enough to be found elsewhere in this world.â
âYou expect me to sleep with you while youâre here?â
He looked over at her, his lips tilted at one corner, his dark eyes resolute as he pushed himself away from the bench and took two paces towards her.
Instinctively her feet edged back.
âNo, Alexandra. You have the wrong idea entirely. I donât expect you to sleep with me. I want you awake, very much awake. I donât expect we should get very much sleep at all.â
Alex could only swallow as he moved a step closer,and then another, forcing her back against the small under-counter refrigerator. Only then did he stopâright in front of her.
âAfter all,â he continued, âitâs not as if you are a virgin, as I can attest. Youâre not married, and youâve obviously had other partners. Sofia told me of your child. You expect me to believe that was the result of immaculate conception?â
Hot, angry tears pricked her eyes. Even if he didnât know that the child he referred to was his, there was no excuse for speaking to her that way. âAnd that makes it okay, then, does it? I should be only too willing to fall into your bed?â
His eyes held hers as he curled one hand around one hip and then the other. Alex flinched, surprised by the move, and grabbed his forearms, trying to push them away. But his arms were like steel and couldnât be budged.
âI know the way I feel when I touch you. I know the way you respond to that touch. Can you deny that you would like me to touch you even more?â
He pulled her closer, making a mockery of her resistance.
âCan you deny that you want me in your bed?â
Alex felt his arms slide up behind her, pulling them even closer together.
He was right, in so many ways. His touch now was so much like it had been years beforeâfirm, warm, hot . Back then one touch hadnât been enough. One touch had never been enough. Not when it hadsparked desire and want and need. She couldnât deny that she would like him in her bedâhadnât she dreamed of just that over the last years?âbut their lovemaking had never been callous then, and she wouldnât let it be reduced to that now.
Not when there was so much at stake.
Her face close to his, she delivered her answer in the steadiest voice she could muster. âYouâre wrong. I donât want you in my bed.â
âLiar,â he said, smiling. âYour body gives me a different answer.â
Before heâd finished talking heâd slipped one hand below her jacket, sliding it across the silk of her shirt and up to capture her breast. Her breath hissed in as his thumb almost casually stroked the peak of one hardened nipple. With his other hand he pulled her even closer to him, pressing her against his obvious hardness.
âNow tell me you donât want me.â
Alexâs tongue met parched, dry lips as she battled to find strength she didnât feel. âI donât want youânot like this.â
Her voice trembled, and without slackening his hold he stared down at her, disbelieving.
âNever like this,â she added, stronger this time.
A second later his hands slid out from under her jacket and he shrugged.
Heâd let her go. But there was no time to congratulate herselfânot before Nick was on the attack once more.
âSo you might feel like this now. But have you realised just how hard it is going to be for you to keep denying this attraction between us as we work together, day after day?â
He smiled, looking entirely like a man sure he had just delivered his trump card. Alex gulped in air, trying to replace the oxygen he had scorched with just his touch.
âI donât see why that should be a problem,â she said in barely a whisper as she reached around him to retrieve the envelope. She held it up to him. âMaybe you should read this.â
He looked at the blank