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She wanted him in the worst take-me-now, stop-this-throbbing way. Every pore on her skin was prickling, and she was intensely aware of every breath he took, each flick of his eyelids, every movement of his strong thighs, each bob of his throat. His deep voice sneaked into places that had been so cold for so long and set her nerve-endings on fire...
She wanted to ask him up to her room for a one-night stand and the thought terrified and shocked her. They hadn’t even discussed the launch of the new line, but at this moment it didn’t matter and she so didn’t care.
Ally shoved her hands into her hair and pulled. She’d never not cared. Who was this stranger in her head?
Ally looked at herself in the mirror above the sink and didn’t recognise the flushed, wild-eyed woman looking back at her. Lifting her finger to her lips, she closed her eyes in horror. This crazy, sexy-looking woman wasn’t her. She looked out of control and fairly unhinged.
Ally ran the tap and flicked some cold water onto her cheeks, patting them dry with a paper towel, taking long deep breaths to get her heart-rate to slow down. She didn’t do crazy and she didn’t do unhinged and she didn’t put herself into situations that could get complicated...
And she never mixed business with pleasure. Ever. Or she wouldn’t if she allowed herself to have a social life.
She’d never felt so attracted to a man. He set her libido alight with his masculinity and his hottie factor, and she could dismiss that a lot more easily if she wasn’t so mentally attracted to him. She liked the fact that he was an alpha male—smart, decisive, mentally strong. He was a lot like her brothers and it annoyed her—scared her, kicked her off-balance—to realise that he would be the type of man she’d look for in the future, if or when she got her act together.
Well, this wasn’t the right time, and she wasn’t ready for a relationship.
But Ross isn’t about a relationship, her lady bits protested. He is pure lust...biology at its most basic form. He would be about pleasure and relief and hot, raw sex...we could do with a whole bunch of that!
Ally gripped the edges of a basin and dropped her head. Even if she threw every caution she had to the wind—and she had a truckload—she might still have to work with him. Because, despite his current opinion, Win! was a perfect match to their new line, and it was her job to convince him of that. She was good at her job and she rarely failed. So when Ross became the new face of Bellechier it would be rather awkward to work with him and keep a ‘pretend you haven’t licked me from top to toe’ expression on her face.
Because she just knew that he would lick her from top to toe. And back up again...lingering in certain places... Ally squirmed against her damp panties and scrunched up her face. Damp panties...? This man was more lethal than she’d thought.
Get a freaking grip, Jones! She was not going to ‘do’ Ross in any shape or form. That was just crazy and it was time she pulled herself together. She’d wobbled a little bit, had a strange physical reaction to him, but now it was time to be sensible and...professional, dammit. Cool. Controlled.
All the things she was so good at.
Ally put her hand against her sternum and breathed. Long, deep and slow. It was no substitute for hot, sweaty sex but it did bring her colour down and whip her thoughts into line.
If only it would work for the ‘do me now’ look in her eyes...
* * *
Ross placed his forearms on the bar and looked at his foot, resting on the gold rail of Ally’s chair. What was he doing? He should be heading home. He still had hours of work ahead of him tonight. He had a full day tomorrow and he was nuts even to consider prolonging this evening with a rather lost beauty with dark rings under her eyes.
He’d toss back his drink, pick up takeout on the way home, take a cold shower and head into his home office.
Those resolutions flew out of the room as he watched Ally walk back towards him. She wore her hair down tonight and it was longer than he’d expected, way past her shoulder blades and naturally wavy. She’d reapplied lipstick in the bathroom and her bland corporate face was back—which was totally at odds with that sexy, sexy dress. Pity... He rather liked the flashes of wildness he occasionally glimpsed in those black-ringed navy blue eyes.
She hadn’t noticed that he was watching her as she stopped between two empty tables and twisted her neck. Ross swallowed as she gripped her hands behind her back and pushed her chest out and... Hell, she wasn’t as scrawny as he’d first thought. Her dress outlined her breasts and pulled across her flat stomach, lifting the hem of that dress up another inch.
In any other woman that stretch would have had him walking out through the door, because it was such an obvious move, but he could see from Ally’s painfully scrunched face that she wasn’t even remotely concerned whether he was watching or not. He could see pain flicker across her face as her shoulders rose and then slumped, the way her eyes contracted when she rolled her head on her shoulders.
Then she glanced across to the bar, saw that he was watching and immediately straightened her spine, giving him a long, cool look. So, Ms Priss didn’t like anyone seeing her less than cool and controlled.
‘Problem?’ he asked when she slid back into her seat.
‘A muscle in my shoulder is on fire,’ Ally replied, wincing. ‘I swung my suitcase off the luggage conveyor and felt the twinge. Crazy, since I’m always picking up luggage.’
I can massage it for you. Ross opened his mouth to say the words and closed it again. And after I rub you into a gooey mess I’d like to sleep with you.
Ross sighed. She’d never accept—not in a hundred years. Smart, uptight women didn’t do that. Especially after five minutes of conversation.
She was uptight and she didn’t look like an idiot. In fact she had the most intelligent glint in those amazing eyes. And smart, uptight girls rarely said yes to casual sex.
He thought that was tragic.
Ross decided that it would be a very good idea to get his mind out of the bedroom and back onto the purpose of this evening.
‘So, tell me what you and Luc are thinking about with Win! and Bellechier.’
Ally looked at her new glass of wine and sighed. ‘It’s getting late... Have you eaten? My treat.’ She flashed a smile. ‘You might be more receptive to my suggestions on a full stomach.’
‘Nice try.’ But maybe dinner wasn’t such a bad idea. Ross shrugged his agreement. ‘Do you want to eat here or on the terrace?’
‘I love the view of Table Mountain from the terrace, and I could do with some fresh air,’ Ally replied, immediately slipping off her stool. ‘That sounds great.’
Ross dropped his car key into the back pocket of his jeans behind his wallet and picked up both their drinks as Ally walked ahead of him. Nice view, he thought. Curvy ass and long shapely legs.
He could easily imagine his hands holding that sexy butt as her legs encircled his hips...
Down boy, he told himself. Do try not to totally embarrass yourself.
* * *
‘So what do you think?’ Ally asked, leaning across her plate as she waited for his response to her succinct top line explanation of why she thought their products could be branded together.
‘No,’ Ross replied, and grinned at the spark of annoyance that jumped across her face. ‘Come on, Jones. I’ve rejected branding opportunities from massive soft drink brands—why would I accept your offer?’
Ally thought for a minute, wondering how to express the thoughts that were tumbling around, half formed and half baked. ‘Because those other companies wanted to brand Win! But I think I want you, not the game.’
Ross frowned. ‘God, that sounds even worse.’
Ally pushed her plate of uneaten steak and salad away and leaned her arms on the table. ‘We wouldn’t brand Win!. We’d use you.’
‘Still not getting it—and getting more scared by the moment,’ Ross muttered.
‘Initially I thought, like Luc, that Win! and the new Bellechier line would be a good fit. It’s a sporting and lifestyle game and our new collection is a lot more relaxed. Good synergy.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Ross was looking at her as if she was about to drop a concrete block on his head. ‘Are we going to be done with this conversation soon?’
‘We were on the wrong track looking at Win!. We should be looking at you. The man behind the game...’
Ross groaned theatrically and released a graphic swear word. ‘Sorry, but that is such a load of BS.’
Ally shook her head. ‘It’s really not. Win! is super-hot, and anyone who is tech-savvy—which is everybody between the age of thirteen and thirty-five—would be interested in the man behind the phenomena. Who did this? How did he do it? Add to the fact that you are...well, young, successful and a good-looking guy—’
‘You think so?’
Ally draped her arm over the back of her chair and held his eyes. ‘Are you fishing for compliments now? You know that you are hot, Bennett. We both know that you are hot.’
He lifted one eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘Don’t get excited; that’s a professional observation.’ Ally knew that her voice held ice but she couldn’t be certain that her eyes weren’t slowly undressing him. ‘I also love the idea of Crazy Collaborations—a technology think-tank—but I think that we’d have to stick to you as creator of Win! for the campaign.’
‘We’re not sticking to anything because the answer is still no.’
Dammit, she wasn’t anywhere near changing his mind. ‘What would it take?’
‘To get me to do the campaign?’ Ross leaned back in his chair. His mouth held a hint of a smile and his eyes narrowed in thought.
‘Mmm. Come on—hit me. What would it take? What’s the number? The demand? Where’s the line in the sand?’
‘You sure you want to know?’
Ally nodded, resigned. He was going to throw a ridiculous number out there, or ask for something stupid, impractical, unobtainable or all three. She’d been here before—matching demands with deliverability and, more importantly, deciding whether they were worth what they were asking.
Some were. Some weren’t.
Ally rolled her head and looked at him from under her lashes. Oh, well, in for a penny...or for many pounds. ‘Hit me.’
‘I will consider doing the campaign—seriously consider it—if you sleep with me.’
Ross almost looked around, in the vague hope that someone else had suddenly joined the conversation, because he could not believe that those words had come from his own mouth. What a flippin’ idiot.
He looked at Ally, who looked as shocked as he was feeling. Guppy look, Ross thought as his words registered and her eyes widened. He expected her to make a fish noise at any minute. He raked his hand through his hair. The words had slipped out. He’d been thinking them, but he normally managed to keep his thoughts behind his teeth. They were at best wildly inappropriate, and at worst sexual harassment of the worst kind.
It was pushing her into a corner, asking her to go beyond the call of duty. Of course she would say no—probably at the same time that she threw that glass of red wine in his face.
And he would so deserve it. What was he thinking? Oh, wait... Maybe he wasn’t thinking...maybe he was allowing his little head to do the talking.
Ally just stared at him with her surprised fish face and he shifted in his chair. He wished she would say something and give him a hint of the amount of crap he’d just jumped into.
He lifted his hands in a gesture of apology. ‘Sorry. That was...’
‘Rude? Inappropriate? Offensive?’ Ally tapped her finger against the white tablecloth.
‘All of the above?’
‘Damn right.’
She shrugged a slim shoulder and smiled. Smiled?
‘Okay, let’s go.’
Whoa! Stop the bus! She was prepared to do this? Had he heard her correctly? No, he couldn’t have.
‘Seriously?’
Those eyes bored into him. ‘Wasn’t it a serious offer?’
‘Yes. No... Dammit, I didn’t expect you to say yes!’
Ally cocked her head. ‘Why not?’
‘Because I didn’t think that you were the type.’ And, more worrying, he really didn’t want her to be the type. Over the years he’d met far too many women who’d use any weapon they could, including their sexuality, to get one step higher up the corporate ladder. Grasping, greedy, power-hungry women who thought it was acceptable to sleep, lie and manipulate their way to the top.
The realist in him knew that he was a target for those predatory types. He had money, influence and, according to that stupid poll recently, power. What that meant exactly he had no damn idea, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that Luc’s sister used the same tactics.
Disappointed, yeah...but he was attracted enough, wanted her too much, not to take what she was offering.
And he did want to have sex with her. He wanted to see whether her eyes deepened or lightened in passion, whether she huffed or moaned her pleasure, whether her skin was as fragrant as he thought, whether those long legs could wind around his hips just as he’d imagined they could.
Ross took a sip of whisky and nearly choked when Ally stood up and draped a black leather bag over her slim shoulder. ‘So, shall we go upstairs?’
‘Fine.’
Ross nearly bit his tongue trying to get the word out. Your room, my room, the lobby floor, Ross thought in a daze. He couldn’t believe that his stupid flip comment was going to lead to him getting it on with this gorgeous woman.
Utterly bemused, sure that he was operating in an alternative reality, he stumbled to his feet.
This was proof that God did, indeed, look after the intensely stupid.
* * *
How could she be both incredibly turned on and scorchingly angry? Ally wondered as she stepped into the lift ahead of Ross. She didn’t have any objection to sleeping with Ross—her monologue in the Ladies’ earlier was proof of that—but she despised the link between sex and her career.
How dared he make sex with her a condition of doing business? That behaviour was no longer acceptable in any circumstances! Sex was sex and work was work and the first one should never be used as a tool for negotiation. This was the twenty-first century and men didn’t get away with that kind of testosterone-fuelled crap any more. And it hurt like a man-o-war sting that he thought that she was stupid enough, desperate enough, insecure enough about her job that she would even consider sleeping with him to get what she wanted from him.
She might be one or all of those things—but she’d never use her body as she would her laptop or her mobile.
As for the turned-on part—jeez, Louise. She was in a small, slow lift with a super-fine guy who twisted her panties with just one look out of those lazy gold-green eyes. Despite the fact that he was a Neanderthal, she wanted him in the worst way possible. But there was no way she could have him...ever.
But she could teach him a lesson in sexual harassment. Oh, yeah, she was going to harass the hell out of him...
Ally watched the doors close and was grateful they were the only occupants of the lift. She knew it would take about a minute to get to her floor, so she’d better get busy.
Before she could talk herself out of it she whirled around, grabbed Ross’s shirt and slammed her mouth on his. His mouth opened in surprise and she took the opportunity to slide her tongue inside. Her body sighed at the heat and spice of his mouth. She opened her hands and spread her fingers across his wide chest, her palms loving the feel of hard muscles and the slow thump-thump of his heartbeat.
It took him only seconds to react, and then his hands were in her hair, and he was in charge of their kiss, and he was angling her face to tongue her deeper. One hand dropped to yank her hips against his. The hard, hard length of his erection pushed against her stomach, and she had to restrain herself from reaching down and cupping him, sliding her thumb up and across its full tip.
If she did that she’d never stop this, and she had to...
Ten seconds more, she thought as the doors slid open and the bell dinged. Ally wound her arms around his neck and tangled her tongue with his in a low, sexy swirl that had him moaning into her mouth. She withdrew and plunged again, and was only dimly aware that Ross had shoved out his hand and was holding the doors open, keeping the lift on that floor.
‘I want you,’ he growled in between hot, wet kisses.
‘I know.’
It was now or never, Ally thought, desperate for more...so much more. If she let him get out of this lift then she’d let him into her room and she’d be flat on her back and naked before her head had stopped spinning.
