He understood body language better than most. It was a requisite in his line of work. Miss Hart was restless. Since he didn’t want her to bolt, he moved back, leaned against the counter under the liquor bottles and brought up the subject of her Bucharest success, his tone temperate, the topic intentionally banal. He wanted to put her at ease and purposely asked questions about her methodology for breaking through firewalls. She visibly relaxed as she answered, eventually started on the second box of chocolates, found several she liked and ate them with the same appreciation he’d noticed at dinner. Definitely a woman of appetites.

Over the course of the next half hour he managed to curb himself and his desire for her. And if she hadn’t said out of the blue, ‘Tell me something. The fact that I’m leaving soon accounts for your interest in me, right?’ the night might have proved uneventful.

He paused with his refilled glass halfway to his mouth, his expression guarded. ‘Honestly?’

‘Is that a problem?’

He set his glass down, met her gaze straight on. ‘No. And yes, the time line’s a factor.’

‘Hah! I knew it!’

Her little jiggle of elation made him smile. ‘You like to be right?’

‘Don’t you?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m flexible.’

‘Like in Singapore?’

‘I can be flexible.’

‘For the right incentive.’

But there was a teasing note in her voice now and her green gaze was bright with triumph or flirtation. Or champagne. He’d have to find out which, or whether it even mattered any more. ‘What do you have in mind?’ he drawled, thinking he’d like to kiss her rosy cheek first, taste that soft, sweet freshness. ‘I’m open to any incentive, large or small.’

The word ‘large’ scorched through her brain, sent a flame-hot rush of desire into every susceptible crevice in her body, triggered a small gasp she wasn’t able to contain.

He didn’t move, he didn’t so much as blink and when he spoke, his voice was no more than a whisper. ‘Is there something I might do for you perhaps?’ Champagne nearly sloshed over the rim of her glass and moving quickly, he lifted it from her trembling hand and set it aside. ‘All you have to do is ask.’

‘I don’t want to.’ Gathering herself, she leaned back in her chair to put some distance between herself and temptation, braced her hands palm down on the bar to steady her nerves and tried to breathe normally. Then she lifted her cat-eyed, restless gaze. ‘If you must know, it’s too humiliating to be just another mindless fuck.’

‘Christ, as if you are. Look.’ He hesitated, his feelings so far from what passed for normal lately he was entering new territory. ‘I don’t—’ He stopped again, not sure whether honesty was beneficial or if it was safer to lie. He’d never actually been truthful to all the temporary women in his life. ‘I can guarantee you wouldn’t be’ – another pause – ‘that,’ he finished, rather than repeat her blunt phrase. ‘The fact is – I didn’t want to send you home after Amsterdam. I have no idea why. Werner could have handled Singapore for me.’ Faced with the new, baffling dilemma of his fascination with this young woman, recognizing that what he had to offer wasn’t in her best interests, in fact might be ruinous for her, he reluctantly made a principled decision. ‘On second thought’ – he exhaled heavily – ‘this’ – he did a back and forth motion with his index finger – ‘you and me isn’t a good idea. Not for you anyway.’ He took a breath, reached for his glass. ‘We’d better call it a night.’ Raising his glass to his mouth, he poured the liquor down his throat, shot her a look as he set the glass down. ‘Go before I change my mind.’ Grabbing the bottle, he refilled his glass and lifted his chin towards the door. ‘Go.’

‘I don’t want to,’ Kate quietly said. ‘Not really. Unless you want me to.’ She couldn’t tell if he did or not; this was not a man bent on seduction. He might even be inherently decent, which surprised her. She’d seen him domineering, arrogant, even tyrannical, but not like this. Not Dominic Knight being virtuous.

With a soft oath, he put the bottle down. One of them should be practical; he thought he had been. Now what? A rhetorical question quickly dismissed. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing,’ he said, thinking how unbelievably sexy she looked biting down hard on the inside of her lip. ‘Because I’m not sure I do.’

‘I think so.’

‘You’d better be sure.’ His voice was gruff.

She took another deep breath that lit up his retinas, smashed his moral compass and set the evening in motion even before she said, ‘I’m sure. I find you irresistible.’

A small sigh. He appreciated the irony. He couldn’t remember when he’d last said no to sex. Another sigh, deeper this time, because what he was about to say was sobering. ‘I feel the same way about you.’

His quiet declaration made her heart flip. ‘You don’t have to say that.’

An easy smile. ‘It’s a compliment. Say thank you.’

‘Thank you. And now, if you don’t mind.’

‘You’re impatient.’

‘It’s been a while.’

He wanted to ask how long, but stopped himself because it didn’t matter. Instead, he walked around the end of the bar, came to a halt beside her, lifted her off her barstool, seated her on the end of the bar facing him, and moved between her legs. Smoothly untying her robe, he slipped it off her shoulders and let it fall down her arms. ‘Very showy,’ he whispered, running his palms over her large breasts, gently stroking the soft, yielding flesh.