into an involuntary smile and had to fight to pull back his stern expression. He shrugged. ‘If you want it. Judging by the size of those glasses of wine you downed and the way you exerted yourself last night, I’m guessing you probably need it right about now.’
She leaned forwards in her chair, her eyebrows pinched together and her gaze steady. ‘I don’t normally do things like that, you know. It was only because it was Laura’s birthday and I promised to go and I hate letting people down when I’ve promised something.’
‘Even though you had this meeting today?’
She sighed and sat back, turning to stare out of the window. ‘I know, it was unprofessional, but I was nervous about today and then I met you and couldn’t drag myself away.’ Her gaze flitted back to his and Tristan could have sworn her pupils dilated.
She reached out a hand towards him, but he drew away quickly. The last thing he needed was for her to touch him when his whole body ached to pull her out of that chair and onto his lap. She was clearly trying to use the connection she’d forged with him last night to get herself out of trouble and he needed to be careful.
He crossed his arms in a show of defensiveness and nodded again to the food in front of her.
‘If you want it, it’s yours, Tallulah. Go ahead.Help yourself.’
‘You like your power games, don’t you?’ she said, catching on to his pointed sarcasm and narrowing her eyes.
‘Power games?’ He paused and thought about it. Itwasa test, of sorts. Would she sit there and tuck in, showing a devil-may-care attitude? Or would she refuse to touch it on principle?
The ball was in her court.
‘It’s just a sandwich, Tallulah,’ he said, raising a derisive eyebrow and waiting for her move.
Their gazes locked and he found himself inappropriately turned on by engaging in this battle of wills with her. He was acutely aware of how intensely focused she was on him, as if she was trying to read his innermost thoughts. It was as if nothing buthim existed in the world at that moment and it reminded him of how it had drawn him in the night before.
She played well, but she sure as hell wasnotgoing to win this.
Lula’s heart beat so hard against her chest she thought it might escape at any second and run wildly around the room shouting, ‘She can’t take the pressure; her head’s about to explode!’She needed to keep calm and maintain some sort of composure here, but being this close to Tristan again was addling her already exhausted brain.
And she wanted to eat that bacon sandwich,somuch, but she was afraid she’d look weak and lose the game and he’d hand her a P45 and wave her on her way without a second thought. On the other hand, perhaps she needed to woman up here and show him she wasn’t intimidated by his game-playing. To convince him she wasn’t a liar or a manipulator like Jez.
Her reputation was on the line.
Resting her elbows on the arms of the chair and clasping her hands together in front of her, she considered her next move. The sensible thing to do was to brush aside her little white lie last night and bring the conversation back to her issue with Jez.
‘Look, can we put aside what happened yesterday for now and focus on the reason for this meeting?’ she said with as much composure as she could muster.
Tristan sat back in his chair and stared at her for a moment, one assessing eyebrow raised, before gesturing for her to continue.
She nodded her thanks and took a deep breath to try and even out her erratic breathing, fixing him with what she hoped was an emphatic-looking gaze.
Don’t let me down now, brain.
‘Jez has been subjecting me to sexual harassment for months. Recently he withdrew his promise to move me onto the Breakfast Show because I wouldn’t sleep with him.’
There was no need to mention the little ‘slip-up’ of already having slept with him – just because she’d given in once, it didn’t mean she was obliged to again. She had a horrible feeling it might weaken her position if Tristan knew she’d already succumbed to Jez’s advances, but most of all she was embarrassed to admit how weak-minded she’d been. She didn’t want Tristan to think she was just some easy lay. It would taint the memory of the incredible night they’d had together.
She leant forwards in her seat. ‘I deserve to be given that show on my own merit. I’m damn good at what I do, but when I made it perfectly clear I wasn’t going to be blackmailed into sleeping with him he took me off my Drivetime Show too.’ Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence and she cleared her throat and looked away from him, blinking away the hard pressure behind her eyes. This was no time for tears, but the mixture of stress, lack of sleep and confusion about how she felt about seeing Tristan again were playing havoc with her state of mind.
She longed for him to smile at her like he had last night. Just the quirk of a lip would do – anything to break the icy atmosphere that had formed between them. But Tristan only nodded, his face devoid of expression.
‘How long have you wanted the Breakfast Show?’ he asked, his gaze averted as he picked up the tablet next to him and tapped something into it.
His sudden lack of attention made her go cold. She was losing him. ‘Since I first started freelancing here. Hell, since I first started working in radio. It’s the best gig at the station. At any station.’ Her voice sounded panicky and she took another calming breath before continuing. ‘Jez promised me he’d let me take over sixmonths after I joined Flash, because he’s too busy running the station to give the show his full attention, but he’s hung on and hung on. He loves the status being a presenter gives him, but honestly, he can’t run a show for toffee.’ Her voice had become louder and harsher the more she talked and she ended in a rush, her brow furrowed in a painfully tense scowl.
Damn her runaway mouth.
The way Tristan was silently studying her now was unnerving. There was no longer any sign of the playful, trusting man she’d been so intimate with only hours ago.
A tic jumped in her eye and her temple throbbed in time to its beat as she waited nervously for his response.
