EXCERPT Singapore Fling by Alexia Adams
“Sorry I’m
late,” Lalita said as she rushed into the boardroom. She took her seat at the
opposite end of the table to Jeremy and ran a shaking hand over her hair.
Raising her eyes, she met Jeremy’s concerned stare and did her best to paste a
reassuring smile on her face. Conversation buzzed around her as she stared out
the window. When Lalita noticed a prolonged silence, she pulled herself back to
the present. Twenty pairs of eyes stared at her.
“Lalita? I asked if you wanted to
make any final comments before we wrap up?” Jeremy repeated.
“Oh…ah…just to thank everyone for
their cooperation and hard work in making Evans International a success. In my
discussions with the CEO last week, he indicated that we are on track for a
record-breaking year and that Asia is leading the corporation in both new
products and new partners. Thanks to you!” Lalita concluded with a round of
applause and hoped her smile reached her eyes.
Taking her words as dismissal, the
men and women gathered around the board table stood, some bowing, some waving
to her in farewell. The room cleared and Jeremy perched one butt cheek on the
table in front of her. His long, muscular leg blocked her escape.
“Tired?” He searched her face.
“A little, after three nights with
meetings running to after ten, then up at dawn to catch the regular European
and American conference calls. Thankfully, tomorrow is a slow day, no meetings
or calls and we fly to Manila at four in the afternoon.”
“Is there any chance you’ll actually
rest tomorrow?”
“Oh, there’s always a chance,” Lalita
replied, trying to laugh off Jeremy’s concern. She pushed back her chair and
stood to put some distance between them. The heat radiating off his body caused
her blood to simmer. His spicy aftershave lured her to lean in closer and see
if he tasted as fabulous as he smelled.
Jeremy reached out and grabbed her
arm, preventing her from leaving.
“Seriously, Lalita, I’m concerned.
You’ve been late for two meetings and left in the middle of three others.
You’re distracted and anxious. Is there something happening at head office?”
“No, nothing, everything is fine. And
you’re doing a very good job. I expected some resistance to your new ideas, but
you present them in such a way that everyone is straight on-board.”
“Nice try, but you can’t deflect my
concern. We’re talking about you, not me.”
“I apologize if I’ve been a bit
preoccupied. I’ll try to behave in a more professional manner.”
“I don’t care if you lead the next
round of managers on a naked conga line through the offices. What’s upsetting
you? Surely we’ve spent enough time together that you know you can trust me.”
“Can I? Trust you? You’re the
Director of Marketing. Spin is your game.”
“Spin is my job. I’m your…friend,
Lalita. Anything you share stays between us. Please, I want to help.”
Lalita stared into his blue eyes for
a long time, trying to decide if he was genuine. Jeremy was always on show, his
charm entrancing everyone he met. But deep down, she did feel she could trust
him. In the two weeks they’d spent together, he had shown real concern for her.
“It’s nothing, just a minor personal
problem. It will be resolved in a few days. I’ll try not to let it disturb the
rest of your presentations.”
“A personal problem? Are you okay?
You’re not ill, are you?”
“I’m fine. Everything is fine. I plan
to sleep in tomorrow, shall we meet for lunch?” Lalita scrambled to redirect
the conversation. Jeremy stared at her as if he could see into her soul.
“You are the most frustrating woman I
have ever met. What will it take to get through that thick, ultra-professional
skin of yours?” Jeremy pulled her toward him. Off balance, Lalita put her hands
on his chest. Looking up to see what he was about she had just a millisecond
before his lips descended and took hers in a rough, passionate kiss.
With a mind of their own, her hands
crept around Jeremy’s neck and buried themselves in his hair. The kiss became
gentler, teasing, tempting. Jeremy plundered her mouth with his tongue, seeking
out the inner essence, her secrets. He wasn’t asking for surrender, he
challenged and taunted until Lalita kissed him with every ounce of her strength
and passion.
Her self-control sputtered once
before spiraling to its demise. Jeremy pulled back a fraction, his breathing as
ragged as hers. Sipping at her lips, he then trailed small kisses across her
cheek to her ear. He nibbled at her earlobe, his breath hot against her skin.
“That answers one question, at
least,” he murmured.
Lalita’s overheated brain tried to
make sense of the words. “What question?” she managed at last. Her voice seemed
drugged even to her own ears.
“The question of whether or not I had
built up our previous kisses in my mind. Whether the passion of five years ago
was something I’d over imagined. Or whether it’s true—that one touch from you
and my blood turns into molten lava, consuming all rational thought in its
path.”
“And the answer is?” Lalita was half
afraid of the reply.
“That my memory hadn’t remembered
half of the heat. Kissing you is the single most mind-blowing experience of my
life and as addictive as the most potent drug known to man. I’m going to kiss
you again, Lalita, just to make sure.”
“Jeremy…” Lalita began, but ended on
a moan as his lips retraced their way along her cheek and claimed her mouth
once again.
A million points of light shattered
behind Lalita’s closed eyelids and it took a full thirty seconds before she
could make sense of the knocking she heard.
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