of his touch. He was so close. She only had to step forward, lean against him, raise her face to his.
The desire pounded harder, her heart beating an insistent drum, every pulse point throbbing with her need to close in. To take the kiss further, explore him.
Just one step.
‘What’s this?’
‘Cool, it’s a castle!’
Excitable voices outside as sudden, as shocking as the cold water she had poured on Gabe just a few days ago. As shocking, as sobering. Polly took a step back.
‘I think...’ She took a breath, tried to get her ragged breathing under control. ‘I’m tired. Maybe it’s time to go home.’
Home. Sanity. Sense. There might be an undeniable attraction between them but now was not the time to act on it. Not while everything was changing, not while she was so vulnerable.
Polly walked across the room and picked up the bags Gabe had left by the wall. Without looking back she left the tower, and left the moment behind.
CHAPTER SIX
‘D O YOU WANT to go over these papers before the meeting?’
Polly sat back in her chair and frowned as Gabe folded his long, lean frame into the chair opposite her desk. ‘Now you have your own office it would be polite if you knocked.’
‘Of course.’ Not that he looked in the slightest bit put out, more amused. ‘Do you?’
‘Do I what?’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Want to go over the papers, of course. The board meeting
is
this afternoon.’
Oh, yes. That. In just a couple of hours her grandfather, Raff and the rest of the board would be sitting in Rafferty’s renowned tearooms being suitably feasted before the meeting began.
She was expected to attend. Polly repressed a sigh. Normally she looked forward to these occasions, the buttering-up of contacts, starting to get her case across to the more swayable board members before the official business began, working out whose vote she could count on.
But today the usual thrill was missing; there was so much at stake; her return, Raff on the Board. Consolidating her position before she announced her news.
‘We could have gone over the papers last night,’ she pointed out, trying to prevent a waspish note from creeping into her voice.
Of course Gabe was free to do whatever he liked; she wasn’t his landlady or wife. But surely it was plain good manners to let her know that he wasn’t going to be back that night—or even that week.
Not that it was any of her business where he slept. As long as he looked refreshed, smart and in control for the meeting and was well prepared that was all that mattered. Whatever else he got up to—and who he got up to it with—was of no interest to Polly.
It wasn’t jealousy that twisted her stomach as she watched him lean in that inch too close to Cordelia from Lingerie or to Amy from Accounts, those liquid brown eyes fixed soulfully on his unwitting victim, the way he murmured low and sweet. No, it was worry about an HR nightmare begging to happen. It was morning sickness.
‘I was working late last night,’ he said mildly. ‘Some of my best contacts are in the U.S. West Coast so it was long past closing by the time I finished getting the information I needed. It was easier to stay here—sleeping in my own office, you’ll be glad to hear.’ His smile was fleeting but intimate and Polly’s breath hitched in her throat.
Unbidden, a memory of her first sight of him flashed through her mind, the strength in that lean body, the tattoo whose lines and curves haunted her dreams.
‘I don’t think our insurance covers overnight stays. You should stay in a hotel or get the town car home.’ She knew she sounded prim. That was fine; prim was good.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Another amused look, as if they were sharing a joke only known to the two of them.
Polly inhaled, long and painful. Her heart
wasn’t
picking up speed. For goodness’ sake, one night of being held, of having her back rubbed and her hair stroked and she was a mushy wreck. It must be the hormones; the same
The desire pounded harder, her heart beating an insistent drum, every pulse point throbbing with her need to close in. To take the kiss further, explore him.
Just one step.
‘What’s this?’
‘Cool, it’s a castle!’
Excitable voices outside as sudden, as shocking as the cold water she had poured on Gabe just a few days ago. As shocking, as sobering. Polly took a step back.
‘I think...’ She took a breath, tried to get her ragged breathing under control. ‘I’m tired. Maybe it’s time to go home.’
Home. Sanity. Sense. There might be an undeniable attraction between them but now was not the time to act on it. Not while everything was changing, not while she was so vulnerable.
Polly walked across the room and picked up the bags Gabe had left by the wall. Without looking back she left the tower, and left the moment behind.
CHAPTER SIX
‘D O YOU WANT to go over these papers before the meeting?’
Polly sat back in her chair and frowned as Gabe folded his long, lean frame into the chair opposite her desk. ‘Now you have your own office it would be polite if you knocked.’
‘Of course.’ Not that he looked in the slightest bit put out, more amused. ‘Do you?’
‘Do I what?’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Want to go over the papers, of course. The board meeting
is
this afternoon.’
Oh, yes. That. In just a couple of hours her grandfather, Raff and the rest of the board would be sitting in Rafferty’s renowned tearooms being suitably feasted before the meeting began.
She was expected to attend. Polly repressed a sigh. Normally she looked forward to these occasions, the buttering-up of contacts, starting to get her case across to the more swayable board members before the official business began, working out whose vote she could count on.
But today the usual thrill was missing; there was so much at stake; her return, Raff on the Board. Consolidating her position before she announced her news.
‘We could have gone over the papers last night,’ she pointed out, trying to prevent a waspish note from creeping into her voice.
Of course Gabe was free to do whatever he liked; she wasn’t his landlady or wife. But surely it was plain good manners to let her know that he wasn’t going to be back that night—or even that week.
Not that it was any of her business where he slept. As long as he looked refreshed, smart and in control for the meeting and was well prepared that was all that mattered. Whatever else he got up to—and who he got up to it with—was of no interest to Polly.
It wasn’t jealousy that twisted her stomach as she watched him lean in that inch too close to Cordelia from Lingerie or to Amy from Accounts, those liquid brown eyes fixed soulfully on his unwitting victim, the way he murmured low and sweet. No, it was worry about an HR nightmare begging to happen. It was morning sickness.
‘I was working late last night,’ he said mildly. ‘Some of my best contacts are in the U.S. West Coast so it was long past closing by the time I finished getting the information I needed. It was easier to stay here—sleeping in my own office, you’ll be glad to hear.’ His smile was fleeting but intimate and Polly’s breath hitched in her throat.
Unbidden, a memory of her first sight of him flashed through her mind, the strength in that lean body, the tattoo whose lines and curves haunted her dreams.
‘I don’t think our insurance covers overnight stays. You should stay in a hotel or get the town car home.’ She knew she sounded prim. That was fine; prim was good.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Another amused look, as if they were sharing a joke only known to the two of them.
Polly inhaled, long and painful. Her heart
wasn’t
picking up speed. For goodness’ sake, one night of being held, of having her back rubbed and her hair stroked and she was a mushy wreck. It must be the hormones; the same
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