LITMIR.BIZ

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      Nerves began to eat into the warmth. She took another sip, despite the faint warning that this form of Dutch courage hadn’t been her best idea. ‘The need to broaden my horizons?’

      ‘If you had such a need, why did you return to work with your parents?’

      She stiffened at the other raw subject that grated her nerves. ‘Is there a law against that?’

      ‘Is that the answer you’d give a prospective business partner?’

      ‘No...’ She paused, aware she had skidded towards a chasm of her own making. ‘I agreed to work at Jameson in return for my parents paying for my university tuition.’

      A slow frown gathered on his brow. ‘They expected you to pay for the education they gave you?’

      Elise chose to blame the Malbec for loosening the tight leash she normally had on her emotions. ‘They expect a lot of things. Including not giving free rides to anyone, including their daughter.’

      The enlightened gleam in his eyes further unnerved her. ‘Things aren’t cordial between you and your parents?’

      A harsh laugh escaped before she could stop it. ‘You could say that.’

      ‘Then why do you work with them?’ he queried.

      ‘Because jobs don’t automatically fall from the heavens the moment you graduate from college. And if, by some divine grace, you make it to a second or third interview and your prospective boss finds out that you’re the daughter of Marsha and Ralph Jameson, they question why you’d snub the chance to work for the exalted Jamesons. Half of them won’t touch you because they don’t believe you’ll be committed to your job. The other half have certain...preconceived notions about you and won’t even give you a chance. Seven months of polite rejections and my parents demanding repayment of their loan left me little choice.’

      Elise took another sip of wine to drown the sinking knowledge that she’d divulged far more than she’d intended to.

      Silence seething with questions filled the room. Alejandro levelled a gaze at her, speculation swirling in his shrewd eyes. ‘And is that debt paid off?’

      She swallowed. ‘No. But I’m almost there.’

      He raised his brow. ‘Almost?’

      ‘Yep. With your help, of course.’

      ‘My help?’ he enquired thinly.

      ‘Helping you nail this deal would be great for you, of course, and it’ll boost my résumé, too, but, more importantly, it’ll see me freed from the shackles of Mum and Dad. So really, it’s a trifecta of pure winning.’

      Alejandro slowly swirled his glass. ‘I see.’

      Shame nibbled at her. As he continued to stare at her, heat that had nothing to do with the great food and wine swarmed up her neck. ‘I’m sorry, you didn’t ask for my life history.’ Setting the nearly empty glass down, she stood. And swayed. Alejandro surged up and grasped her waist. She averted her gaze from eyes that saw way too much. ‘I told you I wasn’t much of a drinker.’

      ‘Sí, you did, but you’re not drunk. Trust me, I know the difference.’ His voice was faintly self-mocking.

      ‘All the same, this isn’t going to look good in the morning, is it?’ she muttered.

      ‘You barely finished your glass. I’m not going to hold it against you.’

      Her eyes flicked to his. And stayed, absorbed by the faint gold flecks splaying from his pupils. ‘Thanks,’ she whispered.

      ‘De nada,’ he murmured.

      They remained like that, their breaths close enough to mingle. Elise knew it was unsafe to let those dark-rimmed eyes bore right into her soul. ‘I didn’t mean to carry on. I just...’

      His eyebrow lifted. ‘You just...?’

      ‘I don’t like talking about my parents.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘It...it just hurts too much, you know?’

      A curiously bleak smile quirked his lips. ‘No. I don’t know.’

      Elise frowned. ‘Of course not. I’m guessing you had a brilliant childhood, filled with nauseatingly blissful memories.’

      The hands curled at her waist tightened imperceptibly. ‘Nauseating more often than not, yes. Blissful, no.’

      Her brain suddenly locked onto the fact that his hands were on her body. Elise couldn’t think beyond the electric heat seeping into her skin. Or the need to feel it glide elsewhere.

      ‘Well, I’m sorry.’

      ‘For what?’

      She attempted a shrug. ‘For both of us.’

      ‘I don’t need your pity.’ His voice was edgy, filled with a thousand barbs.

      She shivered. Immediately, his hands slid up her arms, warming her. Elise struggled to focus. ‘I wasn’t offering it. I was just...’

      His gaze dropped to her mouth and her thoughts momentarily scattered. Dragging her eyes from his face restored temporary sanity. A question that had been probing the back of her mind surged forward, but his hands on her body wreaked havoc with her thought processes.

      ‘Alejandro?’

      ‘Sí?’ he breathed.

      Her insides shook at the sultry, exotic word. ‘You can let me go now. I promise I won’t fall over.’

      His hands tightened on her for a heated second, then he freed her. ‘Good to know. Would you like some coffee or shall we put an end to this workday?’

      She gripped her arms where his had been a moment ago, absurdly aware she wasn’t ready for the evening to end. ‘You were going to tell me who was behind the stalled merger.’

      Several emotions curled through his eyes, most of them forbidding enough to send a chill through her.

      ‘It’s my brother,’ he finally offered. Contrary to the expression in his eyes, his voice was bled of every emotion.

      ‘Your brother?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘But...why?’

      He took a step back, then another. Striding to the ever-present coffee cart, he poured a shot of espresso. ‘Because like you, for me, family isn’t a word that conjures hearts and flowers.’

      Elise wished she didn’t understand what he meant. All the same... ‘That’s still a little extreme, isn’t it? Your brother wants to hurt you that much?’

      His mouth twisted. ‘You assume I’m capable of being hurt. At the worst, he’ll make a nuisance of himself. No more.’

      The staggering confidence behind the words further chilled her. And yet, she felt an affinity with Alejandro, sensed an underlying emotion that she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

      She was twisting the puzzle in her mind when he drained his cup and set it down. ‘I think I’ve used up my reasonable workday quota where you’re concerned. Come.’

      He walked out of the dining room. She followed at a slower pace, and entered his office to find him returning from hers with her jacket and briefcase.

      He held out her jacket for her, and Elise murmured her thanks. About to bid him goodnight and beat a hasty retreat, she froze as he caught up his own jacket and came towards her. ‘You’re leaving, too?’

      ‘I’m taking you home.’

      She shook her head. ‘There’s no need to do that. The subway will get me home in twenty minutes.’

      He took her elbow and steered her towards the door. ‘It’s late. Letting

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