Page 68 of The Perfect Pick Up

One of Felix’s fair eyebrows raised. “Exactly.”

“Is it something bad? Will there be consequences? Punishment for noncompliance?”

“Thea,” he said in the low rumble she adored. “I’m not a mafia boss. I just want a different outcome on a project than the one that’s being offered.”

Thea fingered the stem of her champagne glass, the condensation soaking her fingers. “So, no concrete boots in the Thames?”

“No.”

“No horse’s heads being left in people’s beds?”

“No.”

“Good, because as an animal lover, I can’t condone that sort of behaviour. And I have to ask. What does corporate intrigue have to do with running restaurants?”

Felix smiled, taking a strawberry from the bowl. “The restaurants are the fun bit. My role as CEO of the company is a little more wide-ranging.”

Thea took a sip of her own champagne. “Believe me, I get that. I’ve hardly seen you all day. When I read you had money, I didn’t realise quite how much.”

Felix snickered, shaking his head.

“No, seriously. You don’t even have to make your own coffee, and you have a harp in your sitting room. A freakin’ harp!”

“Do you have a problem with my harp?”

“No.”

“Good.” Felix checked his watch. “We need to head downstairs. Are you ready?”

Thea nodded and sighed. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

30

FELIX

Thea checked her hair again in the mirrored interior of the lift. She had her back to Felix, staring directly at her reflection. The stark lighting brought out amber highlights in her hair that he hadn’t noticed before. Her wide eyes darted from her reflection to the slow countdown of the floors on the control panel, and her hands drifted constantly to the green scrunchie she wore on her wrist.

Felix bunched his fingers. Tonight was only the second time Thea had ever struck him as fragile. The first time was at the wedding, and again, the tension she held in her shoulders contrasted with how he normally thought of her.

Bold. Unapologetic.

Right now, she looked like a young doe left alone in the forest.

Her discomfort was likely his fault. He hadn’t exactly been welcoming. Hadn’t been around to introduce her to his team and make her feel at home. He’d wanted her here for the gala this evening. Had wanted to show her off, but he hadn’t factored in his non-stop meetings.

To add to his discomfort, Felix received an unnervingnumber of messages from Adrienne that afternoon. Two or three wasn’t unusual, but her messages had totalled eight by five p.m. He’d blocked her notifications shortly after. But he didn’t doubt there’d be a bank of questions when he turned them back on.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice coming out far softer than he expected.

Thea found his eyes in the mirror. “I’m working out escape routes. I’ve seen theMission Impossiblemovies. Tom Cruise would have every option covered by now.”

“But you have one advantage over Tom.”

Thea lifted a brow. “Tell me. I’ll take any intel you can give me.”

Felix stepped closer to Thea and wound his arms around her. He leaned in to kiss the side of her neck. The sweet scent of her skin wrapped around him as his fingers slid against the liquid silk of her dress. She melted into him with a sigh. “You have the subtle ability to camouflage. We have an enormous collection of plants in the ballroom. If you’d like me to add more palms, just let me know.”

Thea giggled, and the sound went straight to his trousers. Her adventures in the corridor this afternoon had been a mixed gift for him. He’d enjoyed watching the grainy footage of Thea sprinting along the corridor all but naked. But he’d created an administrative headache for Gemma when he asked his security staff to sign specific Non-Disclosure Agreements. Normally, it wouldn’t be required. But he wanted to ensure the footage, or rumours of it, never surfaced. He wouldn’t want Thea publicly humiliated. He’d even overseen the deletion of the files once he’d watched them a second time.