A baby hit me in the face with a rattle, would you believe?’
Most people thought it amusing when she explained the circumstances, but not Roman O’Hagan, it seemed. His lips thinned in disapproval and his nostrils flared.
‘This amusing accident could have cost you your eyesight.’
Her expression reflected her opinion of his bizarre pursuit of the subject. ‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far…’
‘That much I can see.’ The grim condemnatory note in his voice seemed a bit over the top to Scarlet. ‘I suppose you’d have an equally offhand attitude to walking across the road without looking? You only have one set of eyes; it’s generally a good idea to look after them,’ he reproached sternly.
To hear him talk you’d think I did it deliberately, Scarlet thought.
‘I’m as fond of my eyes as the next person.’
‘I’m sure a great many people are fond of your eyes—they are beautiful. As is the rest of you.’
Beautiful eyes—? Beautiful rest of me? Before Scarlet had time to properly assimilate this extraordinary information, she saw where his own hot eyes had come to rest, and her arms reassumed their protective position. She breathed deeply as her entire body was engulfed in a wave of mortified heat that to her mind was worryingly out of proportion with the situation.
If he had shown any inclination to say something more on the subject she doubted she would have heard it past the clamour of her hammering heartbeat. Only he didn’t show any inclination to speak…he wasn’t showing any inclination to do anything beyond look at her in a way that made her go literally weak at the knees.
‘Dear God,’ she snapped. ‘Anyone would think you’d never seen a woman without her shirt on before!’
And from the way you’re acting, the voice in her head added snidely, you’d think you’d never been looked at by a man before.
It was true, his smouldering stare was making Scarlet’s erect nipples pinch hard and burn. It was deeply mortifying that she had no control whatsoever over what was happening to her.
Roman gave a cough of laughter as dark eyes returned to her face. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to find you half dressed.’ As he spoke his glance slid once more over her slender figure, and his chest lifted as a deep sigh vibrated through his lean, powerful frame.
‘My God,’ he observed, shaking his head. ‘You look different…different in a good way, in case I didn’t make myself clear.’ Actually Roman doubted he had ever been less articulate in his life. ‘I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’
‘Strange, I got the impression you were quite enjoying embarrassing me.’
One corner of his mouth lifted in appreciation of her comment. ‘Do you play chess?’
‘Pardon?’ she said, sure she must have misheard him.
‘Do you play chess?’ he repeated.
Warily she nodded, still unsure of where this was going.
Roman’s eyes narrowed. ‘You either win with style or lose dramatically—?’
This accurate assessment stunned her. ‘How could you know that?’
‘You’re reckless, and you rely on inspiration. Playing an unpredictable partner is always exciting,’ he observed. ‘Perhaps we could play some time…?’
Play with Roman O’Hagan?
Before she had time to respond to this proposal he added casually, ‘And if you’re wondering what I saw when I walked in—I didn’t see a thing.’
Scarlet was now ninety per cent sure he was lying, which was no comfort to her. If he managed to unsettle his business rivals with this sort of thoroughness, no wonder they talked about him in financial circles as though he were the second coming.
Her chin lifted to a bolshy angle. ‘I’m not the slightest bit embarrassed.’ Now that, Scarlet, is really going to convince him.
‘Why should you be? We’re both adults…consenting adults.’
The throaty ‘consenting’ sent a secret shiver down her spine. ‘I just wasn’t expecting to see you standing there.’ Despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep the accusatory note from her voice as she added, ‘You surprised me.’
Understatement.
If another man, say Jimmy from the post room had walked in and caught her in the middle of getting changed, if she had inadvertently discussed her bra with him she would not exactly have fallen apart. She would have seen the funny side of the situation.
Right now she didn’t feel like laughing.
She watched as he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and released his breath in a soft sibilant hiss.
‘If it’s any comfort I got a shock too.’ Now was not the perfect occasion, but a man couldn’t choose when he was going to be overwhelmed by lust.
‘I thought you were someone else…a colleague,’ she added.
‘Shall I go out and come back in again?’ he offered.
‘Don’t be silly,’ she snapped. ‘Is there something I can do for you?’
Roman scrutinised her warm face thoughtfully for a moment before crossing the room.
Scarlet watched as he sat the ludicrously large teddy bear he was carrying in her chair behind the desk. She looked at it. It wasn’t the sort of item that you could miss, but her attention had been so focused on the man himself she hadn’t even noticed he was carrying anything until that moment.
She doubted if she would have noticed if he had arrived accompanied by a full male voice choir!
His burden disposed of, Roman looked at Scarlet once more. He ran a hand through his glossy thatch of sleek dark hair. The action, like everything he did, was rivetingly graceful.
‘Is this about our telephone conversation yesterday?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I seem to bother you.’
If he knew how much she would have died of sheer mortification. ‘I’m assuming you came here for a reason, Mr O’Hagan.’
‘Or can you simply not bear to be in the same room as me?’
‘I don’t want to be rude, Mr O’Hagan, but I’m really in a hurry. You were horrible,’ she admitted, despite her previous decision not to refer to the incident, ‘but no more than I expected from someone like you.’
‘Ouch…! But beyond threatening to sue you, have I done something to upset you?’ he wondered, a curious frown deepening the lines above the bridge of his masterful nose.
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