fascinated him, stirring his body in a way that made it imperative that he wait before leaving the privacy of the elevator car. It would not be prudent to allow anyone at Kane Haley, Inc., to see his undisguised response to another employee.
“We have nothing to talk about,” Julia snapped.
A flicker of admiration crept through Raoul. At any time Julia was glorious, but angry? Gold flashed from her hair and eyes, color brightened her silken skin and she breathed deeply, emphasizing the womanly part of her that he’d already enjoyed so much. He drew a harsh breath of his own, exerting control over his unruly body.
“Nothing?” he asked. “Perhaps you would like to explain why you gave me an incorrect phone number.”
Julia’s eyelids dropped, concealing the hazel gold of her eyes. “Did I?”
“You know you did. Although the lady at the dry-cleaning establishment was quite cordial, I did not wish to speak with her, I wished to speak with you.”
“You could have called the company and gotten the number.”
“Since it was obvious you did not wish to speak with me, I respected your wishes. Now I question if that was the correct decision. You are being very evasive, Julia.”
“I told you—”
“Yes,” Raoul interrupted impatiently. “You told me many things. Some I have chosen to ignore.”
“That’s arrogant.”
“Isn’t that what you expect? The sheik who is as arrogant as his royal Arabian heritage?”
“It’s not your royal anything making you arrogant,” Julia returned. “It’s…” She stopped, clearly feeling she’d already said too much.
“Ah, yes. You do not think well of my sex, I think.”
“It isn’t necessarily your sex I was thinking about. In some ways that part is impressive.” Her gaze flicked downward for a brief moment, and he grew hard again.
She was impudent.
And sweetly naughty.
In the old days of his country a woman such as Julia would have been a disgrace, but no longer. As a youth his grandfather had embraced new ways of thinking about women, and for two generations they had been free to speak their minds in Hasan.
Sometimes that wasn’t always a blessing.
“I still do not understand why you wished such a temporary arrangement,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be your nature.”
“Of course it is.”
Despite the denial, her gaze shifted once again, this time in evasion, and Raoul sighed.
“You are not promiscuous, chère.”
Julia glared. “Stop calling me…French things.”
He suppressed a smile, demanding control of his mouth. French endearments came naturally to him. Though his grandmother had spent far more years in Hasan than in her homeland, she remained exquisitely French, from the tips of her toes to the top of her perfectly coiffed head. He had spoken her native language from the time he was in his cradle and was named for Grand-mère’s own father.
“Julia, the fact remains that you are not the type for such casual encounters.”
“That’s ridiculous. You know nothing about me and don’t have a clue about my romantic life.”
He smiled knowingly. “A man knows when a woman has not been intimate for a while. There is a certain hesitation in her body when he—”
“Never mind,” Julia said hastily, certain her face was burning from embarrassment. Raoul was too knowledgeable for comfort, and if he was convinced she’d been celibate for a long time he would never believe the baby wasn’t his. The question was, what would he do once he figured it out?
Maybe she should tell him first.
Or maybe she should quit her job and leave town.
Oh, right. That’s a great solution.
She enjoyed the stability of her position at Kane Haley, Inc., and she was darned good at it. The Assurance and Advisory Service Division where she worked was growing by leaps and bounds. She had an excellent salary, and a number of friends here in Chicago. Leaving was not an option, particularly with a baby on the way.
All at once the demanding arrogance vanished from Raoul’s face, and he removed his hand from the control panel. “You are right. People will wonder if we overly delay the elevator.”
His expression had closed to the point she would never have guessed they were discussing anything more intimate than the corner deli, and she shook her head. How could a woman hope to understand a man like Raoul Oman?
Quickly, before he could change his mind, Julia pressed the button for the fifteenth floor and waited as the car swooshed upward. Normally she did take the stairs, preferring to be more active. But the baby was more important than anything else, and she was following everything the doctor said to the letter. And it should still be all right, as long as she did her best to stay quiet and eat as much as her stomach could tolerate.
The tour of the fifteenth floor went reasonably well, and they moved to the sixteenth without Raoul broaching more personal conversation.
As they passed the door of her own office, Julia’s feet faltered when she saw the president of the company inside, staring at her desk with a kind of fierce concentration.
“Kane, is something wrong?” she asked.
“My meeting is finished,” he said. “How was the tour, Raoul?”
“Ms. Parker has been most informative.”
“Hmm. That’s good. Fine.”
Raoul lifted his eyebrows. He’d never seen Kane Haley so distracted. They’d met a number of years before, and both men had formed an immediate liking for the other. When the position of CFO had come available, Kane had immediately contacted him to see if he was interested.
He had been.
Raoul cast a glance at the slender blond-haired woman standing at his side. In no small way, Julia was responsible for his decision. She fascinated, annoyed and frustrated him beyond measure. While a part of him appreciated her reluctance for a more permanent arrangement, he couldn’t help being intrigued.
Truly, he did not understand. Weren’t all women anxious for those permanent bonds?
Certainly, the parade of marriageable women his mother had vexed him with had wanted everything that an alliance with the royal house would bring—wealth, power, position, the title of princess in a country whose princesses were revered and protected. The paparazzi would find no welcome in Hasan; the people would see to it.
Julia cleared her throat, apparently uncomfortable in the silence. “Kane, I’m sure you have things you wanted to discuss with Mr. Oman. In the meantime I’ll get back to work.”
