she indicated Sebastian. ‘You shouldn’t be bothered by the light over there.’
Ariadne was cornered in more ways than one, and her simmering gaze met Sebastian Nikosto’s with sardonic appreciation. She wasn’t sure how many of the staff he’d bribed, but that smile was anything but innocent. A refusal would make her look downright nasty, her request to move petty and insincere.
‘Do you always have to have your own way?’
‘I find it best.’
She glowered at him. ‘Your tie’s crooked.’
‘Is it?’ He smiled, as if he knew, damn him, how handsome it made him. ‘Why don’t you come over here and fix it for me?’
She folded her arms across her chest. ‘I think you must enjoy punishment. I’ve already rejected you once this evening.’
His eyes glinted. ‘You could always change your mind, though. I’m willing to bet you’re pretty good at that.’
Her guilty past rushed to the surface. ‘Why? What have you heard?’
His brows lifted with amused curiosity. ‘What should I have heard? See? We’re already talking. You might as well come on over.’ He patted the spot next to him.
She exhaled a long, incredulous breath. Couldn’t this man take no for an answer? On the other hand, her tablecloth was wet. And it couldn’t hurt just to eat dinner with him, could it? Hewasn’t likely to whisk her away to his fortress and force her into a wedding ceremony at gunpoint in the dead of night.
‘Oh, all right, ’she said. ‘Anything for peace.’ The concession was barely wrung from her before Sebastian sprang up and, with help from the waitress, whisked her, her chair and place setting to the Nikosto table.
‘There, isn’t that better?’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Now we won’t have to shout at each other to be heard.’
‘I never shout,’ she said coldly.
‘No, and you never smile. I’m looking forward to removing that sulky expression.’
She smiled at him just to prove he was wrong, but, after all the horrors of the day, somehow the criticism wounded her already abused feelings. She clung to the smile as tightly as she could, her gaze fixed on a ferry chugging across the harbour in a blaze of lights while she fought the fatal thickening in her throat.
The silence grew charged. After a long tense minute he said gently, ‘Ah…Now that I think about it, it might just be the shape of your lips.’ He leaned closer and traced the outline of her lips with one lean finger, not quite touching them. ‘They have that little pout. And they’re very sensuous.’
His voice soaked through her nerve fibres like kitro.
CHAPTER FOUR
D INNER had a dizzily mounting tension, not unlike a ritual dance in which each move and countermove weren’t known in advance, but had to be guessed at by the dancers.
Ariadne felt weird to be dining with a man she’d so recently refused in marriage, but probably as part of some diabolical master plan Sebastian made no reference to it at all. He drew her along in conversation, smoothly and skilfully, even warmly, though not about the sensitive issues between them. He just skirted the edges of those. Flirted the edges. Despite the chilly start, the temperature managed to pick itself up off the floor.
Still, the subject lurked in every glance and nuance of the conversation. What sort of man persisted in charming a woman after he’d been rejected so finally and utterly? Shouldn’t he have slunk off into the night? Perhaps he was hoping to change her mind.
And he did have charm. With every comforting mouthful of the heavenly Hyatt food, she felt increasingly aware she didn’t dislike him as violently as she’d at first thought. Perhaps he wasn’t a barracuda. More a smooth, sleek stingray with a devastating five o’ clock shadow. And midnight satin eyes that made her pulse quicken. And a mouth to ravish a woman’s dreams.
Her conscience wasn’t quite at ease with the new situation, but she quelled it by thinking of it as an emergency. Now she wascast adrift
Ariadne was cornered in more ways than one, and her simmering gaze met Sebastian Nikosto’s with sardonic appreciation. She wasn’t sure how many of the staff he’d bribed, but that smile was anything but innocent. A refusal would make her look downright nasty, her request to move petty and insincere.
‘Do you always have to have your own way?’
‘I find it best.’
She glowered at him. ‘Your tie’s crooked.’
‘Is it?’ He smiled, as if he knew, damn him, how handsome it made him. ‘Why don’t you come over here and fix it for me?’
She folded her arms across her chest. ‘I think you must enjoy punishment. I’ve already rejected you once this evening.’
His eyes glinted. ‘You could always change your mind, though. I’m willing to bet you’re pretty good at that.’
Her guilty past rushed to the surface. ‘Why? What have you heard?’
His brows lifted with amused curiosity. ‘What should I have heard? See? We’re already talking. You might as well come on over.’ He patted the spot next to him.
She exhaled a long, incredulous breath. Couldn’t this man take no for an answer? On the other hand, her tablecloth was wet. And it couldn’t hurt just to eat dinner with him, could it? Hewasn’t likely to whisk her away to his fortress and force her into a wedding ceremony at gunpoint in the dead of night.
‘Oh, all right, ’she said. ‘Anything for peace.’ The concession was barely wrung from her before Sebastian sprang up and, with help from the waitress, whisked her, her chair and place setting to the Nikosto table.
‘There, isn’t that better?’ His eyes gleamed. ‘Now we won’t have to shout at each other to be heard.’
‘I never shout,’ she said coldly.
‘No, and you never smile. I’m looking forward to removing that sulky expression.’
She smiled at him just to prove he was wrong, but, after all the horrors of the day, somehow the criticism wounded her already abused feelings. She clung to the smile as tightly as she could, her gaze fixed on a ferry chugging across the harbour in a blaze of lights while she fought the fatal thickening in her throat.
The silence grew charged. After a long tense minute he said gently, ‘Ah…Now that I think about it, it might just be the shape of your lips.’ He leaned closer and traced the outline of her lips with one lean finger, not quite touching them. ‘They have that little pout. And they’re very sensuous.’
His voice soaked through her nerve fibres like kitro.
CHAPTER FOUR
D INNER had a dizzily mounting tension, not unlike a ritual dance in which each move and countermove weren’t known in advance, but had to be guessed at by the dancers.
Ariadne felt weird to be dining with a man she’d so recently refused in marriage, but probably as part of some diabolical master plan Sebastian made no reference to it at all. He drew her along in conversation, smoothly and skilfully, even warmly, though not about the sensitive issues between them. He just skirted the edges of those. Flirted the edges. Despite the chilly start, the temperature managed to pick itself up off the floor.
Still, the subject lurked in every glance and nuance of the conversation. What sort of man persisted in charming a woman after he’d been rejected so finally and utterly? Shouldn’t he have slunk off into the night? Perhaps he was hoping to change her mind.
And he did have charm. With every comforting mouthful of the heavenly Hyatt food, she felt increasingly aware she didn’t dislike him as violently as she’d at first thought. Perhaps he wasn’t a barracuda. More a smooth, sleek stingray with a devastating five o’ clock shadow. And midnight satin eyes that made her pulse quicken. And a mouth to ravish a woman’s dreams.
Her conscience wasn’t quite at ease with the new situation, but she quelled it by thinking of it as an emergency. Now she wascast adrift
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