the pep talk she’d given herself before she’d come downstairs, she indicated his half-finished espresso cup and he nodded. The gaze that met hers as she stepped forward to pick up his cup was all ruthless business. There was no hint of the gritty, desire-ravaged man from the gym last night.
Sakis Pantelides, suave CEO and master of his world, was back in residence.
Brianna forced herself to emulate his expression as she walked out on decidedly shaky legs towards the state-of-the-art coffee machine in the little alcove just behind her office. Setting the cup beneath the stainless silver spouts, she pressed the button.
Last night’s lurid dreams, which had kept her tossing and turning in heated agitation, needed to be swept under the carpet of professionalism where they belonged. It was obvious Sakis had consigned the gym incident to ‘done and forgotten’. She needed to do the same or risk—
‘Is the machine delivering something other than coffee this morning? The daily horoscope, perhaps?’ he drawled.
She whirled around. Sakis stood directly behind her, his powerful and overwhelming physique shrinking the space to even smaller proportions. ‘I...sorry?’
His gaze flicked to the freshly made espresso and back to her face. ‘The coffee is ready and yet you’re staring at the machine as if you’re expecting a crystal ball to materialise alongside the beverage.’
‘Of course I wasn’t. I was just...’ She stopped, then with pursed lips picked up his cup and handed it to him. ‘I wasn’t that long, Mr Pantelides.’
His lips pursed at the use of his name but, now they were back in the work environment and back to being professional, he couldn’t exactly object.
Expecting him to move, her heartbeat escalated when he stayed put, blocking her escape back to her office. ‘Was there something else?’
His gaze dropped to her lips as he took a sip of his espresso. ‘Did you sleep well?’
Unwanted flames licked at the muscles clenching in her belly. She wanted to tell him that how she slept was none of his business. But she figured answering him would make him get out of her way faster. ‘I did. Thank you for asking.’
She waited. He didn’t move. ‘I didn’t,’ he rasped. ‘Last night was the worst night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time.’
‘Oh... Um...’ She started to lick her lips, thought better of it and blew out a short breath instead. Seriously, she had to find a way to douse these supremely inconvenient flames that leapt inside her whenever he was near. ‘It’s been a stressful few days. It was bound to affect you in some way sooner or later.’
One corner of his mouth lifted. ‘Ne, I’m sure you’re right.’ Once again his gaze dragged over her mouth. The tingling of her lips almost made her rub her fingers over them, to do something to make it stop.
She clamped her hands round her middle instead. ‘Was there something else you needed?’
He threw back the rest of the hot espresso and placed the cup on the counter. Several seconds passed in silence then he heaved a sigh. ‘I’m...sorry if I frightened you last night. I didn’t mean to get so carried away.’
Brianna’s breath caught. ‘I wasn’t... You didn’t...’ She stopped speaking, her senses clamouring a warning as he stepped closer.
‘Then why did you look so scared? Has someone hurt you in the past?’
She meant to say no, to diffuse the highly inquisitive gleam in his eyes before it got out of hand. But... ‘Haven’t we all been hurt at some point by someone we trusted? Someone we thought loved us?’ Her stark answer hung in the air between them.
He paled a little, the lines bracketing his mouth deepening. ‘I hope I didn’t remind you of this person.’
‘Not any more than I reminded you of your father.’
Her breath caught in her chest as anguish etched into his face. Until two days ago, she’d only known him to display the utmost control when it came to matters of business. Except this wasn’t business. This was intensely private and intensely painful. Witnessing his raw pain made the ice surrounding her heart crack. Before she knew it, her hands were loosening and she was reaching for his arm. She stopped herself just in time. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.’
His smile was grim as his fingers clawed through his hair. ‘Unfortunately, memories once resurrected aren’t easy to dismiss, no matter how inconvenient the timing.’
‘Is there ever a convenient time to dredge up past hurt?’ Pain ripped through her question.
He heard it and froze. Green eyes speared hers in a look so intense her heart stuttered. ‘Who hurt you, Brianna?’ he asked again softly.
Feeling herself floundering, she sagged against the counter for support. ‘I...this isn’t really a topic for the office.’
‘Who?’ he insisted.
‘You had problems with your father. Mine was with my mother.’ Her voice sounded reedy, fraught with the anguish raking through her.
His smile held no mirth. ‘Look at us: a pair of hopeless cases with mummy and daddy issues. Think what a field day psychologists would have with us.’
Not once in the past eighteen months had she believed she had anything in common with Sakis. But hearing his words brought a curious balm to her pain.
‘Maybe we should ask for a group discount?’ She attempted her own smile.
His eyes darkened then the pain slowly faded, to be replaced by another look, one she was becoming intimately familiar with. ‘Was there a reason you came looking for me?’ she asked a third time.
Sakis’s jaw tightened. ‘The investigators have confirmed there’s a connection between the crash and the takeover.’
‘Really?’
He nodded. ‘It’s highly suspect that a day after my tanker crashes Moorecroft Oil and Landers Petroleum make a bid for my company.’ He turned and headed back into his office. ‘Their timing was a little too precise for it to be opportunistic.’
She entered his office in time to see him snatch up his phone. ‘Sheldon.’ He addressed his head of security. ‘I need you to dig deeper into Moorecroft Oil and Landers Petroleum.’
At the mention of Landers, Brianna froze. Thankfully, her ringing phone gave her the perfect excuse to return to her desk.
When Sakis emerged, she’d found some semblance of control, enough to accompany him into the board meeting without giving the state of her agitation away.
The conference call to Richard Moorecroft descended into chaos less than five minutes after Sakis had him on the line.
‘How dare you accuse me of such a preposterous thing, Pantelides? You think I would stoop so low as to sabotage your vessel in order to achieve my ends?’
‘You haven’t achieved anything except draw attention to your own devious dealings.’ A note of disdain coated Sakis’s voice. ‘Did you really think I’d roll
