Page 36 of Seducing Her Scarred Boss

‘I’ve promised my mother I’d meet her to help with something at lunch.’

‘But you’re supposed to be making your jewellery. You’ve still got several pieces unfinished.’ He climbed to the stair just below hers.

‘I know,’ she said, pausing for a second to wonder howheknew—had he been poking around in her room up there? ‘But I promised.’

He looked angrier than he had when he’d left last night. He stretched his hands out to the rails either side of the stairs so he made a wall she somehow had to get past. ‘But you’ve only got a week ’til the show.’

She knew that too. ‘I’ll work on them later.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t want to do it, do you? The exhibition.’

‘What? Of course I do.’

‘If you did you’d be prioritising it.’

She stiffened at the implied criticism. ‘Things other than work have priority in my life, Lorenzo.Peoplehave priority.’

Which was more than could be said for him. As far as she could tell he lived for work and work alone. People—relationships—didn’t feature in the equation at all. ‘My mother has asked for help. I’m pleased to be able to.’

‘No, she could get someone else. It’s just that you can’t say no when someone asks you. It wouldn’t matter if it was her or anyone.’

‘And that’s a bad thing?’ She glared at him.

‘It is when it stops you from achieving your own dreams.’

‘Like I said, people come first for me, Lorenzo. Always.’

‘Aren’t you a person? Isn’t what you want just as valid as what others want? Surely if you explained how busy you were, she’d find someone else to do whatever it is. A paid assistant, perhaps?’

She stiffened—but not because of the little jibe.

His eyes narrowed. ‘She doesn’t know, does she?’ With scary precision he zoomed in on the problem.

No, and Sophy didn’t want her to—didn’t want any of them to. ‘The sooner I go and do this, the sooner I can get back upstairs.’

‘But you were out yesterday afternoon too. For three hours.’

What was he, her timesheet? She wasn’t accountable to him. Not on this.

‘You can’t let this opportunity go, Sophy. Your work is too good.’

That made her even more tense—she felt pressure enough without him making sweet comments like that.

‘I really have to go, Lorenzo.’ She looked past him down the stairs. ‘And it really isn’t any of your business.’ He wouldn’t open up to her at all, so why should he have the right to comment on her life?

‘Sophy,’ he said quietly, leaning forward and branding her lips with the heat of his. ‘At least be quick.’

EIGHT

‘Sophy,can you comewith me, please?’ Lorenzo met her as she walked into the building.

She glanced at Kat behind the reception desk, hoping the girl hadn’t picked up on the chill in his words. ‘Of course.’

Was he mad with her? She hadn’t returned to the warehouse yesterday—had got held up completely until the early evening. Her sister had come round and it had turned into a whole family gathering. She’d made excuses and gone after a while—but she needn’t have hurried. Lorenzo hadn’t come round, had left no message on her phone. It was the first night they hadn’t had sex all week. And stupidly she’d had less sleep than ever. So she really wasn’t in the mood to have a hard time from him.

He led her out the back and gestured for her to get into his car.

‘Where are we going?’ She fixed her seat belt—he already had the engine running.

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