‘It’s my job,’ I reply, holding back my laugh. He looks so serious.
Nodding mildly, Theo turns back towards me. ‘You haven’t called.’
‘I haven’t needed to.’
‘I was hoping you would need to.’ His quick response knocks me back a little. ‘And then I thought that maybe it’s because you don’t have a phone.’
‘How do—’
‘One of my men found the broken pieces.’
‘Oh,’ I breathe. One of his men? He thought? He’s been thinking about me? Hoping I’d call? He’s being perfectly polite, yet a little brusque. I don’t mention the fact that I still have his number, regardless of the small matter that I don’t have a phone. It would only highlight that I could have called him, and something tells me that that’s what’s bothering him. He wanted me to call. And I didn’t.
‘So, Penny’s okay, then?’ I ask, uncomfortable with the silence that’s fallen.
‘On her feet,’ he answers but says no more, telling me Penny isn’t the topic of conversation he had in mind. Penny isn’t why he’s here. ‘I’ve come to take you home.’ Stepping to the side, he swoops his arm out for me to lead on. ‘My car’s waiting.’
I smile a little, though it’s nervous. ‘I don’t need a chaperone home, Theo.’
‘I say you do.’
‘And I should listen to you?’ What’s he going to do? Pull a gun on me?
‘You should definitely listen to me.’ There’s slight menace in his words that doesn’t faze me in the slightest. He might be deadly handsome, but intimidation seeps from every inch of his towering frame. For some reason I haven’t yet figured out, all of that comes second to the insane attraction I have for him and his dangerous allure.
‘Why should I listen to you?’ I ask evenly, looking up at him through my lashes.
‘Because only those who are unwise do not.’
‘I think I would be very wise not to listen to you.’ I watch as his handsome face twists a little in growing frustration. Theo isn’t the kind of man who is refused. He’s dark and he’s dangerous. He’s a no-go zone for a sensible, regular girl like me. So why is he thinking about me, let alone actually tracking me down to my place of work?
‘Your bravery intrigued me at first,’ he says. ‘Now I think it annoys me more.’
I look down at his hands, letting my thoughts wander to places they shouldn’t go. ‘I’m not scared of you,’ I say mindlessly, as if to enforce what he already knows, biting down on my lip.
‘I know.’ He sighs. ‘You keep telling me. So why won’t you let me take you home?’
‘Because I’m afraid that you might expect more, and I’m even more scared that I’ll give it to you.’ I look up at him, face straight, with no regret for saying what I’m thinking. And when our stares lock, his cobalt eyes wide, his head cocked in question, I know my fear is warranted.
‘Why are you afraid of that?’ he asks, low and intrigued.
‘I’m busy. With work. I have a career to focus on. I’m not interested in someone like . . .’ I drift off, realizing I was heading towards an insult.
‘Someone like . . .?’
‘I don’t know.’ I might not be scared, but I also shouldn’t insult him. Because that would be plain rude.
He smiles a little, amused. ‘Someone scary like me?’
I laugh a little. ‘I already told you, Theo. You don’t scare me.’
‘And I quite like that notion. It’s new. Refreshing.’
‘Because everyone is scared of you?’
‘Well, yeah.’
‘Why?’
‘Come to dinner with me.’
My shoulders drop a little. ‘Didn’t you hear anything I just said?’
‘Oh, I heard, Izzy. And I don’t believe a word of it.’ He moves behind me and presses his front into my back. He sucks in air on contact, and I breathe in heavily. Oh, goodness me. I don’t flinch. Not one bit, but past our audible breaths, I hear an old lady gasp. It reminds me of where I am, with Theo currently pressed into me, unearthing a torrent of . . .
Shit. It’s lust and want and desire, and it’s making me powerless to move away from him. His mouth falls to my ear. I close my eyes and breathe in. ‘You’re safe with me,’ he says, as if knowing those words will work to his advantage. ‘Let’s go.’ He slips a hand around my waist and steps forward, forcing me into walking. Or staggering. I guess I’m staggering, though it’s hard to