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back, his eyes widening a fraction before looking away to where Gina stood chatting safely out of earshot. ‘Guilty as charged.’
She saw the flicker of insecurity flash before he hid it behind a self-deprecating smile.
‘Waste of time, though, when she’s only interested in types like him.’
She glanced around to where he was looking and drew a painful breath. Rory had arrived and was standing next to Gina and staring at them with a thunderous expression. She felt floored by the ferocity of his gaze. She turned back quickly, looking down at her drink, feeling the heat in her cheeks. What was he doing here? She’d thought she was in the clear for just a few hours. Her Rory-Proximity Indicator, aka her pulse, started its crazy zigzag. She found her attraction to him so hard to control and she knew it would only take a moment alone with him for it to snap. She had to prevent that from happening.
‘Hmm.’ Karl grunted.
Lissa could just about hear the cogs creaking as they turned in his brain.
‘Who is he?’ he asked.
‘Rory. One of the bosses.’ She said it to remind herself more than to inform him. ‘Look, great to meet you, Karl, but I need to head home.’
With a wave she left him and started to move towards Gina to say goodnight.
Rory stepped in front of her, blocking her slow trail across the room, his chest a more effective barrier than the Great Wall of China. ‘So Gina was right, then?’ He asked, his voice rasping harshly.
‘About what?’ she asked cautiously. She’d never seen him look so grim.
‘That he’d be the perfect good-time guy for you.’ He jerked his head in Karl’s direction. Anger oozed from every pore.
If she weren’t so strung out she’d have laughed. Instead she sighed. Their situation was fractious enough without having unwarranted jealousy compounding it.
‘Actually, no, she wasn’t right about that.’
The hardness in his eyes remained.
‘But she was right about one thing,’ she continued, the need to set him at ease overruling her plan to keep him at a distance.
‘What’s that?’
‘You do have the most amazing eyes.’ She looked at him and let her attraction shine out clearly. Time stopped and, fascinated, she watched as his expression softened from anger to amusement and then to desire. The unspoken communication held them in thrall. She felt heat mount in her cheeks and a thrilling tingle rippled through her as she saw an answering flush rise in his. The desire she had been trying so desperately to hold in check this last week was spiralling upwards—again.
She finally recognised that it was never going to go away of its own accord. The feelings she thought she could control were not lessening with each day. Instead the attraction mounted. With every day came new knowledge, more familiarity, more fun. And the need to be one with him grew. It felt inevitable. Uncontrollable.
She didn’t want him thinking she was even remotely interested in Karl. The idea was laughable. Right now she felt as if she’d never want anyone the way she wanted Rory. The thought scared her half to death.
Finally she spoke, a whisper. ‘I’m going home.’
‘Let me come with you.’ An equally quiet whisper.
A wry smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘No one’s coming tonight.’
A rueful look crossed his face. She knew he’d caught her double entendre. ‘More’s the pity.’ Regret swirled between them.
‘What’s happened? Don’t tell me the computers have crashed and we’ve lost the reports?’ James broke in on them, his hilarity jarring her back to her surroundings. He stood with a drink in each hand, brows raised, flicking his glance from one to the other in query. She glanced back at Rory. He’d retreated and was looking coldly at James who was still talking. ‘You need a drink, Lissa?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m just leaving. See you tomorrow.’ She walked away before either of them could say anything more.
She waved goodbye to Gina, who came to meet her at the door.
‘People are asking if you and Rory are having an affair,’ Gina said without preamble.
Lissa’s head jerked back.
‘Don’t get mad,’ Gina added hurriedly. ‘I’ve said not as far as I knew. I just thought you’d like to know.’
Lissa forced herself to shrug. It was hardly surprising. Even Karl had immediately spotted the attraction between them. Coupled with the few incidents in front of Marnie and James and the soul-searching looks they’d just swapped in the middle of the crowded bar, of course people were going to wonder. Despite what she’d said to Rory, she didn’t really care. People would think what they liked with little regard for the truth. She’d learnt that one a long time ago as the only child of a single teenage mother. Besides, it wouldn’t be the only office affair to be speculated on and nor would it be the last. There’d be another shortly, she bet, knowing the antics of some of the junior consultants.
‘Are you OK?’ Gina touched her arm, bringing her back to the here and now. ‘Look, Lissa, if you don’t want to tell me, fine. But I know there’s something going on. You guys put all the “izzle” in sizzle.’
Lissa smiled, aiming for nonchalance, unwilling to unload the sorry saga onto Gina. ‘I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all. I’m going to call it a night.’
Thursday passed in a flash. Despite another night of minimal sleep, she sped through the final version of the reports. By mid afternoon they’d been checked and she was printing and binding copies to be distributed at the presentation.
Then she set about perfecting the online slide show and ensuring that the equipment Rory and the others needed to take with them on Friday had been checked by IT and was ready to go. The others had been in conference at the other end of the table for most of the afternoon. Lissa glanced down at them, taking a breather from the figures in front of her. They all seemed hyped on an adrenaline rush. Rory’s energy levels were phenomenal. He paced the end of the room, eyes gleaming as he grilled Marnie over and over on her part of the presentation. He seemed to thrive on the excitement of the challenge. Looked so competent, so assured, so focussed.
Lissa grimaced and looked back at her computer. She felt anything but—her suit crumpled rather than crisp, her body hot and sticky. Her throat was sore and her head felt heavy and seemed to have the army band drumming in it. Even her eyeballs ached. She put her hands to her cheeks; they were burning up and her cold fingers soothed them a little.
She was tired. Tired of staring at computer screen and graphs and figures for hours, tired of being cooped up in this tiny room, but most of all she was tired of being so close to Rory and yet not being with him. She wanted him. Badly. The thought consumed her and so did the resulting anger. She was allowing her physical attraction to him to overshadow her work. Such a thing had never happened before. The thought of him fevered her mind. It clouded her judgment and, she worried, affected her performance. She resented his ability to be able to switch it off. How could he be so focussed on work if he felt the same overwhelming passion?
Suddenly it was well after six and the office had all but emptied leaving just their small team. Marnie and James went to get pizza, insisting on going out to get it rather than order delivery. Marnie said she was desperate for fresh air. James took the orders. Distractedly Lissa said she’d be happy with anything but seafood. Damn, she needed to get this finished so she could get away. Her nerves were shot to pieces. It was all she could do to sit there and keep some semblance of concentration on the screen.
She battled to finish the remaining few pages. Part of her wanted to get out of the room and head for home as fast as possible and the other part wanted nothing more than to leap onto Rory and ravish him. Her reservations about an office fling were fading fast under