change him. He went to his grave unrepentant.’ He sucked in a breath and forcibly steered his thoughts away from the bitterness of his past. ‘You’re deluding yourself if you think there’s such as a thing as blind, harmless betrayal.’
A shaft of pain and sympathy flitted through her eyes, just like it had back at Point Noire. She even started to move towards him before she visibly stopped herself.
Sakis felt curiously bereft that she succeeded.
‘I’m sorry for what happened to you. I...I have emails to catch up on so, if you don’t mind, I’ll get back to the office.’
‘No.’
She stared at him in surprise. ‘No?’
He glanced at his watch. ‘You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?’
‘No, but I was going to order some fruit and cereal from the kitchen.’
‘Forget that. We’re going out.’
‘I don’t see why—’
‘I do. We’ve both been cooped up in here since yesterday. Some fresh air and a proper meal will do us some good. Come.’ He started to walk out and felt a hint of satisfaction when after several seconds he heard her footsteps behind him.
Sakis took her to a café on a quiet street in Cheapside. The manager greeted him with a smile and offered them a red high-backed booth set back from the doorway. One look at the menu and her eyes flew to collide with Sakis’s.
He was regarding her with a seriously sexy smile on his face.
‘All they serve here are pancakes,’ she blurted.
‘I know, which is why I brought you here. Time to indulge that weakness of yours.’ The way he stressed the word made a spike of heat shoot through her.
‘But...why?’ Frantically, she scrambled to gather her rapidly unravelling control. Far from being back on the professional footing she’d thought, the morning was turning into one huge, personal landmine. One she wasn’t sure she would survive.
‘Because it’s perfect ammunition.’ Again he smiled and her heart lurched.
‘You see my weakness for pancakes as ammunition?’ She felt her lips twitch and allowed herself a small smile. Just then, a waiter walked past with a steaming heap of blueberry pancakes dripping in honey. She barely managed to stifle her groan, but Sakis heard it.
A dark, hungry look entered his eyes that made her stomach muscles clench hard. ‘I’m not so sure whether to be pleased or irritated that I’ve uncovered this piece of information about you, Brianna. On the one hand, it could be the perfect weapon to get you to do whatever I want.’
‘I already do whatever you want.’ The loaded answer made heat crawl up her neck. His keen gaze followed it then scoured her face before locking on hers.
‘Do you? I distinctly recall a few times when you’ve refused to do my bidding.’
‘I wouldn’t have lasted two minutes if I’d pandered to you in any shape or form.’
‘No, you wouldn’t have. I told Ari you were my Rottweiler.’
She gave a shocked gasp. ‘You compared me to a dog?’
He grimaced and had the grace to look uncomfortable. ‘It was a metaphor but, in hindsight, I should’ve used a more...flattering description.’ He beckoned the waiter who’d been hovering a booth away.
Her curiosity got the better of her. ‘How would you describe me?’
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead he gave the waiter their order—coffee and two helpings of blueberry pancakes.
Brianna stopped the waiter with a hand on his arm. ‘Can I have a side-helping of blueberries, please? And a bowl of honey? Oh, and some icing sugar and fresh cream...and two wedges of lemon...and some butter...’ She stopped when she saw Sakis’s eyebrow quirk in deep amusement. She dropped her arm and this time was unable to stop her blush from suffusing her face as their waiter walked away. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like a complete glutton.’
‘Don’t apologise for your desires. Indulging every now and then is completely human.’
‘Until I have to pay for it with hours in the gym. Then I’ll hate every single mouthful I’m about to take.’
Immediately her mind homed in on what had happened between them last night. From the way his green eyes darkened, he was remembering too. God, what was wrong with her? Or maybe that was the wrong question. She knew what was wrong. Despite cautioning herself against it, she was attracted to Sakis with a fierce compulsion that defied reason. She accepted that now. What she needed was a cure for this insanity before it raged out of control.
‘If you regret the act before it’s happened, you take away the enjoyment of it.’
‘So you’re saying I should just ignore what will come afterwards and just live in the moment?’
His gaze dropped to her lips, the heat of it almost a caress that made her want to moan. ‘Exactly.’ He breathed the word then said nothing else.
Silence grew between them, the only sound the distant clatter of plates and cutlery from other diners.
She could only stand it for a few minutes until she felt as if she’d combust from the sizzling tension in the air. Forcefully, she cleared her throat and searched for a neutral subject, one that would defuse the stressful atmosphere. ‘You were going to tell me what your description of me would be.’ Oh, nice one, Brianna.
He sat back in his seat, extended his arm along the back of the booth. Her eyes fell on rippling muscle beneath his shirt and she barely managed to swallow.
‘Perhaps now is not the time, or the place.’
Leave it, Brianna...leave it. ‘Oh, is it that bad?’
‘No, it’s that good.’
She breathed deeply and opted for silence. When their food arrived, she pounced on it, feeding her culinary appetite the way she couldn’t let herself feed on the dark, carnal promise in Sakis’s eyes.
She looked up several minutes later to find him watching her with an expression of mingled shock and amusement.
‘Sorry, it’s your fault. Now you’ve unleashed my innermost craving, there’s no stopping me.’ She took another sinful bite and barely managed to stop her eyes rolling in pleasure.
‘On the contrary, seeing you eat something other than a salad and with such...relish is a pleasurable experience in itself.’
‘Don’t worry; I’m not going to re-enact a When Harry Met Sally moment.’
A puzzled frown marred his forehead. ‘A what?’
She laughed. ‘You’ve never seen that clip where the actress simulates an orgasm in a restaurant?’
He swallowed. ‘No, I haven’t.
