Unbuttoned by the Boss: Unbuttoned by Her Maverick Boss / The Far Side of Paradise / Rub It In

‘You’re mad with me for leaving like that,’ he roughly muttered in her ear.

‘No, I’m not.’ She shook head and glared at him. ‘It was good you did, actually.’

‘Oh?’ His eyes glittered in the lights. It looked as if his temper was off the leash now.

‘Saved us from any awkwardness,’ she snapped.

‘And you’re not awkward now?’

‘No.’ She tossed her head, refusing to admit she was basically dying of discomfort. ‘But my shoes are killing me so I’ve had enough dancing, thanks. You don’t need me for anything tonight anyway, right? For the Whistle, I mean.’

‘No.’ His reply was frigid. Hard eyes raked her. ‘Not at all.’ He pushed her away and stalked through the crowd.

Sophy felt her own anger grow. What did he want—for her to fall at his feet again? To act the desperate female?

Never.

She pushed her way back to the bar where Rosanna was standing alone—a fresh cocktail in hand. She handed it out and Sophy gladly took a deep sip and handed it back.

‘Why don’t you just do him and be done with it?’ Rosanna asked as if it were the most logical thing in the world. ‘Honestly, the tension between you two is electric.’

Sophy didn’t inform her that she already had done him. And that instead of making the tension go away it had only made it worse. Much, much worse.

‘I should have known you’d have it in you. You never give yourself enough credit, as a result no one else does,’ Rosanna commented. ‘Our mistake.’

Have what in her? The ability to attract a shark like Lorenzo? Big deal. Rosanna had been right first time round—she couldn’t handle him. ‘What’s with you and the Vance guy?’ Sophy asked, wanting to think about something else. ‘I mean, that was rude, even for you.’

Rosanna shrugged. ‘Unfinished business, you know?’

Um, well, yes. Sophy knew Rosanna was angry, but she had her own frustrations too—and she needed space to deal with them. ‘I’ve had enough. I’m going home. You coming?’

Rosanna had the huntress look in her eye. ‘No. I’m finishing the business. Tonight.’

‘Are you sure?’ Sophy didn’t think it was such a good idea. Rosanna rarely allowed her emotions to bubble close to the surface and right now they were clearly on show.

‘Deadly.’

Sophy hesitated, wondered if she should stay—convince her friend to let it go. But she felt the presence at her back—the surge in awareness. She turned. Lorenzo—standing a millimetre away but looking totally remote. And she just knew he’d been listening in.

‘Stuck for a ride?’ he asked bluntly.

‘I can get a cab.’

‘No need. I’ll run you home.’

‘You’re not staying?’

‘Obviously not.’

She hesitated. It would be churlish to refuse. And she was handling this like a sophisticate, wasn’t she? ‘That would be great. Thanks.’

They walked from the bar. Not awkward at all? Ha.

‘It’s a real success,’ she said for the sake of saying something.

‘Yeah. Vance had the vision. It was a good one.’

But it was Lorenzo who had backed him on it. Kat had told her some of the background—turned out Lorenzo was the only one who would back Vance, when the banks wouldn’t.

‘I wonder how Rosanna knows him.’

‘You’ll have to ask her.’

Quite the clam, wasn’t he? She gave up on the small talk and simply watched him drive. The powerful machine purred under his hands, responding to his slightest touch. Just as she had. She started to sweat again, clenched her muscles to stop the softening. She still wanted him, badly. But she wasn’t going to make the mistake of asking him again—she didn’t want to hear him say no. He pulled over outside Rosanna’s villa. She undid her belt and had her door open in a split second. The sooner she got away from him, the more likely she was to escape with the little dignity she had left. But her deeply ingrained politeness made her bend and glance back into the car—right at him. ‘Thanks for the ride.’

‘My pleasure.’ His hard gaze bored into her.

Utterly still, she took in the intensity in his face. Why so angry? Burning with confusion, with embarrassment as she suddenly thought of an alternative to the ‘ride’ they were talking about, she slammed the door.

Lorenzo swore. Forced himself to wait until she was inside the door of her home and then put his foot to the floor. What the hell was he doing hovering around her? She was determined not to be bothered, that their night truly was all over. She couldn’t have made that clearer. And wasn’t that what he wanted?

No. He’d wanted her to admit she was feeling as out of sorts as he was—as unfulfilled, as hungry.

He gripped the wheel tighter and knew he’d better head back to the warehouse pronto before he did something stupid. He could feel it surging within him, the energy seeking to burst out of his skin. He hadn’t felt it this bad in a long time—the anger and the desire to destroy. The darkness deep within him was awake. Maybe it was a result of the illness last week. His control had been weakened. But it was the thought of Sophy that threatened it the most.

He’d just stay up all night. He’d get it back under control.

Chapter Seven (#u93bc5a2c-1219-52f8-9ffc-86403a564ce3)

ROSANNA didn’t return that night but sent a safe-status text in the morning. Sophy grumped her way through breakfast, telling herself she desperately needed to Get Over Lorenzo.

She stayed at home all Sunday but went to work her usual ten minutes early on Monday. Tried to keep her pulse at a vaguely normal rate as she climbed the stairs up to her little domain. Not awkward. Not awkward at all.

She heard the voices as she neared the top. Stopped on the threshold of her office door. The girl was very pretty. Already seated in Sophy’s chair. Kat, the receptionist, was showing her the damn computer system already.

‘Hello.’ Sophy smiled, ultra bright and polite. She was not going to get evil over this.

‘Hi, Sophy.’ Kat looked up and beamed. ‘This is Jemma, who’s here to help you out.’

Oh, right. Help her out. Like she needed helping out? Like she needed a pretty, petite thing to do the work for her? Oh, please. After she’d just spent the last week giving the place a complete overhaul? She didn’t need help now. No, it was more like now the hard stuff was done she wasn’t needed any more.

Now he’d slept with her he didn’t want her around at all.

It wouldn’t be awkward at all then, would it?

The jealousy kicked in, the resentment swirling around, the energy building in her until she had enough fuel inside to launch a rocket to the moon.

‘Are you okay showing her some stuff for a while longer, Kat?’ she barely managed to ask nicely.