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‘That sounds like a you problem,’ she said coolly. ‘I didn’t ask you to come here, Mr Katsaros, and if you’re so concerned about your date, perhaps you should be with her instead of standing in my hallway being annoyed with me. Certainly you’ll get more sex that way.’
His glower turned into a scowl and shereallydidn’t like how hot that made her feel. As if part of her was pleased she was getting under his skin as much as he was getting under hers.
‘Itriedbeing with my date,’ he growled. ‘It didn’t work.’
‘Inside voice, please,’ she said automatically.
‘Excuse me?’
Nell knew a moment’s fierce embarrassment as she realised what she’d said, then shoved it away. He couldn’t blame her for treating him like a four-year-old when he was acting like one.
‘It’s what I tell the children in my preschool class,’ she said, meeting his hot gaze head-on. ‘When they are throwing tantrums.’
For a second something tense and electric crackled in the air between them.
‘Your preschool class,’ he echoed as if he’d never heard of such a thing.
‘That’s right.’ She didn’t look away. ‘I’m a preschool teacher.’
‘Good God,’ he muttered with some disgust. ‘Then what is the point of all of...this?’ He flung out a hand, clearly indicating her.
Nell stiffened. ‘All of what? What are you talking about?’
‘All of you.’ He virtually spat the words. ‘You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I have not been able to stop thinking about you since I left you in the ER.’
Nell blinked. No one ever complimented her. Clayton had told her she was pretty a couple of times when they’d first started going out, but then the compliments had stopped, and he’d started complaining about her more than he’d praised her. And as for her aunt and uncle, who’d taken her in after her parents had died... They hadn’t complimented her either. They’d been resentful they’d had to look after her in the first place, and had made no secret of the fact.
Yet now this maddening man had called her beautiful and seemed to regard this as a personal affront, and she didn’t know whether to be complimented or insulted.
‘Fine,’ she said, struggling to hold onto a patience that was usually limitless. ‘You’re upset about the interruption to your evening and I’m truly sorry about that.’ She wasn’t and made sure that her tone indicated that she wasn’t. ‘I’m also sorry my appearance is such an aggravation. But you really don’t have to stay.’ She gave him one of the sunny smiles that always cheered the children she taught. ‘I’ll be fine. So why don’t you go off and have your little evening, and enjoy your date, hmm?’ She’d wanted to sound calm, firm and authoritative. Yet she had a horrible suspicion that the words that had escaped were the ones she’d usually use with Dylan, one of the naughtiest boys in her class. Dylan. Who was four.
Aristophanes Katsaros, who was definitely not four, stared at her as if he couldn’t believe what she’d said. ‘My little evening?’ he repeated. ‘Mylittleevening?’ He took another step forward, and then another, and another, stalking down the hallway towards her, and Nell found herself backing up and up, until the closed door of her bedroom was hard at her back, stopping her.
He towered over her, so much bigger and more powerful than she was. If he decided to do anything to her, she wouldn’t stand a chance. She should have been terrified.
Yet she wasn’t. She was...exhilarated almost. This man was a billionaire. The founder of a huge company. He was a mathematical genius and he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. He’d dismissed the doctor so he could look after her. He’d said she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Yes, he seemed angry about that, but he’d also called an ambulance when she’d been unconscious and injured. He’d held her hand and come to the hospital with her.
He wasn’t going to do anything to her; she knew that as well as she knew her own name.
But he was certainly angry, which was fair since she probably shouldn’t have used quite that tone with him. And maybe she was crazy, but she found it unbearably exciting. When she’d gone to live with her aunt and uncle, they had never taken much notice of her. They’d already had four other kids and hadn’t wanted a sixth, especially one who wasn’t theirs, so she’d been forgotten, ignored. Her middling marks at school and her middling performance at the outdoor activities they preferred had ensured her place as the most mediocre of their brood. Or perhaps the cuckoo in the nest was a more apt term, since the rest of their kids were blonde and tall, while she was dark-haired and short.
She’d once tried a bit of rebellion as a teenager by sneaking a cigarette or two and going to a couple of parties, but even doing that hadn’t earned her their attention. They hadn’t even yelled at her. They’d shrugged their shoulders and ignored her, deeming her so unimportant they weren’t even going to waste their anger.
But this man was wasting his anger on her, and God help her, but she liked it.
He was inches away, staring down at her, and she could smell his aftershave, spicy like sandalwood or frankincense, and it made her mouth go even drier than it already was. His body was large, hard, and powerful and he was hot; she could feel the heat of him radiating through his clothes.
His attention was fixed wholly on her as he put one hand on the wall beside her head. ‘I don’t want my date,’ he said roughly, putting his other hand on the wall, caging her against it. ‘I want you.’
Her heart thumped hard, deafening in her ears, electricity dancing like static over her skin. She looked into his eyes, the grey light in the centre of his iris darkening to charcoal around the edges. Fascinating eyes.
She wasn’t afraid, even though he was crowding her. No, she was excited. Excited that she’d got to him, that she’d bothered him. Amazed that he found her beautiful. And thrilled beyond measure that he wanted her.
Because she wanted him too.
Nell took a sudden, shuddering breath and then, holding tight to her courage, she put out a hand and brushed her fingers along one of his high cheekbones. His skin was warm beneath her fingertips, whiskers making it slightly rough. ‘Then what are you waiting for?’ she said.