She went perfectly still. As if she’d forgotten how to move, how to breathe. As if he were the predator and she the prey, thought Lex, and felt his body respond to the notion with savage satisfaction. Embracing it, savouring it, as simmering temper turned into a different kind of heat altogether. ‘Breathe,’ he whispered.
‘No.’ Her voice sounded thready, uncertain, and the beast inside him purred.
‘You’ll die if you don’t.’
She took a breath and released it raggedly before easing slowly back against the seat, her startled gaze not leaving his. ‘Breathing’s not the problem here,’ she muttered and took another shaky breath. ‘I’m on it, see? But I’d rather not be yours.’
‘No?’ Lex smiled grimly and slid his gaze down her body. At first glance, Sienna’s body language backed up her words. Her hands were ironing out the creases in her little pink skirt, smoothing the material down towards her knees as if she would have liked a couple more inches of fabric. Her knees pressed primly together, barring his way, and she’d tucked her legs tightly against the seat, demure-schoolgirl-style. Alas, there was nothing demure about her delicate pink sandals. Those shoes were all grown up.
So were other things about her.
At her throat he noticed the frantic beating of a pulse gone wild.
Outlined against her fitted white business shirt he could see the unmistakable imprint of nipples gone hard.
Sienna Raleigh, childhood nemesis and bane of his existence, was all hot and bothered. By him.
Somewhere down in the purely primal recesses of his being, Lex found the notion deeply, deeply satisfying. He pulled back to stare broodingly down at her. That tiny telltale reaction was going to cost her. It was going to cost them both. ‘Just when you think you know a person…’ he echoed softly.
Sienna was the first to look away.
‘Tell me something, Sienna. If you don’t like what I do for a living and you don’t want to share a house with me for the next month, why the hell did you come to me and ask me to train you as a PA in the first place?’
‘You could have said no,’ she said finally, still not deigning to look at him.
‘You have no idea how close I came to saying exactly that.’
‘Then you should have!’ She speared him with a lightning glance before looking away again quickly. ‘I’d have understood.’
No, he thought. You wouldn’t have. Not until I’d shown you exactly what I want from you these days. Not until now. Lex smiled tightly as the bonds of childhood friendship warred with the desires of a man well used to taking what he wanted. ‘You started this,’ he said softly.
‘You could have said no.’ Her voice was low, stricken. She knew damn well what she’d set in motion. She knew him. ‘Why didn’t you?’
‘When have I ever said no to you, Sienna?’ He had to get out of here, now, before he covered her lips with his own and smashed a lifelong friendship to smithereens. ‘When?’
Sienna watched through hot eyes as Lex strode down the aisle away from her, her mind whirling as she replayed the events of the last few minutes. How on earth had they gone from good-natured bickering to smouldering awareness to outright warfare in the space of a few heartbeats? Lex was her friend. Practically the brother she’d never had. He spent half his life needling her and the other half protecting her. That was what he did. What he’d always done. That was how their relationship worked. How dared he bring his sexuality into play and use it against her? How dared he give her The Look.
Sienna knew that look. It had brought countless perfectly sensible, rational women to their knees, desperate for more of him.
Sometimes Lex gave more. Any lover of his could expect a significant initial outlay of his time and attention. Rumour had it they could expect generous access to his money and possessions. Extremely generous access to his body. Unparalleled dedication to theirs.
For a time.
Until Lex had satisfied his curiosity, at which point he was gone, leaving hitherto sensible, rational women weeping in his wake, savagely cursing his focus, his stamina, and the sheer animal beauty of him, right before begging him to return.
Lex was a charming rake—just ask any woman he’d ever taken to his bed. Sienna knew that. Accepted it. Despised it. And for the most part ignored it—secure in the knowledge that her relationship with him was different. It always had been different.
Until now.
What was he doing messing with a perfectly good friendship that was manageable, mildly acerbic, and, above all, safe? Who in their right mind would throw away twenty years of friendship on a brief bedroom romp?
Not her.
So what if she’d found the full force of Lex’s sexuality exhilarating? So what if she’d come closer than ever before to understanding why women were willing to accept Lex on his terms—on any terms—and to hell with the heartbreak? That still didn’t mean she wanted to become one of them. No, no, and no!
Oh, look. He’d found a flight attendant. Now he was smiling crookedly at the woman; murmuring to her. Now she was smiling back. Surprise surprise.
Now Lex turned to look down the aisle towards her, a vision of careless elegance in a miraculously rumple-free business suit minus the tie. What was it about lean, dark-haired, grey-eyed men in charcoal-coloured business suits and snowy white shirts that made a woman look twice, and then—if it was Lex—again? Did his obvious wealth lend him an air of sophistication, success, and sex appeal or was it all just Lex? Would her sudden acute awareness of him disappear if she pictured him standing there in, say, grandfather pyjamas? The ones where the waistband of the trousers resided just below the armpits and the buttons went all the way to the neck. Not the sexy low-slung grey-striped cotton trousers she’d shoved in his carry on luggage yesterday. Now was definitely not the time to imagine him in those.
Oh, dear.
Sienna grabbed for the arm of a passing attendant. ‘Water,’ she croaked. ‘Please.’
‘Of course.’ The attendant took one look at her and decided to hustle. Did she look pale? She felt ashen. Did she look ill? She felt as if the world had suddenly tilted off its axis and no matter what she did she couldn’t set it right again. She didn’t want Lex to look at her like that. She didn’t want to be one of his conquests.
Did she?
Lex started down the aisle and Sienna quickly looked away and braced herself for his return to a seat that was suddenly far too close to hers for comfort. She tucked her legs against her seat as Lex swept past her. Keep going, Lex, well done, breathe out.
‘Good news,’ he said as he settled into his seat, his voice casual, as if he’d decided to forget all about their earlier altercation. ‘We’re landing in Singapore in twenty minutes. We can go into the terminal. Stretch our legs, stock up on airport novels and newspapers. There’s an executive lounge area that has internet access. Showers too.’
‘So much to do, so little time,’ she said, but she was grateful for both the impending stopover and Lex’s efforts to put their relationship back on its normal footing. Forgetting all about the upheavals of the last ten minutes was a mighty fine plan to her way of thinking. Being able to get away from Lex for a spell was an even better idea. ‘You shop, I’ll shower.’
‘A good PA would stay by my side and see to my needs,’ he said.
She knew the basic philosophy but even so… ‘Even in transit?’
‘Especially in transit.’ Lex smiled grimly. He’d been doing that a lot lately. ‘Maybe it’s a good thing I was prepared to take you on and train you up. Imagine if you’d taken that job with the oil sheik in Dubai? OPEC would never have been the same again.’
‘The sheik didn’t think I’d make a mess,’ she said tartly. ‘He thought I could do it.’
‘The sheik was besotted with you, Sienna,’ said Lex darkly.
Unfortunately, Lex was correct. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t taken the job. The other reason, and it galled her to admit it, had been her lack of experience in all matters pertaining to the business of being a good personal assistant. She’d needed experience. Lex had needed an assistant for a month while he was in Australia. Sienna had no aversion whatsoever to visiting the colonies. Sienna had long overdue personal business she could attend to while in Australia. The entire plan had seemed like such a good idea.
At the time.
‘Thank you for agreeing to this, Lex,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I do appreciate it. Really. And I didn’t mean to question your business ethics, earlier. I just…wanted to understand.’
‘And now that you do?’ He looked wary. Defensive. ‘Do you still want to be my PA for the month, Sienna?’
‘Yes.’ She shoved her newfound awareness of him aside, took another deep breath and collected her scattered wits. ‘If you’re skilful enough to take bits and pieces of broken companies and put them together in ways that work, then I’m all for it. I was in fix-it mode before. Now I’m thinking salvage. Corporate recycling. I’m all for recycling.’
‘Recycling,’ he said disbelievingly.
‘Absolutely.’ She offered up a smile for good measure.
‘You’ve missed your calling,’ he told her. ‘Corporate public relations needs you.’
