Ginny slowly turned her head to face Felix, brown eyes simmering with something he wasn’t sure he liked. “The party? With you?” she paused for a long beat before her eyebrows flicked as high as her Botox allowed. “I see.”
If Felix’s hackles had raised earlier, now they stood to full attention. With a pout, Ginny ran one hand through the back of her hair. “Well, as much as I’d love to stay and chat, I have lunch with a friend, then a spa appointment. I’ll see you later, Felix, and you, um...”
“Thea,” Felix ground out.
“Yes, of course.” With a cursory glance at Thea, she left.
Felix let out a breath. “I’m so sorry.”
“No,” said Thea with a grimace. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. She was waving a red flag at my bull. How many silver spoons was she carrying in her mouth, do you think?”
“Thea...”
“Felix, she stared at me like I had two heads.”
She wasn’t wrong. Ginny could be nasty. He’d give hertwo minutes before she’d order a gin and tonic and be straight on the phone to Adrienne, reporting back. Nausea roiled in his gut at the thought. “Ginny can be great;isgreat. Opens a lot of doors socially. She’ll warm up to you, I promise.” Should he tell Thea about Ginny’s friendship with Adrienne? If he did, she’d start asking more questions.
One corner of Thea’s mouth ticked up. “I’d rather someone else warmed me up.”
Felix re-took his seat, his frown lifting. Thea was glorious. He'd do far more than warm her up if they weren’t in the middle of his restaurant. He took an oyster from the platter. Just as he’d swallowed it down, his phone rang. He checked the screen. It was a message from Gemma. His entire team awaited him in the boardroom to discuss the Crichton deal. Tonight was vital in convincing the investment company to part-finance a massive hotel build.
He put the phone face down on the table. “I have to go.”
Thea looked at him, her eyes searching his face. She wore a slight pout, and Felix had to bite down on his own lip to stop himself from striding round to the other side of the table and kissing it away.
“I’m so sorry,” he said for the second time in five minutes. “They need me back upstairs. I have an important deal to close. It can’t wait. But I promise we’ll have more time later. For warming you up, as requested.”
Thea sucked on her bottom lip, but eventually she smiled.
“Then go. I’ll be fine. But leave me the rest of your oysters. They’re delicious.”
Following his daydream from a second ago, he stood and walked around to her side of the table. Not caring who saw it, he leaned down and gave Thea a long kiss. When he broke away, she looked up at him, her eyes wide.
“I promise I’m going to make this up to you. But in themeantime, I think you should get down to that café I mentioned.”
Thea’s head tipped. “Why?”
“I want you to get some inspiration. I intend to do a lot of banging with you later.”
27
THEA
Thea wandered around her hotel suite, straightening and re-straightening cushions on the couch. Her bag had yet to be moved to Felix’s penthouse, and she was all fingers and thumbs, waiting for it to happen. She’d been full of bravado in the restaurant, but the reality of spending a night with Felix in his bed made her stomach backflip. And she’d spent most of her visit alone so far.
Of course, he was busy. He had a big deal underway that he couldn’t step away from. But if she truly had bought him at an auction, she’d be queueing up with her receipt to return the goods by now. He was just lucky the talents she’d sampled on her countertop were tempting enough to keep her around.
Then there’d been that horrific woman in the restaurant. What was her beef? The scathing looks she’d given Thea had set her teeth on edge. Perhaps she had a secret crush on her husband’s boss. Thea wouldn’t blame her. Felix was way hotter here than he was in Tottenbridge.
A knock at the door startled her. Perhaps he’d finished his meeting early and had come to move her bag. Show her his penthouse. Better still, maybe he’d help her with her “banger”research. The corners of Thea’s mouth tipped up, and she smoothed down her hair.
“Come in.”
The door opened, but it wasn’t Felix, it was Gemma. Thea let out a breath. She’d seen more of Felix’s assistant than she had of the man himself. Gemma stepped into the room, and after a quick check of her phone screen, she looked at Thea.
“Mr. Walsh has asked me to organise moving your bags, and then he wanted me to take you down to the spa. I’ve organised a massage, and then someone will be in to fix your hair and makeup for tonight.”
Thea scowled, thinking of her own meagre makeup bag with its worn-down eye pencil and clumpy mascara. “Sorry?”
