between her breasts.
‘Snorkelling.’ Lena looked in the opposite direction to the Barnes Inc party and saw a TCN ute parked a couple of hundred metres back from the shore.
‘That would be right, wouldn’t it?’ she muttered.
The coincidence was so unlucky, you’d think he’d planned it.
Lena looked up to see if God was interested in helping her. But the deep voice that boomed back did not come from heaven.
‘So are you going to tell me why you’re wearing my flag or am I going to have to ask?’
Lena groaned inwardly and returned his gaze. Nerves tightened her throat. Damn Gavin and his bloody adolescent behaviour. She didn’t want to get him in trouble but she couldn’t stall Bulldog forever.
‘Well?’ he prompted her again.
‘I needed a towel and it was handy.’
His laugh was a short bark. ‘You’re really something else, you know that?’ He shook his head. ‘You’re wearing stolenproperty. Its theft will cause a great deal of outrage and dissension among my men when they discover it.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t give me that,’ he retorted. ‘You’ll be lucky if I don’t get you fired for this.’
As white-hot panic sliced through her brain, she lost her vision for a split second.
Not yet. Please not yet.
She hoped her voice didn’t sound too desperate when she blurted, ‘Look, I realise how it looks, but I didn’t steal your flag.’
‘Then who did?’
‘I . . . I don’t know,’ she ended lamely.
‘You expect me to believe that?’
‘It’s the truth,’ she insisted. Technically, it was. She didn’t know exactly which of Gavin’s men had stolen the flag, did she?
‘Who are you protecting?’ He waded closer, droplets of sun-kissed water leaving trails as they scattered down his chest. Lena shivered despite the heat.
‘No one.’
‘Who are you here with?’ He scanned the area around them as though expecting to see someone else hiding in the mangroves.
‘No one,’ she insisted again and then foolishly decided to rephrase her answer. ‘Well, actually I’m here with a group of people from Barnes Inc. We’re on a fishing trip.’
‘ Right. ’ His voice flayed her with its sarcasm. He pushed his thick wet hair off his forehead. Water glittered as it slid down the side of his neck. Awareness tickled her spine. Why is it that the good-looking ones are always such jerks? Lena passed a tongue over her dry lips. ‘Honestly, my friends are here. They’re further up the beach. I just went for a walk.’
‘And a quick swim.’ His expression was unreadable. Was he mocking her again?
Lena watched him silently for a moment, trying not to become mesmerised by the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Since when had breathing become such a turn-on? She had never felt a pull this earthy or this irresistible before. Not even with Kevin. She shook off the dangerous thought and lifted her chin. ‘Well, yeah. I needed a swim. It was hot and I didn’t have any repellent. The sandflies were eating me alive. I had to –’ She broke off.
Why the hell am I explaining myself to him? ‘Look,’ she changed tack. ‘I’m not trying to cause trouble –’
‘Then you’ll need to return that flag to my offices immediately,’ he interrupted, switching straight into lecture mode. ‘If you’re lucky, its quick return might not taunt the men into a counteraction which I refuse to be held responsible for. The sheer audacity of Barnes Inc personnel in this instance boggles me. I cannot believe . . .’
Lena didn’t really hear the rest. It was no doubt a tirade of abuse against her company, her coworkers and her own lack of professionalism. And yes, maybe in this instance she was slightly . . . a little –
Okay, she was being very unprofessional, but he was going to have her fired anyway so why listen to a lecture about it? She’d definitely had enough of those. Enough lectures that week from Carl, enough abuse from Mike and certainly enough of her personal life
‘Snorkelling.’ Lena looked in the opposite direction to the Barnes Inc party and saw a TCN ute parked a couple of hundred metres back from the shore.
‘That would be right, wouldn’t it?’ she muttered.
The coincidence was so unlucky, you’d think he’d planned it.
Lena looked up to see if God was interested in helping her. But the deep voice that boomed back did not come from heaven.
‘So are you going to tell me why you’re wearing my flag or am I going to have to ask?’
Lena groaned inwardly and returned his gaze. Nerves tightened her throat. Damn Gavin and his bloody adolescent behaviour. She didn’t want to get him in trouble but she couldn’t stall Bulldog forever.
‘Well?’ he prompted her again.
‘I needed a towel and it was handy.’
His laugh was a short bark. ‘You’re really something else, you know that?’ He shook his head. ‘You’re wearing stolenproperty. Its theft will cause a great deal of outrage and dissension among my men when they discover it.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t give me that,’ he retorted. ‘You’ll be lucky if I don’t get you fired for this.’
As white-hot panic sliced through her brain, she lost her vision for a split second.
Not yet. Please not yet.
She hoped her voice didn’t sound too desperate when she blurted, ‘Look, I realise how it looks, but I didn’t steal your flag.’
‘Then who did?’
‘I . . . I don’t know,’ she ended lamely.
‘You expect me to believe that?’
‘It’s the truth,’ she insisted. Technically, it was. She didn’t know exactly which of Gavin’s men had stolen the flag, did she?
‘Who are you protecting?’ He waded closer, droplets of sun-kissed water leaving trails as they scattered down his chest. Lena shivered despite the heat.
‘No one.’
‘Who are you here with?’ He scanned the area around them as though expecting to see someone else hiding in the mangroves.
‘No one,’ she insisted again and then foolishly decided to rephrase her answer. ‘Well, actually I’m here with a group of people from Barnes Inc. We’re on a fishing trip.’
‘ Right. ’ His voice flayed her with its sarcasm. He pushed his thick wet hair off his forehead. Water glittered as it slid down the side of his neck. Awareness tickled her spine. Why is it that the good-looking ones are always such jerks? Lena passed a tongue over her dry lips. ‘Honestly, my friends are here. They’re further up the beach. I just went for a walk.’
‘And a quick swim.’ His expression was unreadable. Was he mocking her again?
Lena watched him silently for a moment, trying not to become mesmerised by the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Since when had breathing become such a turn-on? She had never felt a pull this earthy or this irresistible before. Not even with Kevin. She shook off the dangerous thought and lifted her chin. ‘Well, yeah. I needed a swim. It was hot and I didn’t have any repellent. The sandflies were eating me alive. I had to –’ She broke off.
Why the hell am I explaining myself to him? ‘Look,’ she changed tack. ‘I’m not trying to cause trouble –’
‘Then you’ll need to return that flag to my offices immediately,’ he interrupted, switching straight into lecture mode. ‘If you’re lucky, its quick return might not taunt the men into a counteraction which I refuse to be held responsible for. The sheer audacity of Barnes Inc personnel in this instance boggles me. I cannot believe . . .’
Lena didn’t really hear the rest. It was no doubt a tirade of abuse against her company, her coworkers and her own lack of professionalism. And yes, maybe in this instance she was slightly . . . a little –
Okay, she was being very unprofessional, but he was going to have her fired anyway so why listen to a lecture about it? She’d definitely had enough of those. Enough lectures that week from Carl, enough abuse from Mike and certainly enough of her personal life
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