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So he’d recognised her and had still looked at her with such cold dismissal? Nice.
‘Please call me Steffi,’ she invited with crisp politeness, extending her hand. She’d start over. Pretend that intense moment had never happened. Ignore his rudeness.
‘Not Steffi Leigh?’ He took her hand in a firm grip.
‘Just Steffi is fine.’
A pulse of energy shot into her fingers and up her arm, making her glad of the gloves. Because even through the cotton she could feel the warmth and strength of him and she couldn’t tear her gaze from his. It had been too long since she’d looked such a handsome man in the eye. Okay, she’d never actually seen such a handsome man in real life before.
She’d never actually gone weak at the knees before either.
It was nerves, right? Or some Neanderthal woman instinct—to be drawn to the most powerful male in the room… She could use her brain better than this.
Tara had been wrong. This man was dangerous.
‘Is Steffi short for Stephanie?’ he asked.
She nodded, withdrawing her hand as quickly as she could. No one called her Stephanie now, aside from her brother. And only then when he was mad with her. Which was, unfortunately, quite often.
‘Stephanie is a lovely name,’ he said. But the chill in his voice undermined any chance his comment had of being a compliment.
And what, exactly, was he implying about her pseudonym, then? Stephanie ground her teeth even as she maintained her smile and channelled her alter ego.
Steffi Leigh always acted as if anyone could be wrapped around her little finger. Just because this guy looked as if he was made from titanium, it didn’t mean she couldn’t pretend.
‘Shall we snap a selfie to record the moment?’ She forced a laugh. In terms of coming up with content, getting pictures for her social media accounts nearly killed her—this would be a good one.
‘No.’
Flat. Uncompromising. Unimpressed.
Way to start, Steffi. She nibbled the inside of her cheek, momentarily set back. But the ‘Steffi Leigh’ scene was what he wanted, right? This was the deal—the personality and pop culture vibe was what he wanted to buy.
‘No? I’ll go solo, then.’ She wasn’t going to let him crush her. She held out her phone and quickly took a shot. She’d never use it, but he didn’t need to know that.
‘You do that often?’ he asked in a low voice.
‘I do whatever it takes.’ She smiled at him, refusing to hear the sarcastic, slightly improper thread to his question. ‘My followers enjoy my pictures.’
Most of her pictures didn’t actually feature her—usually she put together some quirky set piece with a new product, or made a meme to amuse.
‘Are you going to spend the next two hours tweaking the image with filters and Photoshop?’ he asked.
‘I don’t do that either. Most of my photos are unfiltered.’
He looked at her—another slow appraisal, up and down. ‘Yes. That I can believe. You obviously took the two hours to apply filters in real life.’
Actually, that wasn’t far from the truth. Her perfectly blended layers of concealer, foundation, blusher, powder and eyeshadow had taken Tara almost two hours, and Stephanie was sure it was melting off already.
What was this guy’s beef? Why be so pointed when he was the one who’d requested this meeting? But she was the one who needed it. So she had to play nice.
‘You got me.’ Determinedly she kept smiling up at him from between thickly mascaraed lashes.
‘What do you look like without it?’
‘Even more amazing,’ she flipped back at him, unable to stop her irritation sparking.
‘I’d like to see that.’
Never going to happen.
She glared at him, her eyes locking with his. And, even though she hadn’t voiced it, she was certain he knew exactly what she was thinking. He thought she was some painted-up doll and an airhead to boot.
Patronising jerk.
But suddenly, finally, the man smiled.
Stephanie almost gasped in shock as another bolt of electricity kicked through her. If she’d thought him attractive in a ruthless kind of way before, now he was just meltingly gorgeous. He looked younger, more fun, more mischievous. Yeah. Total personality transplant.
It might have been better if he’d stayed icy and unimpressed.
‘I’m sorry if I’ve been abrupt,’ he said. And he was still totally abrupt, but with that winning smile it didn’t seem so rude. ‘I was distracted when you first arrived.’
Yeah, and she needed distraction now.
Think, brain. Think.
Then she remembered she’d made a plan. She’d known there was no way she was going to manage sitting across a table from him for three hours. Steffi Leigh only did twenty-second intros, then used what was around her—products, lists, the totally random—to fill in the time. So she was going to take Jack Wolfe on tour.
‘No problem—no one’s perfect,’ she said smoothly, still inwardly stunned by his apology. ‘Look, here comes Tara.’ She gestured towards the slim woman walking towards them, mentally muttering thanks to the heavens. ‘She’s my assistant.’
But Jack didn’t look at Tara. He kept his too blue eyes on her.
‘We’re kidnapping you,’ Stephanie added brightly.
‘You’re kidnapping me.’ He glanced down at her dress again. Then looked at himself. Raised one eyebrow. ‘You have chloroform with you?’
So there was a size difference. A huge one. But her being small didn’t mean she didn’t have strength. Or cunning.
‘Charm is more effective.’ She smiled.
‘Charm, you say?’ A gleam lit in his eye. ‘I’m not sure I’d call what you have charm.’
Stephanie’s blood heated, but she refused to rise to the bait and ask what it was he did think she had. Not going to do it. And she was not going to respond to his low, alarmingly sexy chuckle either.
‘Tara’s our chauffeur for the afternoon,’ she told him. Chauffeur, make-up diva, sidekick. Saviour.
‘Sorry about that…’ Tara breezed towards her, looking down and rubbing her hands. ‘There was this hand cream in there that I just had to try, only it had—’
‘Tara.’ Stephanie interrupted quickly. ‘This is Jack Wolfe.’ The man didn’t need to know about Tara’s insatiable cosmetics fetish.
‘You’re Jack Wolfe?’ Tara finally stopped admiring her hands and looked up at him. Her stunned expression would have been comic if it hadn’t been so annoying. that the guy had this effect on everyone?
‘I’m afraid so,’ he said, with surprising softness. ‘Were you expecting someone else?’
‘No. You’re… perfect as you are.’
‘Thank you.’ He shot Stephanie a sideways look and echoed even more softly, ‘Hear that? Perfect.’
Stephanie eyed him coldly and then turned back to Tara.
But Tara’s eyes had rounded and she looked from Jack to Stephanie and back again. Her mouth opened. Then closed. And then she smiled.
It wasn’t a smile Stephanie trusted.
‘Shall I go get the car?’ Tara said chirpily. ‘I’ll bring it to the main entrance.’
Stephanie stared, aghast, as her so-called friend left her alone with the man—again.
‘Why do we need the car?’ Jack asked.
‘As I said, we’re kidnapping you. You’re going on the Steffi Leigh tour of Melbourne.’ She pulled on her best smile again. ‘You only arrived in Australia this morning, right?’ His assistant had sent his schedule to her—all efficiency. And apparently he travelled without an entourage.
He frowned.
‘Or would you like to stay in the hotel for high tea instead?’ Stephanie’s heart sank. ‘We can go over the paperwork I’ve brought…’
‘I’m not hungry.’
Really? He looked it. He was about six feet tall, and sharp muscled in a lean way—as if he’d been fed only just enough to maintain optimal performance capability, like a caged cheetah kept on rations, so he’d run world-record-fast for the kill.
‘You’re sure?’ she queried.
He nodded.
‘Then that’s it.’ She smiled between gritted teeth. ‘The abduction goes ahead.’
Without waiting for him to say anything more, she turned and walked back across the expansive lobby to the door. Surely she could do the comebacks, put on the charm, maintain the persona just long enough to seal the deal? She was not going to let him annoy her into slipping and lowering her guard again.
‘Why can’t you drive?’ he asked, keeping pace alongside her.
‘I’m going to be talking to you.’ Selling it to him.
‘I thought women were good at multi-tasking.’
‘Actually, I think it’s better to focus on one task at a time and do it to the best of your ability.’
‘I’ll drive, then.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I’ll drive.’
As if Tara was ever going to let him near her precious car. And as if he’d want to be seen behind the wheel of it once he saw it.
‘Will you be able to listen and drive?’ Stephanie asked.
‘That’s going to depend on whether what’s being said is interesting enough.’
He’d thrown down the gauntlet now. Stephanie straightened. Could he smell the desperation clinging to her? She couldn’t let him see just how badly she wanted this deal.
‘Tara can drive us,’ she said firmly. ‘So it’s not going to be a problem.’
‘Does Tara own the blog or do you?’ he asked, and stopped walking. Forcing her to stop and face him.
‘I do.’
‘Then you’re the one I need to negotiate with. Only you.’
Insisting on meeting with her alone was unconventional—possibly bordering on unprofessional. But could she really complain when she’d been the one to say she was going to abduct him?
‘Can you drive that?’ Stephanie gestured at the car turning into the entranceway. The vintage Mercedes convertible in ultra-feminine pale pastel yellow was not a car a man like him would want to drive, surely.
‘Where are you going to sit?’ he asked, looking puzzled.
‘In the middle—in the back.’
‘You’re a contortionist?’ He cast a disbelieving gaze at the tiny back seat.
‘The size is deceptive,’ she muttered, walking out. She wanted to warn Tara about his attempt to change the plan.
But Jack spoke the second Tara cut the engine. ‘Steffi’s agreed to let me drive.’
‘She has? Okay.’ Tara smiled up from the driver’s seat and then unclipped her seat belt and exited the car. ‘If you like, I’ll stay here and find out what I can about that lotion. It could be a good one to profile, Stef.’
Stephanie wasn’t near enough to stab her in the ribs with her index finger. Or stomp discreetly on her toes. But she could glare. ‘You don’t mind not coming?’ Stephanie questioned pointedly.
‘Not at all.’ Tara didn’t even look at her as she dropped the car key into Jack’s outstretched hand. Instead she smiled at him. ‘I’m sure you’ll be careful with her.’
Her the car? Or her Steffi?
Jack looked amused. ‘I’m always careful.’
Stephanie wanted to kidnap them both and drop them into the Southern Ocean. Instead she acted all Steffi Leigh and stepped in front of Jack to pull Tara into a quick hug.
‘Will you check on Dan for me?’ she asked quickly into her friend’s ear.
She hadn’t left her brother alone for as long as this in months.
