He didn’t move away immediately, the look in his eyes changing, flaring. That detached manner of his had dropped away, tension crackling in the air between them. He could slide that hand higher and inwards, his fingertips brushing…
She caught her breath, her body beginning to respond, an ache between her thighs. In all of this mess there was at least one thing that still remained the same: their chemistry.
She thought he might lean forward more, to kiss her or something, but just when the tension got to snapping point, he removed his hand and looked away. “After you,” he said without inflection.
Oh, yes, right. The door was open.
Not without a certain amount of reluctance, Pandora got out. Jax followed and she waited while he spoke to the driver, then came along behind him into the building. The foyer was cavernous and echoing, with lots of glass and marble—a testament to money and style.
Jax went over to a bank of elevators and swiped a card through one of the readers. The doors opened almost immediately and he gestured for her to enter first.
“Very polite,” she muttered as she stepped inside. “Quite the gentleman, aren’t you?”
“Someone has to be.” He punched a button and the elevator began to move.
She leaned against the railing at the back, trying to ignore the fact that they were in a very small, confined space alone. “You weren’t last night.”
He was standing near the doors, his hands in his pockets, the broad line of his shoulders tense. The look on his face tightened. “Last night won’t happen again.”
Annoyingly, disappointment threaded through her. “Why not? I liked it.”
“Because we have more important things to worry about than sex.”
“You’re kind of uptight, you know that?”
“Your opinion is noted.”
The railing was a hard line against her spine, the mirrored interior reflecting her pale face back at her. There were bruises on her neck. Bruises from his mouth.
The thought sent more electricity racing through her and dammit the disappointment became a little sharper. She shifted against the railing and caught his blue eyes watching her in the glass. There was hunger in his gaze.
She raised a brow at him. “If you don’t want last night again, then why are you looking at me like that?”
“I never said it was because I didn’t want you.”
The sharpness of the disappointment eased. How stupid that such a small affirmation should make her feel better, but it did. Compliments that actually meant something had been few and far between in her life.
“Too sexy for ya, huh?” She tried to keep it light, flippant.
“Too sexy, too passionate, and far too much for any man in his right mind, Pandora Garret.” In the mirrored paneling, his gaze met hers once again and her heart contracted at the intensity in his blue eyes, heat washing over her. “You must know that, surely?”
“Actually, no, I didn’t.” Her voice was much hoarser than she would have liked. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
“Why not? You’re beautiful. Any fool can see that.”
She looked away, an emotion she didn’t quite understand clogging her throat. “I don’t care about beauty. It doesn’t mean anything. The only thing my looks ever did for me was to make me a more valuable commodity for Dad. Like an added bonus or something.” She bit her lip. “Being beautiful has got nothing to do with me. Not me as a person.”
A silence fell.
“I don’t see you as a commodity,” Jax said quietly. “I’ll admit it was your face that made me look last night. But it was the fire in your eyes that made me ask you home.”
A small glow of pleasure took up residence behind her breastbone. She tried to hide it, not wanting him to know how much that simple statement meant to her, but she knew it was probably obvious by the blush on her cheeks. Ah, well, too bad. Let him see.
“Do you regret it?” she asked, catching his gaze in the mirror again. “Asking me home, I mean?”
“No.” A fierce light burned in his blue eyes. “Not one single second.”
For a moment something hovered between them, something important.
Then the elevator pinged and the doors opened. And the moment vanished.
Jax turned away. “Come on. We’re here.”
*
“Jesus, Jax. You never put a foot out of line for years and the next thing we know, Nick Garret is blackmailing you into marrying his daughter. Only you would have a one-night stand where you end up having to get married.”
“This isn’t a fucking joke, Van,” Jax growled into the phone, not appreciating his brother’s amused tone.
“No, it isn’t. It’s just sex and blackmail. It’s not even like you murdered her in a dark alley or anything.” Donovan paused. “Unless you have murdered her in a dark alley, in which case we’ll have some serious shit to deal with.”
“I didn’t murder anyone. She’s right here in my penthouse.”
“What, you’ve moved in together already? Don’t tell me you’re in love.”
Jax couldn’t help himself, shooting a glance through the dining-room doorway to where Pandora stood. Among the glass and steel and concrete of his clean, minimalist lounge area, she was a bright pop of color and softness in her red dress with her silky black hair falling down her back. She was gazing out the massive windows, one hand pressed against the glass, her dress pulling tight over her curves, outlining them to perfection.
Heat gathered low inside him, a heavy, persistent feeling.
Yes, she was beautiful, but he’d told her the truth back there in the elevator. It hadn’t been her beauty that had made him want her. It had been her uncertainty, then her bravery, the look of challenge she’d given him, and the chemistry that had ignited between them that had done it. And now, the flash of vulnerability she’d given away in response to his confession only tightened his desire for her even further. Made him want to know more.
Garret hadn’t been kind to his daughter, that much was obvious. Physically it looked like he hadn’t harmed her … but emotionally? There were secrets there and he wanted to find out what they were.
You decided you weren’t going there again, remember?
Donovan gave a delicate cough. “It’s happened, hasn’t it? You’ve found The One.”
Ah, Christ, he should
not
be thinking about her like this. Forcing his attention back to his phone call, he said tersely, “Don’t be stupid. She’s got nowhere else to go and I don’t trust her father one inch. And no, of course I’m not in love with her, nor am I going to marry her.”
“So what are you going to do then? Personally I think the scandal boat’s already sailed when it comes to Morrow’s secrets. Let the bastard splash them all over the media. There’s nothing I can’t spin to make us look good.”
Jax gritted his teeth. His brother was a PR master and Jax admired his confidence, but Donovan hadn’t been back at Morrow long. Although he’d been the head of his own very successful PR company for years prior to returning to the family fold and no stranger to scandal himself, Jax couldn’t afford any risks now.
Garret had been right. This was his first test as CEO. He had to look in control otherwise the shit storm that had started with the docklands exposé was only going to get worse.
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry but I’m not risking Morrow’s reputation on your ability to make crap smell like roses.”
“You don’t trust me?”
There was a note of something he didn’t recognize in Donovan’s voice. “Of course I trust you, but this is my mess. I have to deal with it.”
“Awesome vote of confidence. Thanks.”
“Hey, I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Then at last Donovan said, all business now, “What do you want me to do then?”
He’d been thinking it about the moment her father had left the apartment, turning it over in his head. A way to keep Garret happy and protect her long enough for them to find a more permanent solution.
“I need a press release announcing my engagement to Pandora Garret drawn up and sent out by the end of the day. It needs to sound like we’ve been dating a while and we kept it quiet until we were sure. That’ll get Garret off our back while I do some investigating. See if I can’t find something on him that’ll make him think twice about spilling Morrow secrets.”
“That’s all you want from me? A press release?”
“You can also organize an engagement party and a few public outings for us.”
“Excellent. Would you like me to do some dictation and get your dry cleaning, too?” his brother said with thinly veiled sarcasm.
Okay, so something was clearly up with Donovan, but shit, he didn’t have the time to negotiate his brother’s feelings. Morrow Incorporated and the situation he was in now were too damn important. Besides, he needed a cool head for that and cool was the last thing he was feeling right now.
“The press release, Van,” he said curtly. “By this afternoon.”
After he’d ended the call, he put his phone away and walked through into the lounge area, his footsteps sharp on the polished concrete floor.
Pandora turned around as he approached, the window at her back, sunlight glossing her hair. “Nice place,” she said, looking around. “Very … homey. Could use a couple of rugs though.”
Yes, rugs. Soft ones he could lay her down on, ease the red silk of her dress up, put his hands between her thighs, stroke her, make her wet…
Jax ground his teeth, forced the thoughts away and ignored the ache in his groin. “You might need to get used to doing without rugs. I have a plan.”
She clasped her hands in front of her. “Oh, goodie. A plan.”
“You won’t like it.”
“As long as I don’t have to marry anyone, I can deal.”
“You and I are going to make it look like we’re engaged. That we’ve been seeing each other for months and now we’re ready to go public with the news.”
“Uh-huh. And why is that?”
“Firstly, that’ll make your father happy and less inclined to share secrets that weren’t his in the first place. And secondly, it’ll give me some time to get some dirt on him. Something that’ll keep his mouth shut.”
“Okay, that seems logical.”
It was. Very logical. “Thirdly,” he went on, “I want us seen around the city together. If you get yourself a public profile, it will be harder for you to disappear if you father decides to do any double-crossing. I’m not sure any of his colleagues would want the heat of being connected with Jax Morrow’s ex-fiancée.”
Pandora blinked, a smile slowly curving her mouth, color creeping back into her cheeks. “Yeah, my God, that could work.” Her brow creased. “But how long do you think this is going to take?”
“A few weeks at most, maybe. My private investigators are second to none and they work fast.”
She gave him an oddly assessing look. “You know, I could get the info you need and quicker than a few weeks.”
He frowned. “How?”
“I’m quite good with computers as it happens. There’s dirt I can dig up on him easily enough.”
It was tempting, he had to admit. And yet … No matter how vital this was and no matter how much of a prick Garret happened to be, the fact remained that she would be working against her own father. Putting him in prison if it came to that. Maybe he’d treated her like crap and maybe she hated him but he was still her father.
“No,” he said flatly. “I won’t have you ratting out your own father on your conscience.”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Y’know, I think my conscience can stand it. He’s a bastard who—”
“I don’t care what he’s done. He’s still your father and family is important. If the dirt needs to be dug, I’ll be the one doing it.”
But she still didn’t look happy. “Yeah, but … a few weeks?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Where does that leave me? I mean, where am I supposed to go?” She took an audible breath. “I don’t have anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re literally the only person I know who isn’t associated with Dad. At least in real life.”
“Real life?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I have a few online friends but that’s it. A bit hard to make friends when you’re followed everywhere you go by bodyguards.”
“Everywhere?”
“Yeah. I’m never allowed to go out by myself, never allowed to see anyone who isn’t associated with my father or his friends, never allowed to talk to anyone who hasn’t been personally vetted by him.” She turned away, glancing out the windows, the exquisite line of her back left bare by her red silk gown.. “I don’t even have any other family. My mom died when I was seven and dad cut off all contact with her side of the family. I’m entirely dependent on him. I don’t even have a bank account. Even my credit card is linked to his.”
Unwanted sympathy twisted inside him. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like to be so isolated. So cut off. All that passion and vitality trapped. Nick Garret needed a jail cell and fast.
Pandora turned back, her dark eyes meeting his. “All I have is the clothes I’m wearing and nothing else. I mean, if I could borrow some money I could go get a hotel, get some clothes, get something—”
“You won’t need a hotel. You’ll be staying here.” The words came out of him before he even had a chance to think.
You weren’t supposed to be going there again.
Well, he wouldn’t. Of course he wouldn’t. This was entirely logical. As his fiancée, she would be living with him.
Because she’s yours?
No, of course not. There was her father to consider—he might try to snatch her back and there was no way he was risking that happening to her. And if she’d led the kind of sheltered life he thought she had, then he didn’t want to let her out on the streets by herself yet. Not without making sure she had a few support systems in place. A bit of independence.
Yes, that made perfect, logical sense.
Her eyes had gone wide. “Stay here?”
“Of course. You’re my fiancée, aren’t you?”
An expression he couldn’t read crossed her face. She turned away, pacing restlessly back to the windows, looking out of them. “But that’s the thing. I’m not. Which makes me … what?” There was a slight edge to her voice. “Your roomie?”
You want her in your bed …