Russian's Ruthless Demand

When she woke up Eleanore blinked and wondered if someone had stuck her eyes together last night with glue. She lifted her hands to rub at them and felt the stiffness of her eyelashes and realised she’d gone to bed without taking her make-up off. Something she never did.

Still tired, she yawned and rolled over and felt the pull of her dress. Blinking herself awake she frowned as she realised she hadn’t taken her dress off either. Or her stockings.

And she was on a sofa with a light blanket thrown over her. ‘What the …?’

‘Morning, spyashchaya krasavitsa.’

Startled, Eleanore’s hand flew to her chest as her eyes flew to the man leaning nonchalantly against the doorjamb. He was dressed in suit pants again and another pristine white shirt, open at the neck. She’d seen many men wear similar outfits at work over and over without noticing the width of their shoulders or the narrowness of their hips but there was something in the way Lukas carried himself that drew the eye like a moth to a flame.

Suddenly the events of last night came back in a rush and she realised she’d dreamt about his ice hotel. And him …

He strolled further into the room and she noticed he had a tall glass of water in his hand and that her mouth was as dry as dust. She also had the makings of a dull headache but it wasn’t enough to waylay her.

When he handed her the glass she drank from it greedily.

‘Thanks.’ She glanced around the room. Anywhere but at him. Then she frowned. ‘You should have woken me last night.’

‘I didn’t need the sofa.’

Eleanore placed the empty glass on the table. ‘That’s no excuse.’

‘I did take off your boots but you were so out of it I don’t think you would have woken up if an earthquake had hit.’

She grimaced. ‘It must have been the alcohol. I’m not used to it.’

‘There is lots of alcohol in St Petersburg. You will have plenty of opportunities to build your stamina if you work for me.’

Eleanore narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re glad that I stayed, aren’t you?’

‘I wouldn’t say glad but if you mean it gives me an advantage in getting what I want, then yes, I suppose you could say I’m glad.’

‘And you want me?’

As the silence between them lengthened Eleanore realised what she’d said. ‘I meant to work for you. Obviously.’

He smiled. ‘Da. Yes. To work for me.’

Eleanore shook her head. ‘I would never leave my job. My heart is with Harrington’s.’

‘And do you always follow your heart?’

Did she? ‘Yes, I suppose I do. My family means a lot to me. And they need me.’ At least she hoped that was true.

‘Staying in a company for family reasons can limit your true potential.’

Eleanore felt the pointy edge of that comment and it raised her hackles. ‘That’s cynical.’

Unperturbed by her put-down he shrugged.

‘Tomaso seems to think you have enormous potential that is not being tapped where you currently are. I’m willing to back it. How do you take your coffee?’

‘At my hotel,’ Eleanore said churlishly, annoyed at his barbs and the way he chuckled at her response. He had a habit of laughing at her and it was getting under her skin. Still, she needed to keep him onside if she was to talk to Isabelle about his ice hotel. And preferably before he contacted the Chatsfields. She wouldn’t work for him directly, but that didn’t mean Harrington’s couldn’t do something for him. If Isabelle agreed…‘Which I need to get back to,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ll contact you later with regard to your proposition.’

He shook his head. ‘While I admire your loyalty to your family and I’m sure they appreciate it I need to move on this now if the hotel is going to be ready for opening night in a month.’

‘A month!’ Her eyebrows shot up. ‘How much of it is already completed?’

He counted a list off with his fingers. ‘The ice blocks have been harvested and stacked in the warehouse, the arched corridors are done and waiting to be tractored onto the site. The vaulted steel support walls are up, and the construction crew and some of the ice carvers are in place.’

‘That’s not a lot.’ She did some calculations in her head. ‘I’d say a month is leaning heavily on the optimistic side of things.’

‘So you’ll do it?’

‘I didn’t say that,’ she said, feeling railroaded.

‘Why don’t you go and freshen up and think about it? I need your answer now. This morning.’

‘That’s impossible.’

He shrugged. ‘I have found nothing is impossible, Miss Harrington, for good or bad.’

Something in his tone, a bleakness, hit her in the stomach and made her pause. Unable to understand it she frowned. ‘I can’t decide about this on the spot.’

He folded his arms across his impressive chest and she wondered how he managed to look so fresh on probably less sleep than she had had. ‘Why? Do you not have the authority to make the decisions?’

No, she didn’t. But that was another thing she wouldn’t tell him. ‘Businesses don’t function like that.’

‘I’m only asking for a month of your time. If you can’t do it say so now.’

Fuming at him and desperate to use the bathroom she shoved the blanket aside—refusing to see it as a thoughtful gesture on his behalf—and swung her legs over the edge of the sofa. Her dress was bunched up around her hips and she flushed as she noticed Lukas’s eyes drop to her legs.

Expecting him to make some sexist comment she was surprised when he turned away toward the window instead. Another nice gesture? Probably not.

Escaping to the bathroom she was appalled to see she looked like a bad rendition of a panda. A panda with really bad hair.

Well, was it any wonder he’d turned away? She was about as attractive as … She stopped. Stared at herself.

‘You do not want that man to find you attractive no matter what you think,’ she told her wide-eyed reflection.

So he was good-looking. Since when had she been shallow enough to want a man for his looks? His body?

Disgusted with her train of thought she splashed warm water onto her face and used a cloth to scrub the excess of make-up away and wished she hadn’t left her clutch purse beside the sofa. Not that it had anything useful in it other than money and her keycard.

Something Lukas had said before reformed in her mind—about her family appreciating her loyalty—made her pause. She wasn’t sure that Isabelle appreciated it as much as she took it for granted but an idea was taking shape.

If Lukas agreed to hire her as a consultant for his project and would form a partnership with Harrington’s, then Isabelle would be forced to sit up and take notice of her achievements. And she had no doubt, given Lukas’s passion for the project, his budget would be huge.

Would Isabelle go for the idea?