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was sitting there, ready for her to collect, and there was a queue of people behind her still waiting to be served.
    ‘No. That’s fine. Thank you,’ she muttered awkwardly as she grabbed up the hot chocolate and made a quick about face, instantly bumping into the bearded man standing directly behind her in the queue. ‘Sorry.’ She grimaced awkwardly.
    ‘No problem,’ he replied.
    Joey hurried out of the coffee shop before she did anything else to embarrass herself, breathing deeply once she was outside on the pavement and grateful for the cold February wind to cool her hot and flushed cheeks. She was aware that her hands were trembling slightly as her fingers curled tightly about the warmth of the cup containing the hot chocolate.
    What the hell was
wrong
with her? Well…she knew very well what was wrong—she’d been aroused by a sexual fantasy about Gideon St Claire and whipped cream in the middle of a coffee shop! He was the very
last
man Joey should ever think of in that way—especially as they were going to be working closely together for the next four weeks.
    Gideon didn’t even
like
her, and certainly didn’t approve of her, so what on earth—?
    ‘Are you feeling okay?’
    Joey looked up to see that the bearded man from the coffee shop had collected his order and was now standing beside her on the pavement.
Was
she feeling okay? Well, she didn’t know about that—she was hot, bothered and aroused! Something she hadn’t felt for a long time—if ever.
    ‘You’re looking a little feverish,’ the man continued. ‘Perhaps you’re coming down with a cold? There’s a lot of it about. It’s the weather, of course. One day it’s cold and the next it’s sunny.’
    ‘Yes, probably,’ Joey answered awkwardly, looking up at the man for the first time.
    He looked to be aged in his late thirties, and was quite handsome from what she could tell through the dark beard that hid most of his lower face. His eyes were a deep and pleasant blue. He also looked vaguely familiar…
    ‘Do I know you?’ she asked politely.
    ‘I’m sure I would have remembered you if we had met before.’ He gave her a brief, noncommittal smile.
    Joey accepted the compliment. ‘Sorry to have held you up in there. I was miles away.’ On a bed with silk sheets, with Gideon.
No!
She had to stop thinking about that!
    ‘As I said, no problem,’ the man assured her lightly. ‘Do you work around here?’
    Joey frowned slightly; it was one thing to apologise to this man for holding him up, but she wasn’t about to tell a complete stranger where she worked. A stranger who still looked vaguely familiar, despite his denial.
    ‘Yes. And it’s time I was getting back.’ She smiled again, to take the sting out of her dismissal, as she turned to walk away.
    ‘Enjoy your hot chocolate,’ he called after her.
    ‘Thanks.’ Joey was a little disconcerted to realise that the man must have been aware of her enough earlier to have noticed she had ordered hot chocolate to go. And she was sure she felt his blue eyes following her as she walked back down the street.
    Paranoid.
    She was becoming paranoid. The man was just being polite to show that he wasn’t annoyed at being delayed, for goodness’ sake. She was probably just feeling oversensitive after indulging in that steamy fantasy.
    Probably? She was
definitely
feeling oversensitive. And in all the wrong places too.
    ‘Good lunch?’
    Gideon had only just arrived back in the office, and he drew in a sharp breath as he turned and saw Joey, once again standing in the connecting doorway between their two offices.
    ‘I think we need to lay down a few ground rules, Joey,’ he rasped as he removed his jacket and hung it in the closet before moving to sit behind Lucan’s imposing desk. ‘The first one being that in future I would prefer you to knock before you come barging into my office.’
    ‘Why?’
    He clenched his teeth. ‘Because I would
prefer
it,’ he repeated evenly.
    She