Page 15 of Tempting Her Forbidden Boss

Why was she in New Zealand anyway? He turned; there was time to find that out later. What mattered now was settling her in someplace else. Someplace safer. ‘Let’s go.’

‘I’m not leaving here with you. I’m fine.’ Her feet were firmly planted shoulder width apart; she looked as if she was about to declare that he’d have to carry her out forcibly.

And he felt like it. But instead of obeying the urge of his body, he softened his words with a smile. ‘Face it, Danielle, you don’t really have a choice. You’re not getting paid tomorrow because you got paid when you left the agency. You could only pay for one more night here. You have no money, no friends to call on. And you’re obviously not fine, because if you were you never would have been so worked up that you had to come and see me today.’

Her eyes were huge in her face now. He saw her blinking fast a couple of times and gentled his tone even more. ‘Get your things. I’ll take you to a hotel or something.’

For another long moment he thought she was going to refuse. But then he saw her swallow and turn, bending to pull her pack from the bed. He moved to help her but was lanced through with her glare.

His lips twitched but he managed to bite back the smile as he froze. She had to accept his help anyway and she hated it. She’d hate him more if he showed his amusement. So he looked away, checking the cupboard beside her bed was bare. Just as he turned to go he caught sight of something under the bunk, and bent to see what it was. A little candle, deep red in colour and new—the tip of the wick was still white. He picked it up and sniffed. The fragrance was delectable. Edible.

‘This yours?’ He held it out as she turned, the pack now on her back.

Soft colour rose in her cheeks. Interesting.

‘Yes,’ she answered shortly and took it from him.

Alex watched her tuck it into the pocket of her handbag. So beneath the snappy defensiveness there was a feminine side—she liked pretty candles with sweet smells. The kind of scent he could handle in his sheets.

No, Alex.

His moment of irresponsibility in the lift last week had caused her trouble enough already. She might be attractive, but he wasn’t going to mess around with her more. He’d see her right and then run far, far away. He had enough to deal with without lust fogging up his brain—and that was exactly what was happening every minute he was near her. The fog blurred everything—especially his reason. So the sooner he had her sorted, the better it would be, because he had far bigger issues to stomach.

He glanced at his watch, surprised to see how late in the afternoon it was. Lorenzo would be waiting for him. He might as well take her home and figure out what to do from there.

* * *

Dani watched the sky-high metal gates in front of them roll back and then Alex drove the car into the garage. Only once the engine and his seat belt were off did he look at her, brows lifting. ‘Safe at last.’

Oh, yeah. Real safe. She listened as the heavy garage door sealed shut. So here she was in Fort Knox with the guy she barely knew but who had all but ravished her in the lift last week. And she’d let him. Really, really safe.

He was wearing that far-too-wide smile again. ‘Come on, Danielle. Let’s go sort this out.’

‘This isn’t a hotel.’

‘No.’

‘This is your house.’

‘Yes.’

‘This isn’t a good idea.’

‘Relax.’ He led the way up the short flight of stairs. ‘I want to find a solution to this mess just as much as you do. Here we can do that in privacy.’

‘Is there really a job?’

‘Danielle—’

‘Dani,’ she snapped, unable to bear hearing her full name a second longer. She hadn’t been Danielle in years. She was Dani. Her tomboy name—keeping her sexless and uninteresting to her mother’s boyfriends, until puberty had really hit and her body had let her down. Then she’d had to go for more forceful tactics.

‘Dani,’ he repeated, smile vanishing.

She regretted correcting him. When he said it with his rounder New Zealand vowels it sounded so much smoother. The tingle went in her ears all the way down her centre to her toes—causing them to squirm restlessly in their boots.

‘Everything okay?’ Someone else spoke—with more than a hint of dryness.

Dani craned her head round Alex. There was another tall guy waiting for them at the top. So much for privacy.

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