Page 12 of The Boss's Forbidden Assistant

‘Explain.’

Her eyes widened. She hadn’t meant him to hear! Cheeks flaming, she glared up at him.

‘No.’

He lifted his brows.

‘No,sir.’ She added the title mockingly, but that didn’t matter. Even now, when they were sparring, it had the same effect as before, so she knew that it was playing into some kind of fantasy of his, just as it was for Harper. The idea of being made love to by this man, dominated, commanded...

Please, sir...

She closed her eyes on the fantasies that were filling her mind, unwanted, totally unwelcome and definitely unhelpful in the midst of their current conversation.

‘Did he break your heart, Ms Lawson?’

She finished her wine in several gulps and replaced the glass a little more heavily than she’d intended.

‘That’s none of your damned business,’ she responded, scraping back her chair. ‘Now I see why you always eat alone—you’re a terrible dinner companion, Mr da Rocha.’ She side-stepped her chair. ‘Goodnight.’

CHAPTER FOUR

FORTHESECONDnight in a row, Salvador felt as though a bomb had detonated in the middle of his life. He felt that everything was completely out of control, and he hated that.

But what the hell kind of game had he been playing at? She was right. He’d been flirting with her. Teasing her. Wanting her to flirt back. For no other reason than she did something to him that he liked, something he’d ignored for far too long.

She was stunning, sexy and whip-smart too—he’d checked her work carefully these first two days, not trusting her not to make mistakes. After all, he didn’t really know anything about her. But not only had she been faultless, she’d gently corrected other people’s errors and she’d reorganised spreadsheets he’d been working from for years, making them easier to read at a glance. She was obviously a phenomenal intellect, a power house, and so far able to keep pace with him without losing her mind.

So why had he teased her?

If he wanted to get laid, he could go to Rio for the night and find a woman, any woman, to take to bed. That would be a hell of a lot simpler than this dangerous, complicated flirtation.

Except, Salvador wasn’t in the market for a lover. Losing Anna-Maria and the baby had left Salvador with a kind of emotional paralysis. He knew he was better alone.

Whether he desired Harper Lawson or not, giving into his stupid, masculine impulses would be a shortcut to disaster.

He couldn’t do it.

He needed to be strong for the next twelve nights. That was all—twelve nights—and then things would be back to normal. Amanda would be in the office next to his and Ms Lawson far, far away in Chicago, with her whip-smart brain and sensual smile charming someone else.

He groaned as the thought of her mouth filled his mind, as he remembered the way she’d smiled and, even more dangerously, eaten that olive. The plump flesh had been pushed between her lips, her eyes closing briefly as she’d savoured the flavour, and then that glistening droplet squeezing from the corner of her mouth so that he’d wanted to lean forward and lick it with his own tongue, lick her, all over.

Christ.

With the feeling he was fighting a losing battle, he scraped back his chair and left the table, not returning to the house, but taking the well-worn path down the hill towards the beach, in that moment needing to lose himself in the wildness of the island.

She’d been hoping the curtains between their offices would be closed again, but no such luck. So, when Harper arrived at her desk carrying a coffee and croissant the following morning, it was to see Salvador already at work, dressed in what she was coming to realise was his uniform: a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of trousers and socks but no shoes. That small detail did something funny to her heart.

She blinked as he lifted his head, pretending she hadn’t seen him, moving to her own desk quickly and flicking the computer to life with fingers that trembled a little. It was impossible not to be aware of him, though, not to feel him as though he were pulsing through the glass. She made a sound of irritation under her breath while waiting for her computer to load, sipping her coffee, then mentally cursing as her eyes strayed to his office of their own volition, definitely without her consent.

This was impossible! How could she treat him normally when she was aware of every little thing he did? She dove into her work, piling through emails first, pulling her hair over one shoulder and toying with it as she read and triaged, responding as needed before moving onto the next.

She was glad to be busy, because eventually the work distracted her, just enough to forget about the man next door—the desire she felt for him, the fact she was so turned on by him, that he’d told her last night she was beautiful, so matter-of-factly, as though he’d simply been remarking on the weather.

But Harper wasn’t charmed by that kind of compliment. She’d heard it said to her mother too many times, and always by men who’d broken her heart, so she’d learned from a young age that being admired for looks didn’t really equate to much in the end.

She leaned back in her chair and lifted her coffee to sip it, before realising with disappointment that her cup was empty. On autopilot, she stood and moved to the door right as Salvador stepped through, his head bent over a stack of papers he was reading, so she quickly shelved any idea of this meeting being more than a coincidence.

Nonetheless, it brought them both together for the first time since she’d basically stormed out on him last night.

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