Chapter 3
For a couple of charged beats, the heated slumberous glow in his eyes told Tiffany he was picturing the same images as she, from that night neither of them had slept until the sun had stretched golden fingers over the horizon.
And for a crazy second, Tiffany thought he was going to break through his inertia, take a step forward, slide his hands on her hips and hitch her close.
But then his brows pulled down again. ‘ Oxi .’ He shook his head. ‘No.’ Then, ‘ Nomezo .’ Which she assumed meant double-no as he gave another shake of his head, tousling hair she could still feel silky smooth against her breasts and belly as he had kissed down her body. ‘ Apokliete .’
Theo had whispered Greek to her in the throes of passion that had curled her toes.
Low and gravelly, straight into her ear.
Tiffany hadn’t known what he was saying – she hadn’t needed to; his tone had made it obvious they were hot and dirty, dredged from the deep cauldron of lust in which they’d been immersed.
She didn’t need a translation for these words either. He didn’t want her on the boat.
Tiffany couldn’t decide if she was insulted or angry. But she was definitely blindsided. This was not the way she’d thought today would go down. Still, if he thought she was going to be a pushover, then he didn’t know her at all.
It had been a month since a regular pay cheque and she needed the job. Sure, she could probably get another soon-ish but it was peak cruising-the-Isles-in-a-superyacht season and crews had already been set, which made it more difficult.
Money might grow on trees in his world, but it didn’t in hers.
Also, she’d never been dismissed from a job before she’d even started, and that rankled.
Coming from him it felt like a very specific rejection that had nothing to do with her abilities or her work ethic, and that really stuck in her craw.
Tiffany drew herself up to her full five feet nine inches and injected steel into her spine.
‘Yes.’ No way was she going to be pushed out of a job because the guy in charge couldn’t compartmentalise his life.
She crossed her arms to emphasise she meant business, but that just drew his gaze to her chest where the movement had plumped up a cleavage already generously displayed in her V-necked T-shirt. Her nipples ached beneath his lingering assessment as if remembering how perfectly he’d worshipped them.
Stupid nipples.
But then his mouth flattened into a grim line, and he finally found his feet. Giving her a wide berth, he crossed to the panel of instruments and Tiffany turned to see him consulting the screens and fiddling with a mouse.
‘I’ll call the agency and get you placed somewhere else and cover your expenses to get there,’ he tossed over his shoulder.
Tiffany stared at his broad shoulders. So, she was… dismissed? Without even the courtesy of looking her in the eye? Yeah. Nah. As they said back home.
‘No.’
His shoulders straightened, his head came up and Tiffany’s pulse spiked as he slowly turned.
His face was a formidable mask of prime alpha male, his eyes blazing blue heat, his clenched jaw brick hard.
Not the face of the man who had smiled and flirted and charmed.
This was the face of a man who was clearly not used to hearing no parroted back at him.
She supposed she was meant to feel intimidated.
But Tiffany had grown up around men just like Theo.
Okay, sure, they didn’t wear suits or run companies, but they could out-alpha most men.
They could rope a cow, ride a pissed-off bucking bull, fell a tree, string a fence, find water in a desert, make a roaring fire and build a shelter.
All in one day. Men who’d be handy to have around in the apocalypse and didn’t suffer fools gladly.
So, no, that look of steely determination didn’t intimidate her.
In fact, quite the opposite. It was strangely thrilling as their gazes clashed and sparks arced between them.
How would this version of Theo Callisthenes bed her?
She’d sampled the prowess of the charming playboy and been thoroughly sated, but she suspected the experience with the tight-lipped tycoon would be one hundredfold more intense.
Not that she had any intention of being bedded by the billionaire again. She was perfectly fine with their one-night thing staying a one-night thing, especially given her best friend had married his brother.
Of course, she’d known at the time because of Ari and Kelsey that her and Theo’s path might occasionally cross in the future, but Tiffany had figured she could probably avoid most of those situations ahead of time. Would she have had sex with Theo had she known he was going to be her boss one day?
No.
Although technically, she supposed, he had been her boss already. But she couldn’t undo that now and she’d never been one to cry over spilt milk.
It was Theo’s turn to cross his arms, but Tiffany refused to be cowed by his grim-faced resolve, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. ‘So… do you want to tell Ari that you fired his wife’s best friend on her first day or shall I?’
She hadn’t planned on exploiting that connection but it clearly worked, the dark swathe of stubble across his jaw not hiding the shift of muscles as he clenched his teeth then muttered something in Greek Tiffany was pretty sure was not suitable for work.
‘Did you know?’
Tiffany frowned. ‘Did I know what?’
‘That this is my boat.’
What the? Did he think she was… stalking him? Man, his ego was bigger than this whole damn superyacht. ‘You think I orchestrated this?’
‘Did you?’
‘Because I, what…? Needed to get some more giant Greek dick in me?’
Behind a blackjack table, Tiffany took great pains to exude a quiet, dignified persona.
She always wore her hair pulled back into a sleek bun, her uniform fitting her curves like a glove, oozing sexy competency.
But away from the tables she was just a sheila from a cattle station who’d grown up around language that had never been suitable for little ears.
And she didn’t have a problem pulling it out for maximum effect or shock value.
Unfortunately, Theo didn’t seem shocked. He just smiled sardonically. ‘You wouldn’t be the first woman.’
Noting that he hadn’t disagreed with her summation of what he was packing behind the zipper of his snug-fitting navy shorts, Tiffany quirked an eyebrow. ‘Am I supposed to feel sorry for you? Poor little rich boy with women fawning all over you?’
Well before her best friend had an illicit cruise ship romance with Ari Callisthenes, Tiffany had known all about Theo and his playboy reputation.
As a long-time consumer of trashy European tabloid magazines, she’d glommed up images over the years of the dashing Greek billionaire and a string of different women.
He’d certainly never looked like he’d needed anyone’s pity.
She had, though, felt a certain amount of affront on his behalf at those pictures that had appeared on the internet a couple of months back.
A naked Theo with two equally naked women, taken through a half open doorway.
Maybe because she knew him now, the invasion of his privacy had felt more personal.
What if that had been her in those pictures with Theo?
The thought of that twisted through her gut along with something else. A pang of something darker. Envy? Jealousy? Something she definitely had no right feeling. And couldn’t afford to entertain.
‘Did. You. Know?’ he repeated, his smile thinner this time.
‘Two things,’ she said, returning his tight smile with one of her own. ‘This might come as a shock to you but all I was interested in when the agency contacted me was the job description and location. The identity of the owner didn’t cross my mind.’
Tiffany wished she could tell him point blank he hadn’t crossed her mind for a single solitary second, but she wasn’t that good a liar.
‘Secondly, you might like to think I’ve spent the intervening months since our…
very pleasant liaison’ – it was satisfying to see her deliberate insult cause a flare of irritation in his eyes – ‘penning deep and meaningful love letters and obsessively googling you, but… I haven’t.
Consequently, I didn’t know you owned a boat. ’
Two dark brows raised in blatant disbelief. ‘I run a shipping company, I own dozens of boats.’
Tiffany shot him a derisive look. ‘I think you know what I meant.’
‘So that’s a no, then?’ he asked, returning to his original question.
‘It’s a no. Although I suppose the bigger question is, why didn’t you know I was coming?’
He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. ‘Kelly’s responsible for the hiring and firing of the steward crew. I don’t micromanage.’
Well, that was a lie. He’d micromanaged his ass off that night. His hands and mouth – lips, teeth, tongue – everywhere all at once, making sure no part of her was left wanting.
Regarding each other for long moments, neither of them said anything. His unwavering gaze held hers as surely as the frisson crackling the air pinned her to the spot.
‘Did Ari send you?’ he asked into the stony silence.
Tiffany was back to frowning. What the hell? And then realisation dawned. ‘You’re worried about your no-sex dare with Ari?’
Theo blinked. ‘You know about that?’
‘Of course. Ari told Kelsey. And because we’re best friends’ – also because Kelsey had a ridiculous fantasy about the four of them being all married up and having babies together ever since Tiffany had stupidly let slip they’d bonked at her wedding – ‘she told me. That’s what we do.’
Although, there were some things Tiffany hadn’t shared about her life. Sure, she’d told her bestie about the night she’d spent with Theo – in very sketchy detail – and there was no way she was keeping this development to herself, but some stuff was too hard to tell.
‘Kelsey tells me they’re impressed by how invisible you’ve been since the dare.’