The Cost Of The Forbidden

And with that look Naomi revisited her need for the role—twelve-to eighteen-hour days didn’t trouble her, rather it was the company she’d be required to keep that did.

‘I see you’re engaged.’ Sev glanced at the ring she wore before returning her solemn gaze.

‘Again,’ Naomi asked, ‘is that relevant?’

‘Actually, it is,’ Sev tartly responded. ‘Because you’d have to have the most understanding fiancé in the history of the world to put up with the demands that I would make on your time.’

‘Well, my fiancé isn’t here in New York with me, however...’ Naomi hesitated for a moment and then decided that, no, if by some miracle he did offer her the role she wouldn’t accept it anyway.

Twelve minutes ago her world had been complicated yet ordered.

Well, not ordered as such but twelve days ago she had arrived in New York.

Twelve minutes ago she had texted her father to suggest that they catch up for lunch after her interview.

She had just put her phone back in her bag and gone to take a drink of water when Sevastyan Derzhavin had walked out of his office and called her name.

‘Naomi.’

He was beautiful.

Just that.

Dark haired, pale skinned, he had very long legs and despite the immaculate suit he looked as if he should be wandering out of a club or casino at 5:00 a.m. he was so rumpled and unshaven.

His tie was loosened, his grey-black eyes were a touch heavy lidded and he gave her not a smile as such, just a nod in the direction of his office and a vague, unrelated memory had popped into her head—she had remembered the time she’d gone to see her lovely familiar female doctor for a pap and a sexy-as-hell locum doctor had come out.

Naomi had flunked it and had asked the sexy doctor for a flu injection instead. And she’d flunked it again as Sevastyan had come out of his office and greeted her. As she’d stood, she had got all flustered and knocked over her drink. When he’d enquired, in a deep, Russian-accented voice, about her day, she’d been so entranced that she hadn’t really heard what he’d said and he’d had to repeat himself twice.

With every question he’d grown sexier.

With every vowel he uttered she wondered if the chair she was sitting on might be battery operated. Somehow even her list of hobbies had led them to bed and so now all Naomi wanted to do was stand up and get the hell out of there.

I’m an engaged woman, she wanted to say. How dare you make me feel like that?

No, she didn’t want the role.

‘You don’t speak a second language,’ Sev checked.

‘No.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘I don’t.’

‘At all?’

‘Non,’ Naomi said, and then laughed at her own feeble joke.

He didn’t laugh, just stared back at her.

‘You know,’ Sev finally said, ‘the English are lazy.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I mean the English-language-speaking world.’

‘Oh.’

‘They rely on others speaking their language.’

‘How many languages do you speak?’ Naomi asked him.

‘Five.’

Good, Naomi thought. She didn’t have the job.

‘Still, given that most everyone speaks English,’ Sev said, ‘I’m sure that we can work around it.’

Help.

‘I just want to clarify that I’m only going to be in New York for a year,’ Naomi said, giving him an out now and rather hoping that would be it, but he merely shrugged.

‘You’d burn out long before then. I don’t think I’ve ever had a PA last longer than six months. Three months...’ He gauged. ‘Yes, I think you would last about three months, though I’d hope for more.’

‘Look...’ Naomi flashed him a smile. ‘I don’t want to waste your time. Though your assistant was very clear that the hours were demanding I didn’t realise that it would be quite so full on. I like my weekends...’ She gave him another smile, which he didn’t return. ‘I’m actually here to get to know my father a little better and so—’

‘You’d get weekends off.’ Sev dismissed that obstacle. ‘Unless we were overseas.’

‘And also,’ Naomi added, just to make certain that he didn’t hire her, ‘I don’t really have experience in your field.’

‘Experience in my field?’ Sevastyan frowned and he knew exactly what she meant but he was enjoying watching her get flustered. ‘I’m not a farmer.’

‘I meant that I don’t know much about cyber security.’

‘If you did then you’d be my rival.’

She stood and held out her hand.

‘I’m sorry, I—’

‘Part of the package is an apartment overlooking Central Park. Well, once Felicity moves out. It’s nice...’ he mused. ‘Well, I like living there.’

‘We’d be in the same apartment block?’

It got worse and worse!

‘It’s huge. Don’t worry, I shan’t be knocking on your door to borrow a cup of sugar. It’s convenient if there’s an early morning or late-night meeting. And it saves time when we’re travelling, which there’s a lot of. Being in the same building shaves off ten minutes if I don’t have to pick you up from another address and there’s a helipad.’ And then he told her what her wardrobe allowance would be, which should have had her cheering.

‘No, really...’

Naomi wanted her life back.