Page 23 of The Rules of Their Red-Hot Reunion

CHAPTER SIX

PASCOSTOODJUSTinside the service door leading to the private dining room, his eyes on Aisha. Thank God Binta’s managers were brilliant at their jobs, because he’d been less than useless since Aisha arrived.

Nobody, before her or since, had managed to distract him the way she did.

Pasco moved to allow a waiter carrying a tray of sushi to pass him and immediately stepped forward again so that he could see her clearly. She stood in a group comprising her mother, two of her four sisters, and two other women who were either aunts or old family friends. Fifteen minutes had passed since she’d joined the group and Aisha had yet to say a word. Judging by her carved-in-stone face and fixed smile, she’d taken a couple of verbal hits and her body language had changed from uncomfortable to I’m-so-over-this.

Anyone who looked closely enough could see the misery in her eyes, her tension. It was in her hunched shoulders and in the way she held her champagne glass in a death grip.

Unlike everyone else, Aisha wasn’t having any fun...

Damn this. He couldn’t stand here and watch her suffer for a minute longer. Turning around, he walked down the short passageway and stepped into the very busy kitchen. He caught the executive chef’s eye. ‘Do you have everything in hand?’ he demanded.

‘Absolutely.’

‘Good man. Have you seen Jenna?’ he asked, referring to the senior of the two on-duty managers. He was told she was in the storeroom and Pasco headed in that direction. She walked out of the room as he approached it, her arms full of bottles of rum.

‘We’re having a run on mojitos,’ she cheerfully told him.

‘Excellent,’ he replied. He pushed a hand through his hair, feeling uncomfortable. ‘Would you and Sbu be able to cope if I took off?’

She nodded. ‘Sure.’

‘I’ll be on my phone if you need me.’

Jenna flashed him a smile. ‘Boss, we often run this place on our own. We’re good, I promise.’

He was micromanaging and he knew it. He loved control, having it and wielding it, and stepping back was always difficult to do. But right now, Aisha needed him and this business didn’t. ‘Thanks. Call me—’

‘We won’t,’ Jenna told him as she sauntered away.

Right. Pasco pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and pulled up Aisha’s number. His fingers flew across the screen as he tapped out a message.

You’re not having fun so I’m sending a waiter to you. He’ll escort you to the staff car park where I’ll be waiting. Do not make me come and find you because you know I will.

Aisha stepped into the small car park at the back of Binta to see Pasco lounging against his McLaren Artura, his long legs crossed at the ankles. Her eyes collided with his and she sucked in a deep breath, barely remembering to thank the waiter for showing her the way. He was such a man, Aisha thought, as she walked towards him. Confident, hyper-masculine, alpha to the core. Intelligent, good-looking and ripped, the man had it all. Could she be blamed for her many X-rated fantasies?

Tucking her clutch bag under her arm, she walked across the small car park, her eyes not leaving Pasco’s as he walked around the bonnet of his car to open the passenger door for her.

‘Are you okay?’

She wanted to lie but couldn’t. ‘Better now.’

Aisha settled herself into the passenger seat and moments later Pasco sat beside her. Being with him made her feel stronger and invigorated her. He was like her own custom-made energy drink, a one-of-a-kind battery charger. She turned her head to look at him and found him watching her. Their eyes clashed, collided, neither of them able to look away and tiny fireworks exploded on her skin. After what felt like minutes, she managed a small smile.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be working?’ she asked.

‘Honestly, that place is so well run, I feel like I’m in the way.’

‘It’s not like you to be hands-off,’ Aisha said. In fact, she knew that Pasco never shirked his duties, ever. If he said he was going to do something, then he always followed through. Their marriage was his only failure. The thought made her sad.

‘Binta doesn’t need me, you do.’

Aisha’s eyes widened at his statement. He was putting her before work? What was happening here? ‘I was with my family,’ Aisha stated, keeping her tone light. ‘It wasn’t like I was facing a firing squad.’

‘You hated every bloody minute, Aisha. Don’t try and tell me that you didn’t,’ Pasco muttered, jabbing the start button on his car. The engine roared to life, and she felt its power in her feet, up her spine, deep inside her.

‘I hated every minute,’ Aisha conceded as he pulled out of the car park into the main road. Aisha watched as heads swivelled towards them, and she noticed the pointed fingers and appreciative gazes his fancy car elicited.

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