one combines very well.’
‘I appreciate the adverbial upgrade,’ he countered with a lazy grin. ‘But the fact remains that the basic assessment is mediocre. Are you sure you don’t want to make me try on another one?’
‘It lifts your manly essence into the realms of the sublime,’ she practically yelled. ‘I am trembling with lust.’
‘I think she likes it,’ Lex told the lady. ‘I’ll take a month’s worth.’
Sienna fled Lex’s company after that and Lex let her. The scent of cinnamon and orange soap and Lex the marauder stayed in her mind and on her hands until there was nothing for it but to shower it off, wash it straight down the drain, and replace it with plain old airport hotel soap and shampoo, never mind the gorgeous goodies from the soap shop burning a hole in her handbag. Even then her mind strayed as she lathered up and scrubbed hard. She imagined a man’s hands on her, but not just any man’s hands. These were knowing hands, demanding hands.
Lex’s hands.
‘Why me?’ she whimpered. Why Lex? ‘Why now?’
Oh, there’d been that time on her eighteenth birthday when Lex had commandeered her for a slow dance at the end of the evening and she’d been a mass of nerves for fear he was planning to kiss her, but that had been years ago. Besides, he hadn’t. Not on the lips. He’d kissed her temple instead, told her to watch out for Bobby Carmichael’s wandering hands, and left with the beautiful blonde events manager that Adriana had hired to oversee the evening.
The beautiful blonde hadn’t lasted a week.
Neither had Bobby Carmichael.
Then there’d been that time when Lex had turned up at her flat one morning and the very sweet Aidan Russell had chosen that particular moment to wander out of her bedroom. Lex hadn’t liked coming face to face with Sienna’s love life, never mind that his own had spanned three continents by then, the ice in his eyes could have frozen the Thames. After about two minutes of stilted conversation, including introductions, Aidan had become visibly nervous.
Aidan hadn’t lasted long either.
How many years ago was that? Two? Three? There’d been no one for Sienna since then. Sighing, Sienna added ‘long overdue’ to her list of reasons for her sudden uncomfortable awareness of Lex’s manly attractions and tilted her face beneath the spray. Moments later visions of Lex in the shower with her—with his hands on her—began to assail her. She turned the cold tap on full and concentrated on getting clean rather than aroused, but occasionally an image stuck and when it did it ripped into her with cyclone force. Her body bowed and her skin ached for a lover’s touch.
A lover’s touch, she told herself fiercely. Not Lex’s touch.
Any lover would do. There was such a thing as taking the edge off.
And then her relationship with Lex would be the same as it always had been. Sacrosanct.
Sienna emerged from the shower feeling suitably clean but in no way relaxed. The thought of Lex showering with his soap and Sienna having to sit next to him on the plane for another eight hours, breathing him in, wasn’t a reassuring one to a woman whose body ached for fulfilment and whose mind had remained back in London. If he turned that lazy charm on her again, heaven forbid if he touched her, she was likely to implode. Lex would probably find it amusing. Sienna didn’t find the notion amusing at all.
Think, Sienna, think. She’d known this man for most of her life. She knew his strengths and all his flaws. She knew full well that he was only amusing himself with her on account of a distinct lack of anything else amusing at hand. The obvious solution, therefore, was to find something else for him to focus on.
She hit the shops again and bought him a book. An adventure story with ticking bombs and many villains. That’d doubtless keep him occupied for, oh…five minutes. She bought him a book of mastermind sudoku puzzles. That’d hold him for longer. What else? A major crisis of confidence on Wall Street would be good. She skimmed the newspapers for just such an occurrence, but it wasn’t to be. What else would a good PA collect for her boss before getting back on that plane?
Probably her composure.
Definitely her wits.
Her resolve to not become romantically involved with old friends, new bosses, or millionaire playboys for whom romance was just a diversion. Which pretty much ruled Lex out on all counts.
The final boarding call came about far too quickly and Sienna stepped gingerly back inside the plane, armed to the teeth with distractions, only to find Lex already seated, with his computer open on his lap. His gaze was penetrating but his smile was the one from their childhood as she tucked her purchases into the webbing of the seat in front of her and her carry bag into the locker above. She settled into her seat and took a tentative breath. No cinnamon or orange. Lex had showered—his hair was still damp—but not with his new soap.
Hallelujah.
Lex shut down his laptop for take-off, his impatience a tangible force, those long, lean fingers drumming rhythmically on the slim machine, his gaze distracted and far away.
‘Something I should know about?’ she queried, feeling ever so slightly guilty that she hadn’t stuck with him during the stopover.
‘The breakdown of the Scorcellini assets has come in,’ said Lex. ‘They’re in surprisingly good shape for a company going under.’
‘Is this a good thing?’
‘It is for them. Means their chances of attracting a rescue bid are higher than I thought.’
‘So where does that leave your bid?’
‘In need of readjustment.’ He shot her a glance. ‘You’re not going to suggest that I rescue them?’
‘No. I have a new approach when it comes to dealings of a financial nature. I won’t criticise your decisions.’
‘I like it,’ he said.
‘And you don’t criticise mine.’
‘You had to go and spoil it.’
‘Do we have a deal?’
‘No.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘Criticise away. I may not always like or agree with what you have to say, Sienna, but I still want to hear it.’
Sienna sighed heavily. Now he was being charming. ‘Would you want to hear the opinions of a PA you hadn’t known since childhood?’
‘Probably not. But, then, you’re not a regular employee, are you? Which means some of the regular rules simply don’t apply. I can give you the workload a PA would get from me. I can show you how to do it. But don’t ask me to treat you like a proper PA this coming month because I can’t.’
‘You could try.’
‘And I’d fail. I don’t look to you for instant obedience, Sienna. I look to you for truth.’
Sienna went all marshmallow-soft inside; she couldn’t help it.
The seat-belt lights went off. Lex opened
