It’s pretend, she tried to remind herself as his rough jaw grazed her neck. She arched up and wrapped her legs around his torso, one of her shoes falling to the ground. His mouth burned hot and excruciatinglynot enoughagainst her skin, setting her alight.It’s pretend.Her thighs were bare, the stupid little dress not enough against Jett’s acting. His warm hands slid up to cup her butt as she wrapped her legs tighter around him. The moan that reverberated through his throat as she slid her tongue deeper was almost believable.
Maybe she’d imagined the voices.
Maybe some parts of her weren’t pretending.
‘Nella.’ His voice was a plea, a surrender, a sound she could not interrogate because in this moment she wasn’t a woman or a lawyer or a mourner, she was a creature on fire, and she was burning ...
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
18
Jett
Lips on his. Voices shouting.
Frozen, because he would never have this moment again. Because he was selfish and juvenile and turned on as fuck. But it was more than that. He had crossed some sort of chasm, he’d ruptured a hole in the foundation of his attic, and everything he’d kept stored away for so long was surging out. His reason for leaving, blaring in his eyes like high beams on a treacherous bend on a country road.
He swallowed. That was the last time he’d taste her – berries and vanilla and red wine. The last time he’d be close enough to see the tiny dark spot on her left iris, the smattering of freckles across her nose. Feel her soft skin beneath his fingers. He held her gaze, brown eyes gone black, and realised he was still cupping her butt, trapping her between his body and the desk.
Breathe.Slowly, carefully, he let her go, so she wouldn’t realise he was shaking.
Nella didn’t move from the desk. Her chest was rising, her eyes still black, and she was looking at him like ...
Put it in the attic.
Move on. Keep moving. Don’t look back.
‘We’re so sorry.’ Jett turned to face them. His pounding heart had absolutely nothing to do with the threat of being arrested. He made a big deal about pretending to do up his belt, moving in front of the safe as he did. His erection pressed painfully against the zip, but better to let the interlopers see that instead of Nella. But she would have felt it; there’d been no room between them. ‘Got carried away.’ He tried to look embarrassed. The heat in his cheeks would help with that at least. The fact that it was the truth, too.
There were three men in the doorway. One was a blue-faced Oliver, the other two security guards with curly black wires attached to their ears. Jett recognised both from downstairs but they didn’t give any indication they knew who he or Nella were.
‘Miss.’ The taller of the guards stepped towards the desk. ‘Are you okay? Did this man hurt you?’
‘Was this consensual?’ the shorter guard demanded. His rough, blokey Aussie accent made the wordconsensualsound foreign.
The word certainly snapped Nella from wherever her mind had gone. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ She spat the last word back at the guard. ‘A woman can’t possibly enjoy her sexuality in public without it being some sort of sex crime these days, is that right?’
Jett frowned; Nella was a very loud supporter of the MeToo movement.
‘No, ma’am,’ the taller guard said. ‘But you’ve chosen a rather unfortunate location, all things considered.’
‘What do you mean?’ Nella shimmied her dress down her legs, and Jett’s breath caught in his throat.
‘This is Clarkson’s office.’ Oliver’s words were strangled. ‘Didn’t you see the sign on the door?’
‘We were a bit preoccupied,’ Nella snapped back, but her face softened as she made her way towards the men. ‘I’m sorry, Oliver, truly.’
‘Isn’t he—’ Oliver was shaking his head at Jett—‘your ...driver?’
‘I think we’re done here, gentlemen, aren’t we?’ Nella said, her voice commanding as she gestured for them to walk back out. ‘Unless you want to call the police? I must just let my brother know, if that is your decision. Tomaso Barbarani doesn’t like me talking to the cops without our legal team present.’
The security guards didn’t even try to hide the looks they shot each other at the nameBarbarani.‘No, ma’am. As long as you’re unharmed, we’ll put this matter behind us. Just stay downstairs for the rest of the evening, please.’
‘Of course.’ Nella flashed a smile. ‘Don’t forget your jacket, Jett.’ She raised her eyebrows at him. The look she’d given him on the desk had completely evaporated.
Jett bent down to get his jacket, which Nella had tossed over the briefcase of tools. Some screws were still a little loose on the safe door but from a cursory glance, nothing was amiss. The problem would only come if someone tried to open it. But right now, the focus was on getting out of here as quickly as possible before anyone asked any more questions or realised that Clarkson’s iPad was now concealed in the briefcase under the jacket of the Barbaranis’ – chauffeur.
Jett had never been so grateful for Tomaso’s annoying, incessant buzzing from the backseat as he drove back down Forrest Highway to Bindi Bindi Cove. Tom was a trapped fly, darting all over the place:How did you convince them to let you go? But HOW did they know you were up there? I bet it was that Oliver prat. What do you MEAN the safe isn’t completely back as it should be? WHEN is the iPad going to be charged?
