#AskEmma

Chapter 3

Xanthus sat at his desk toying with his luxurious gold plated fountain pen.  He was irritated by the gnawing distraction consuming him rather too frequently.  There were urgent emails to respond to and calls to return but he was preoccupied by the memory of a satiny slim milk white body, silky hair that smelt of apricots and long slender legs that had wrapped delightfully around his hips.  He groaned loudly, stood up, and adjusted his trousers.  He was annoyed at the effect she was having on him.  It was uncharacteristic for him to be so easily side-tracked.  He used to be proud of his ability to calculate his every thought with precision ... but since he sets eyes on her and no fault of his ... all that went pear-shaped.  Xanthus cursed profusely.  He was famous for his iron will and single mindedness.  So what was happening here?  Clearly she had bewitched him.  Firstly  he had been at the bar minding his own business, and she ... she flirted with him and totally seduced him and if that had not been enough, already she was in his blood.  He could not stop thinking about her.  His eyes darted to the fancy platinum time piece at his wrist.  It was barely ten in the morning and he had sex on the brain.  Since when did Xanthus Laskaris relinquish control so easily? 

Sometimes it happens, like when a witch casts her magic spell on you.
 
The phone on his desk beeped discreetly.  He lifted up the handset and listened to his secretary. 

'Send him in,' Xanthus spoke immediately, thankful for the welcome distraction.

     
        Haley mulled over the idea of calling Xanthus.  She sighed heavily. Her heart pounded ecstatically just thinking about him.  It was only ten in the morning. Would she be disturbing him if she called him?  Should she try and reign in this runaway attraction she felt for him, but why quench it?  Why not let it run its course?  When she'd had enough of him, she could walk away ...right?

For now, she just needed to hear his deep, sexy voice.  She needed affirmation of that connection to him.  Precipitately she dialled his mobile.  Her heart began to race like the speed of sound as she waited for him to pick up.  Adrenalin surged through her like a high voltage electrical charge.

Xanthus felt the vibration in his chest pocket.  Excusing himself, he fished out his mobile and looked at the screen.  He curbed the satisfied smile that threatened to stretch across his face.  He saw the familiar number and deliberately hit the disconnect button. 

Haley's excitement dampened.  The call was not picked up.  Disappointment washed over her when she was routed to his voicemail server. 
He must be in a meeting ...

She cut the call, not feeling the inclination to leave a message.  He would see her number when he scrolled through his missed calls. She had hoped he would take her call, but obviously the multi-millionaire had priorities and she was way down the pecking order.

 Haley forced herself to continue with her day's duties.  Mechanically she worked through her schedule.  Time dragged by at an excruciatingly slow pace.  At lunch time her appetite deserted her, so she stayed in her office and worked through her lunch.  It was almost six when she stretched, rubbed her sore eyes and decided to pack it in for the day.  All in all, it had been a fruitful day, at least on the work front.

 

She was walking home, the crisp evening air gently beating on her face, when her cell beeped.  Expecting it to be one of the girls, she answered with a ready excuse, not to go out and was surprised to hear Xanthus' sexy accented voice.  She stopped walking, leaned against one of the building walls to focus on the conversation.  He was flirting, teasing, wanting her to go on a date with him.  No apology or mention of his ignoring her call earlier...as if she had not called him.  She vacillated a few seconds on whether to be angry with him or respond to his flirting; only a few seconds. 
She wanted to see him...wanted to be with him ... craved making love to him.  So what was the point of sulking?  She found herself responding in kind to his flirting, drank  in his throaty seductive laughter and when he offered to pick her up in an hour, her answer had been an unequivocal yes.