Mills & Boon Stars Collection: Seductive Nights. Maya Blake

pushed at his shoulders. ‘No. Stop!’ When he stared at her with a puzzled frown, she shook her head. ‘I can’t do this.’

      His eyes slowly cleared. When his fingers left her core and he sat back in the seat, Elise bit her lip to stop from protesting.

      ‘Sí, I know. I’m breaking my own rules.’

      He believed she’d called a halt because of her contract with SNV.

      Elise shakily exhaled. ‘You misunderstand. I wouldn’t sleep with you even without your rules. This shouldn’t have happened. And it won’t happen again...ever.’

      Every last trace of lust left his face and with each passing second, a greater part of her mourned. He stood, shoved his hands deep in his pockets and stared down at her as she scrambled up and righted her clothes.

      ‘Explain.’

      ‘Do I need to? You caught me at a low moment—’

      Tension clamped his frame. ‘Perdón? Are you suggesting I took advantage of you?’ His voice was clipped with ice. ‘If so, let me remind you that you were with me every step of the way, guapa.’

      A hint of shame slammed her. ‘I think it’s time we brought the evening to an end. I’ve gone above and beyond my duties for one day, I believe.’

      ‘If this is a taster of what your duties could be, perhaps we should renegotiate your contract. I’m sure we can agree to a mutually benefitting addendum.’

      She gasped, ice dredging through her insides. ‘You didn’t just say that to me.’

      His eyes gleamed, an unfathomable emotion flickering in his eyes. ‘We’re laying our cards on the table. I want you. I believe the feeling is mutual. We can wait until the merger is over. Or we can agree to terms now.’

      ‘I don’t want to agree to any further terms with you. And I’m sorry if your ego doesn’t like hearing no from a nobody like me.’

      Impossibly, he stiffened further. ‘You wouldn’t be making the mistake of likening me to that bastard, would you, Elise?’ he murmured with deathly calm.

      The smooth lethality of it froze her vocal cords for a few seconds too long. His face lost a shade of colour and his jaw clenched tight.

      ‘Alejandro, I’m—’

      ‘Save your breath. You can deny it all you want, but you took as much as you gave tonight. And you knew the precise moment to call a halt to achieve maximum effect.’ His mouth twisted in a cruel smile. ‘That skill has to come from somewhere, right?’

      She hadn’t thought hearing the words she’d dreaded most and had heard whispered about her would hurt coming from Alejandro. But it stung deeper than it ever had.

      She rose, willing her legs not to give way, and walked to the door. Turning the handle, she threw it open. ‘And here I thought you were enlightened enough to realise that sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree. How disappointing. I’m glad I could be of extra-curricular service to you tonight. Do me a favour and let’s keep things strictly business from now on, shall we?’

      He didn’t deign to utter a response. Cold eyes raked her from head to toe. Then he strode out with arrogant indifference.

      Elise slammed the door hard. And even before she turned the key, she was cursing the hot scald of tears choking her.

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      ELISE SLEPT THROUGH her alarm and woke up at seven-thirty. The ominous start to the day thankfully didn’t earn her Alejandro’s scorn because he wasn’t in the office when she hurried in just after quarter past eight. She breathed a sigh of relief when Margo informed her he would be out of the office all morning.

      She got on with putting finishing touches to the work she’d left unfinished yesterday. As she recalled the unfortunate end to the evening, her heart dipped with disappointment and hurt.

      Enough! Knowing she would always be in some way tarred with the same brush when it came to her parents, she’d learned to toughen up at an early age. Alejandro had merely lucked out and cornered her in a weak moment after coercing her to spill her guts about Brian.

      Nothing more.

      When the words continued to echo hollowly at the back of her mind, Elise decided to use her free time for the head-clearing run she hadn’t managed that morning. She struck out for nearby Millennium Park, the exertion and the light April breeze doing an effective job of clearing her tension and lending a little perspective.

      Last night, she’d got carried away. She’d glimpsed sympathy that had been sorely lacking on all fronts following Brian’s assault and had grasped it with both hands. Then she’d followed it by falling into a web of sexual attraction while ignoring the accompanying pitfalls.

      But she had put on the brakes. There was nothing to feel guilty about. If anything, Alejandro’s attitude was what should be causing her grief. And yet, all through the night of tossing and turning, that fleeting expression on his face had haunted her. Continued to haunt her. For a single moment, just before he’d accused her of comparing him to Brian, she’d glimpsed a sharp pain, felt an alignment of her own hurt. As much as she wanted to dismiss it, the notion wouldn’t die. Nor could she deny his sympathy and comfort had been genuine.

      But afterwards...

      Was she attributing more humanity to him than was warranted? Accepting her thoughts were going around in futile circles, she completed her run, performed her stretches, and returned to SNV.

      She walked through the doors and was crossing the foyer to the drink fountain when she saw Alejandro.

      Except it wasn’t Alejandro.

      The hair, stature and innate confidence that were imprinted on him were almost identical. But apart from the visual confirmation when the man turned from calling for the lift, her stomach didn’t quite dive and clench the same way it did in Alejandro’s presence.

      This was Alejandro’s brother. The resemblance was uncanny. All the way down to his lifted eyebrow when he realised he was the object of scrutiny.

      Her very blatant scrutiny.

      A very male, very confident smile curved his lips as he abandoned the lift and sauntered towards her. His return scrutiny didn’t make her skin prickle the way Alejandro’s did, but nevertheless Elise grew conscious of the cling of Lycra and sheen of sweat coating her skin.

      ‘A beautiful woman who shows dedication in taking care of herself is a sexy thing to behold.’

      His voice, so much like Alejandro’s, but also so different, made her smile emerge a little weaker than usual. ‘You don’t know me from a lamp post, so what makes you think I’m in any way dedicated? For all you know this could be the start of a very late New Year’s resolution.’

      His gaze drifted from her head to the tips of her trainers and back again. ‘Then I commend you for the excellent, decidedly non-lamp-post-like framework you’re building on.’ His words held the same Spanish intonation that curled around Alejandro’s.

      Laughter bubbled up, easy and unexpected, providing a touch of relief from her roiling thoughts. ‘I’m not sure whether to thank you for the compliment or roll my eyes at that smooth line.’

      ‘Gael Aguilar.’ He held out his hand. ‘And you wound me.’

      She shook his hand. ‘You’re Alejandro’s brother,’ she confirmed.

      A shadow crossed Gael’s features. ‘For my sins, yes.’

      A sixth sense warned her his words were meant literally. The lift arrived and she stepped into the small space beside him. She couldn’t help but notice with every floor that passed, his tension escalated.

      This brother wasn’t anticipating