from the constant nagging in his mind that he didn’t belong there. Despite her choice in clothing. Heat flared in his stomach, but he vehemently ignored it. She was off limits.
He arrived in the lobby at seven fifty to organise a car to take them to their destination. With the builders stalling while the contract was renegotiated, he doubted the resort would be ready in time. He could only find two venues available at short notice, but he didn’t think either would be suitable.
The sound of high heels clicking against the marble floor caught his attention. He took in her attire—which again showed off more than it covered. A black pleated mini-skirt barely concealed the apex of her thighs and a white vest-top cut far too low.
Irritation and lust warred throughout his body, making his good mood take a nose dive. ‘That is what you deem appropriate to visit an exclusive venue?’ he asked in disbelief.
Alexa smirked. ‘It’s hot outside. If you have a problem with the way I dress, you’ll have to get over it.’
If he took her to Mr Romero’s mansion in the hills dressed as she was now, the old man might have a heart attack. Or worse, refuse to rent out his second home to Ric for the ball.
‘You’re not going dressed like that. Come on.’ He turned, sure another glimpse at her outfit would make his suit trousers too tight to be comfortable.
‘Wait.’ The staccato click of her heels on the marble floor confirmed she followed him. A shred of his irritation fell away and his lips curved involuntary. ‘I’ll dress how I want.’ He stalked past one of the restaurants and headed straight on. ‘Ric, where are we going?’
He didn’t answer until he’d reached a door marked ‘Personnel Only’.
‘We’re getting you something appropriate to wear.’ He unlocked the door, pushed it open then stepped inside. Flicking on the switch, he turned back to her. ‘Come on.’
She eyed him like she was wondering if he had a screw loose. With her choice of clothing, he wondered the same about her. He had told her where they were going.
‘There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.’ She propped a hand on her hip and he knew she wasn’t going to do this the easy way.
Ric decided arguing would be a lost cause. Instead, he turned and strode over to one of the racks filled with clothes and searched for a uniform in what he guessed was her size. The click of her heels sounded behind him. He grinned again. Handling Alexa was becoming easier.
‘Here,’ he pulled out a knee length navy pencil skirt, a jacket and a white blouse which looked like they’d fit. ‘Try these on.’ He turned to her with a no nonsense expression.
Alexa wrinkled her nose as she looked at the garments. ‘You want me to wear navy?’
She made the word sound like an expletive. Ric couldn’t stop his lips from curving this time. ‘You’re working, Alexa. Not a going to a fashion show.’
She opened her mouth to protest, but he shoved the garments into her hands. ‘Put these on.’
Scowling, she said ‘There’s no way I’m wearing this…this…shapeless granny skirt.’ She held the hanger out in front of her. ‘Look at it.’
Fighting his amusement, he clung to his irritation at being disobeyed. ‘You can’t go to Mr Romero’s dressed like you are now. Would you rent your favourite property to a renowned party girl in a mini-skirt?’
She frowned at him. ‘What’s the difference from wearing this—’ she indicated the black scrap of material with her free hand. ‘To this?’ And held up the hotel uniform. ‘He’ll still know who I am.’
‘Appearances are everything. If you look respectable, people will believe you are.’
She eyed the garments in her hands with distaste twisting her lips. ‘Fine. I’ll wear it to his house, but the minute we get back I’m changing.’
Ric smirked. ‘We don’t have all day.’
She frowned at him. ‘A little privacy?’
Leaning against the rail, he folded his arms. ‘Don’t be shy. It’s not like I haven’t seen you in much less before.’
A smile played around her lips. ‘Yes, but you haven’t seen me without a bra. So if you don’t mind…’
Lust arrowed to his groin at the same time his gaze fell to her chest. A number of curses sounded in his head as he realised she was telling the truth. God, was she trying to shatter his control?
Swallowing, he made his way to the exit. ‘Change quickly. We leave in five minutes.’ He closed the door behind him and prayed for the strength to survive the morning with her, knowing she had nothing on beneath her shirt.
As they wound their way up the mountain in the back of the limo, she gaped through the window at the massive mansion built into the hillside. It reminded her of a smaller Buckingham Palace and the way it spread out over four tiers down the hill made her wonder how long it had taken to build.
With colouring and pillars similar to those of the White House, Alexa guessed Mr Romero had more than his fair share of wealth. This house alone could probably keep all the homeless children in Europe off the streets.
But as impressive as it was, Alexa didn’t see it as a place for Ric’s ball. Personal parties with friends, family and possibly world leaders, yes. Not a place to raise funds for a charity. It was too showy, impersonal and other than the obvious value, there wasn’t anything exciting about the property.
The car pulled up at the front door on the lower level. Ric leaned close and she was hit with his spicy smell. On the drive over his scent had blown out of his open window, but now they were motionless it tickled her senses and aroused her loony hormones to dangerous levels. Despite the air conditioning, her body heated and her skin prickled.
‘He doesn’t speak English well, so I’ll do most of the talking.’
His voice was a deep rumble, all husky and so delicious she had the brief desire to lick him. Pull yourself together, Green.
‘Try to memorise the dimensions of the ballroom and if we decide to go for it, we can work out the rest later.’
She nodded, afraid to speak in case her voice came out high pitched and desperate. It was bad enough she was stuck working with him for a month, fantasising about the git after he’d blackmailed her twice now was out of the question. Taking a deep breath, Alexa opened the door. Ric’s driver stood next to the car, a frown on his brow. She offered him a smile she hoped looked apologetic, but she was glad to get away from Ric before she did something ridiculous, like give in to the urge and lick him.
Ric reached her side and she smoothed a hand over the ugly skirt, trying to get rid of the wrinkles.
‘You look fine. Respectable,’ he stated.
She wrinkled her nose, but didn’t comment. With a hand on the small of her back he guided her over the gravel driveway. The tingling in her skin morphed into a swift burn, flaming over her body from head to toe. Alexa wished she’d worn a bra, that way she could ditch the horrible jacket instead of sweating buckets in the early morning sunshine. After
