Page 46 of Dangerous Temptation

She looked around. Everyone had left.

He was offering her an escape route, and she felt nearly light-headed with relief. ‘I’d appreciate that.’

She gathered her computer bag and the rest of her things. Passing the committee’s long table, she smiled at them nervously. Her heels clonked against the old wooden floor as she headed for her getaway. It opened up to a side hallway, she knew.

Still, she was careful when she opened the door.

Peeking out, she surveyed the scene. Students milled about, but apparently none of the reporters were familiar with the building.

She slipped into the hallway and hurried down to Professor Walters’s office.

She whipped the door shut behind her and sagged against it.

Oh, thank God. It was over.

When she opened her eyes, she realised it had only begun.

Alex was in the room. The rollercoaster ride started all over again. His grey gaze locked with hers and she set down her computer bag before she could drop it.

He’d stayed.

She felt a pang in the middle of her chest. She’d missed him so much.

He was leaning back against the office’s cherrywood panelling, looking like a GQ model.

He had one foot propped against the wall and his hands were in the pockets of his natty blue suit.

He wasn’t wearing a tie today, and his hair was mussed.

He looked classy yet casual, and so sexy she wanted to launch herself at him.

She ached for him. The two weeks they’d been apart had seemed like two years.

But she couldn’t forget why she’d left. Things had gotten too intense between them. She couldn’t go back to living that way. A gilded cage was still a cage, no matter how pretty the trappings.

Movement nearby broke her out of her trance. Flinching, she turned to see who was watching them.

‘Congratulations, Miss,’ Vasquez said.

She pressed her hand to her stomach. ‘Thank you, but it’s early. They’re still deliberating.’

‘There shouldn’t be any question,’ Alex said.

The bodyguard moved away. ‘I’ll scope out another exit for us.’

Elena’s nerves intensified when the man left and she and Alex were alone. Today was one of the most important days of her life. There was only so much she could handle.

‘How do you think it went?’ he asked.

‘OK. They threw a few curve balls at me, but I handled them as well as I could.’

‘You were prepared.’

She nodded, once again feeling the tension. All she’d done over the past two weeks was study and give practice pitches. Now that she’d come out of that protective shell, she was starting to feel again.

He raised one eyebrow. ‘Ponzi schemes?’

The question was posed calmly, but all the clattering in her head came to a screeching halt. Oh, God.

For the first time, she took in his body language. She was a chaotic mess, but he was eerily still. Friction burned in the air, and it was all directed at her.

She reached for the door behind her. Her knees suddenly felt more than wobbly.

He was angry.

She hadn’t even thought. The Ponzi scheme was a sore point for him. She’d never told him the crux of her research.

‘I needed to understand,’ she said, her mouth going dry. When the scandal had first come to light, questions had consumed her. She’d wanted to know why but, more so, she’d needed to know how. Her father’s actions had mortified her and pushed her.

It had become an obsession for her.

‘The lake?’ he pressed.

She shouldn’t have shown that picture. It was private property. It had been their safe place, the one where they’d kept people out, yet she’d waved that photograph around like it was her right. ‘It all came to me one day when I was looking at it.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked.

‘I don’t …’ But she did know. ‘It was such a touchy subject, especially at that house.’

‘And you didn’t trust me.’

No, she hadn’t. At first. ‘Not in the beginning.’

She swallowed past the rock in her throat. ‘I went to Wolfe Manor looking for answers. I found them, but not the ones I expected. I was … I was hoping to find the money.’

‘You moved in with me, Elena.’

She folded her arms over her chest. ‘I didn’t know if what I was doing had any merit, and I didn’t want to hurt you.’

He’d gone to prison for the racket.

Her arms dropped limply at her sides. ‘I’m sorry, Alex.’

His head snapped back. ‘You’re sorry?’

He came off the wall as if propelled. ‘Elena, it’s brilliant .’

Her lips parted. The way he’d just come at her reminded her of when she’d freed him from the locked bathroom, oh so long ago. His body was primed and his eyes were bright. Her body melted, and her mind went blank.

He raked a hand through his hair. It had gotten longer. ‘It’s genius.’

She spread both hands against the door behind her. Her brain had just tilted.

Breathing hard, he leaned into her. The lines of his cheekbones were like slashes across his handsome face.

‘I can’t do this right now,’ she whispered. Adrenalin was pumping through her system. Once it ran its course, she’d be a puddle on the floor. She was exhausted, and she just needed to get through the day. If she thought about him or their relationship, she wouldn’t make it.

‘You have to. You just made a public disclosure. We need to get started on the paperwork as soon as possible.’

Her brow furrowed. ‘What are you talking about?’

He jabbed a finger towards the room where the committee was still debating. ‘That. Your research findings. We need to go talk to NYU’s patenting department. Did they have you sign anything before you gave that talk? Have they started proceedings on protecting it?’

She stared at him, not comprehending.

His gaze slid over her face, and some of the tension drained from his body. He gave her a soft smile. ‘Sorry, that was Ax coming out.’

Elena slumped against the door, letting it take all of her weight. She was so tired.

He stroked a curl of her hair. ‘I’m not talking to you as your lover right now.’

Her heart jumped. Were they still lovers? She hoped things hadn’t become too strained for them to fix.

‘I’m talking to you as CEO of Wolfe Pack, a Fortune 100 company that wants to license your technology.’

‘Wh–what?’

He sighed, but pulled his hand back. ‘Sexy, compassionate and brainy.’

There were footsteps on the other side of the door, and he backed away from her. Scrambling away from the door, Elena pressed her hands to her cheeks. She knew they were flushed. When Dr Walters stuck his head in, it didn’t matter.

Because she felt her blood drain right out her feet. So soon? It couldn’t be good news. The committee had found a flaw.

A wide grin split the professor’s beard in two. Juggling a folder of papers, he thrust out his hand. ‘Congratulations, Elena. I mean, Dr Bardot.’