The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,24

she saw the expression on his face, a look that told her that, if he wanted her in his arms, he knew he could get her there despite her distance. The problem was, she was pretty sure that was true. Which was why she was sitting on the opposite side and crossed her legs and arms, as if she could form a physical barrier from the man and his allure.

“What are you doing this weekend?” he asked as the driver pulled away from the curb.

Elana’s mind went over her plans for the next couple of days and she drew a blank. She could clean her apartment, she thought. She didn’t have much work to do because she needed to grow her bacteria and it took a while before the next batch would be viable enough for her to implement into the experiment.

His eyebrows went up in question as he waited for her answer.

“I have plans,” she said somewhat defensively.

“What are they?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at him. It wasn’t really any of his business what she was doing, but he was looking at her as if he knew she was afraid to be alone with him. “Since my slides are growing,” she said with a tinge of unease, “I’ll clean up my apartment and get things organized for the next phase of my experiments.” Her eyes lit up at that, eager to prove that she wasn’t so pathetic.

He immediately shook his head, thinking about hiring an organizational expert to do all of that work for her. Her apartment wasn’t dirty, just disorganized. “No, you’re coming to the investor’s meeting with me tomorrow night and then I think I should probably take you to my lake house just to make sure that you eat over the weekend.”

Elana didn’t like the sound of that at all. She couldn’t spend even an evening in his presence if her behavior before lunch was any indication, not even considering the possibility of an entire weekend. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she replied and looked out the window of the vehicle. She focused her attention on the various people milling about on the sidewalk as the limousine waited for the light to change.

He smiled at her resistance, ready to take on the challenge. “First of all, I need you at the board of director’s dinner tomorrow night. You’re a big investment that I’ve approved and I need you to charm the other board members so that they know that you’re a reasonable risk.”

Elana’s heart picked up the pace with that declaration because she’d had to attend these functions on several other occasions with whichever group was providing her funding. It was standard procedure to wine and dine the people who were paying, to convince them that her work was important and would help with the end goal of whichever organization was paying for the work. “Fine,” she said grudgingly, which probably wasn’t a good idea considering that this man was the head of that particular board. She needed his support, she realized suddenly. And she wasn’t doing a very good job of making him feel her appreciation for his efforts.

She might be better at that part of her job if he would just keep his distance, she thought with resentment. No kissing would be a good start! “What time and what’s the dress for tomorrow night?”

“I’ll pick you up at six o’clock tomorrow and the dress is formal.” She didn’t even touch the idea of his lake house. She’d never been to his lake house, hadn’t known he even owned one, but she didn’t want to spend the weekend with him anyway.

Elana sighed and bowed her head slightly. Why was this such an imposition? She used to love dressing up and mingling with people, laughing and learning about what they did and what they thought. When had she become such a curmudgeon?

Had she let Gaston’s betrayal affect her so much that her entire personality had faded away? Had she really become such a shell that her life was solely about her work?

Obviously the answer was yes since she’d had to dust off her previously favorite shoes the last time she’d gone out to dinner with him. Not good, she told herself firmly.

She sat up a bit straighter in the leather seat, wanting to show him that she was strong and confident. “I’ll be ready, but you don’t have to pick me up,” she said, not looking at him. “Just