Russian's Ruthless Demand

Eleanore knew she shouldn’t look. ‘It needs to be larger. The way it is now the spacing is all wrong and the reception desk is too close to the entrance.’

‘That’s it.’ He shot her an admiring glance. ‘I do believe you might be the genius.’

About to tell him that compliments didn’t work on her, his phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. ‘Excuse me, I have to take this.’

Releasing a pent-up breath, Eleanore’s eyes followed the long line of his body as he strode to the windows and looked out as he talked; legs planted wide apart, his gaze high as if he was a general surveying a battlefield he was about to conquer.

A wave of tiredness hit her like a brick wall and she yawned and rested her head back against the soft cushion behind her. She would tell him she was leaving as soon as he finished up on his call and talk to him after she’d spoken to Isabelle.

And she’d also find out the name of the company that supplied the hotel’s soft furnishings because this was possibly the most comfortable sofa she had ever sat on.

When Lukas ended his phone call he turned back to find Eleanore Harrington had fallen asleep. He stood over her, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathed deeply. His eyes travelled lower to where her dress had risen to just above mid-thigh. She had fabulous legs. Shorter than he was used to because he didn’t date petite women, but no less shapely. And she still had on her brightly coloured ankle boots that somehow didn’t make her ankles look fat at all.

He almost felt like a voyeur watching her in her unconscious state. Or maybe it was that in sleep her face looked strangely innocent. Strangely…pure.

An odd sensation constricted his chest. Pure? He was surprised he even remembered the term, let alone recognised the quality. Pure and innocent hadn’t been part of his life since conception probably and he wondered how he could attribute the term to a woman who had gone toe to toe with him earlier over the slight he had caused to her family’s company.

He briefly considered waking her but she looked so peaceful he didn’t have the heart.

Instead he let his eyes drift back over her slender torso to her breasts that were well hidden by her plain dress and up to the quirky chopsticks she had in her caramel-brown hair. They couldn’t be comfortable and he had an impulsive urge to pull them out to see how long her hair was. To see it tumble down her back and spread out over the cream-coloured sofa.

Then he shook off the thought and frowned when he realised that his hands had moved closer to her to do exactly that. Diverting them to her feet he unzipped her boots and gently placed her feet up on the sofa. Immediately her body pitched more horizontal and her lovely legs curled up toward her chest in a child’s pose.

Lukas felt his body stir again and clamped down on it. He couldn’t deny that on some level she intrigued him and he’d certainly enjoyed himself tonight more than he’d enjoyed himself in a long time, but success was everything, and no slip of a woman would ever interfere with that.

He thought again about how she had taken him on over his criticism of her hotel. Probably she had been right to call him on it but the shock of having someone question his actions after being revered for so long had kept him from agreeing with her. Really though, she was right and he should have tabled his complaints appropriately instead of mouthing off on his phone to his PA.

Frowning, he wondered when he’d become such a self-important popka.

Not enjoying the unexpected attack of his conscience he fetched a blanket from the bedroom and draped it over her sleeping form. The chopsticks he left well enough alone.

When she woke up Eleanore blinked and wondered if someone had stuck her eyes together last night with glue. She lifted her hands to rub at them and felt the stiffness of her eyelashes and realised she’d gone to bed without taking her make-up off. Something she never did.

Still tired, she yawned and rolled over and felt the pull of her dress. Blinking herself awake she frowned as she realised she hadn’t taken her dress off either. Or her stockings.

And she was on a sofa with a light blanket thrown over her. ‘What the …?’

‘Morning, spyashchaya krasavitsa.’

Startled, Eleanore’s hand flew to her chest as her eyes flew to the man leaning nonchalantly against the doorjamb. He was dressed in suit pants again and another pristine white shirt, open at the neck. She’d seen many men wear similar outfits at work over and over without noticing the width of their shoulders or the narrowness of their hips but there was something in the way Lukas carried himself that drew the eye like a moth to a flame.

Suddenly the events of last night came back in a rush and she realised she’d dreamt about his ice hotel. And him …

He strolled further into the room and she noticed he had a tall glass of water in his hand and that her mouth was as dry as dust. She also had the makings of a dull headache but it wasn’t enough to waylay her.

When he handed her the glass she drank from it greedily.

‘Thanks.’ She glanced around the room. Anywhere but at him. Then she frowned. ‘You should have woken me last night.’

‘I didn’t need the sofa.’

Eleanore placed the empty glass on the table. ‘That’s no excuse.’

‘I did take off your boots but you were so out of it I don’t think you would have woken up if an earthquake had hit.’

She grimaced. ‘It must have been the alcohol. I’m not used to it.’

‘There is lots of alcohol in St Petersburg. You will have plenty of opportunities to build your stamina if you work for me.’

Eleanore narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re glad that I stayed, aren’t you?’

‘I wouldn’t say glad but if you mean it gives me an advantage in getting what I want, then yes, I suppose you could say I’m glad.’

‘And you want me?’

As the silence between them lengthened Eleanore realised what she’d said. ‘I meant to work for you. Obviously.’

He smiled. ‘Da. Yes. To work for me.’

Eleanore shook her head. ‘I would never leave my job. My heart is with Harrington’s.’

‘And do you always follow your heart?’

Did she? ‘Yes, I suppose I do. My family means a lot to me. And they need me.’ At least she hoped that was true.

‘Staying in a company for family reasons can limit your true potential.’

Eleanore felt the pointy edge of that comment and it raised her hackles. ‘That’s cynical.’

Unperturbed by her put-down he shrugged.

‘Tomaso seems to think you have enormous potential that is not being tapped where you currently are. I’m willing to back it. How do you take your coffee?’

‘At my hotel,’ Eleanore said churlishly, annoyed at his barbs and the way he chuckled at her response. He had a habit of laughing at her and it was getting under her skin. Still, she needed to keep him onside if she was to talk to Isabelle about his ice hotel. And preferably before he contacted the Chatsfields. She wouldn’t work for him directly, but that didn’t mean Harrington’s couldn’t do something for him. If Isabelle agreed…‘Which I need to get back to,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ll contact you later with regard to your proposition.’

He shook his head. ‘While I admire your loyalty to your family and I’m sure they appreciate it I need to move on this now if the hotel is going to be ready for opening night in a month.’

‘A month!’ Her eyebrows shot up. ‘How much of it is already completed?’

He counted a list off with his fingers. ‘The ice blocks have been harvested and stacked in the warehouse, the arched corridors are done and waiting to be tractored onto the site. The vaulted steel support walls are up, and the construction crew and some of the ice carvers are in place.’

‘That’s not a lot.’ She did some calculations in her head. ‘I’d say a month is leaning heavily on the optimistic side of things.’

‘So you’ll do it?’

‘I didn’t say that,’ she said, feeling railroaded.

‘Why don’t you go and freshen up and think about it? I need your answer now. This morning.’

‘That’s impossible.’

He shrugged. ‘I have found nothing is impossible, Miss Harrington, for good or bad.’

Something in his tone, a bleakness, hit her in the stomach and made her pause. Unable to understand it she frowned. ‘I can’t decide about this on the spot.’

He folded his arms across his impressive chest and she wondered how he managed to look so fresh on probably less sleep than she had had. ‘Why? Do you not have the authority to make the decisions?’

No, she didn’t. But that was another thing she wouldn’t tell him. ‘Businesses don’t function like that.’

‘I’m only asking for a month of your time. If you can’t do it say so now.’

Fuming at him and desperate to use the bathroom she shoved the blanket aside—refusing to see it as a thoughtful gesture on his behalf—and swung her legs over the edge of the sofa. Her dress was bunched up around her hips and she flushed as she noticed Lukas’s eyes drop to her legs.

Expecting him to make some sexist comment she was surprised when he turned away toward the window instead. Another nice gesture? Probably not.

Escaping to the bathroom she was appalled to see she looked like a bad rendition of a panda. A panda with really bad hair.

Well, was it any wonder he’d turned away? She was about as attractive as … She stopped. Stared at herself.

‘You do not want that man to find you attractive no matter what you think,’ she told her wide-eyed reflection.

So he was good-looking. Since when had she been shallow enough to want a man for his looks? His body?

Disgusted with her train of thought she splashed warm water onto her face and used a cloth to scrub the excess of make-up away and wished she hadn’t left her clutch purse beside the sofa. Not that it had anything useful in it other than money and her keycard.

Something Lukas had said before reformed in her mind—about her family appreciating her loyalty—made her pause. She wasn’t sure that Isabelle appreciated it as much as she took it for granted but an idea was taking shape.

If Lukas agreed to hire her as a consultant for his project and would form a partnership with Harrington’s, then Isabelle would be forced to sit up and take notice of her achievements. And she had no doubt, given Lukas’s passion for the project, his budget would be huge.

Would Isabelle go for the idea?

Eleanore chewed on her lower lip. She might dislike Lukas Kuznetskov, but as he had said to her, business was business, and she was pretty sure Isabelle would see it the same way. And the opportunities were obvious.

This would be Harrington’s first hotel in Eastern Europe. A foot in the door to another market with zero capital outlay up front. It was like a gift, but a conditional one, because it came with Lukas Kuznetskov attached.

Could she work with a man she found so incredibly attractive and resist him? Eleanore scoffed at her reflection. Well, of course she could.

CHAPTER THREE

‘A PARTNERSHIP?’

Lukas felt his eyebrows climb his forehead. Was the woman crazy? He’d never had a partner in his life. Not that he didn’t admire her chutzpah in putting the idea to him.

She had guts, and he admired that in a person. ‘And you think I’m an opportunist?’ he quipped.

‘I didn’t say that.’

He smiled at her quick back step. ‘First I get the brush-off tune and now I get the suck-up tune. I can’t wait to see what comes next. Will it be the seduction tune?’ Not that he wanted that …

‘Listen, Mr Kuznetskov.’ She planted her hands on her slender hips. ‘I haven’t changed my tune at all. I said you were self-important and obnoxious and comments like that only confirm my view.’

He studied her in her crumpled dress and face free of make-up, her hair pulled back neatly once again. She had the most translucent skin he had ever seen and his fingers itched to trace over her face to see if it was as soft as it appeared. He wondered if she had any idea that standing before him all riled and cranky made him want to channel all that pent-up energy into another activity. One that involved her naked on the carpeted floor and him buried deeply between her soft thighs. All the blood in his body surged south at the idea and it took some effort to force it to return to his brain.

With time running out what he needed to do right now was get Eleanore Harrington’s expertise and knowledge to complete his ice hotel, not be thinking about how her breasts would feel in the palms of his hands.

‘I don’t do partners.’ But he did do money and in accordance with that he named a figure to procure her services that even a pampered heiress would find difficult to refuse.

She blinked her pretty eyes at him a couple of times and he wondered if he’d just found the golden key to securing her cooperation.

‘I take it that’s the fee you’re offering me to take on the most impossible job on the planet?’

Lukas told himself to forget about whether her eyes were more green or more gold. ‘If it was that impossible,’ he quipped, ‘you wouldn’t have suggested being a partner in it.’

She smiled. ‘Touché, Mr Kuznetskov, but I do think it’s impossible. Well …’ She bit into her plump bottom lip. ‘Almost impossible. But I don’t want your money. I want Harrington’s name above the front door.’

He paused. Had he really just heard her right? ‘No way.’

She shrugged as if that was that. ‘Then I’m not interested.’

‘You forget,’ he said, relaxing his posture, ‘there are other contenders out there.’

‘I haven’t forgotten that,’ she returned coolly, ‘but I know you’re desperate and you won’t find anyone else as good as me.’

She held one hand behind her back and he wondered if she didn’t have her fingers crossed. Regardless, she was right about how desperate he was.

‘Touché yourself, Eleanore.’

She smiled like a woman who held all the aces. And with her haughty nose raised in the air at him and her curvy little body, maybe she did. How he had ever thought her marginally pretty was beyond him. She was so much more than that in the flesh. Warm, sparkling and…feisty. An alluring combination of intellect and innocence he found strangely appealing. Not that any of that meant he’d give in to her request. She was about to find out that a willingness to compromise was not one of his stronger traits. ‘Why do you want Harrington’s name on the door?’

‘Because I’m a Harrington and it will be my designs you use.’

‘It’s my hotel.’

‘It’s your money putting up the hotel, yes, but if you use my designs, then conceptually it’s equally mine.’

Lukas scoffed. ‘Equally? I don’t think so.’

‘But you do need me. You said so yourself.’

As much as he admired her sassy comeback he wasn’t going to give in on this. And he knew she was more interested in working on his hotel than she was letting on. ‘Maybe it’s you who needs me.’

Her eyes cut to his, wide and wary. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You’ve thought about this hotel a lot since I mentioned it, have you not?’

She wasn’t happy with his question; he could see that in the tightening of her mouth. She shrugged as if trying to act casually but it was too late. When you dragged yourself up from the dirtiest streets in the world to become one of the wealthiest men in it, you learned a fair bit about how to read people and Eleanore was a babe in arms when it came to negotiating. Not that he wasn’t enjoying sparring with her. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so invigorated by a woman’s intellect instead of her body.

She arched her brow. ‘Not as much as you,’ she parried.

‘Tell me,’ he asked softly, ‘who else is ever going to give you an opportunity to spread your wings on such an interesting project?’

She lifted her chin. ‘My sister.’

Lukas doubted Harrington’s could afford the spend. He smiled. ‘Who is presently tied up battling the Chatsfields for control of your company from what I read last night. Why would I tie my business to such a circus?’

Her mouth flattened even more. ‘Harrington’s is not a circus and if you think that horrible Spencer Chatsfield will succeed in taking over our business, then you don’t know my sister very well.’

‘Actually, I don’t know her at all but irrespective of who controls Harrington’s at the end of the day your sister doesn’t have the finances to put up a hotel like the Krystal Palace.’

Eleanore wrinkled her pretty little nose at him and he knew he’d guessed right. ‘You have no idea if that’s true or not.’

Lukas relaxed back in his chair and pushed his mobile phone toward her. ‘Call her and ask. I doubt you could afford to pay for the front step after the amount spent on that bar last night.’

‘That bar will pay for itself in time.’

Lukas held her hostile gaze and wondered if she wouldn’t tell him to go to hell. He probably would if their positions were reversed.

‘Come on, Eleanore,’ he encouraged softly, ‘come work for me. Harrington’s name isn’t worth that much any more.’

He could see immediately that he’d made a tactical error in reminding her of how he had inadvertently slurred her hotel chain once before.

‘It is so worth something.’ She practically vibrated out of her chair. ‘It took my father years to establish a line of boutique hotels that are respected all over the world. Why do you think the Chatsfields want us so badly? We’re a powerhouse and you should be thanking me for wanting to put our name on your hotel.’

Maybe he should and he wondered what it would feel like to have someone loyal to him as she obviously was to her family. What it would feel like to have all that passion wrapped tightly around him.

‘And might I remind you,’ she continued haughtily, ‘that it was you who sought me out and told me you wanted my help. Well, it comes at a price. And I’ve just given it to you.’ She stood up and his first thought was that she was magnificent in her wounded pride. His second was that he was sorry he’d somehow caused that and he was shocked by the realisation. Since when did he care about wounding an opponent’s pride?

But Eleanore wasn’t an opponent, was she? She was…He frowned. As much as he hated to admit it she was someone he needed. Oh, he was sure, given time, that he could find someone else who could pull off his ice hotel but time was something he had precious little of and she had made all the right suggestions so far. He shook his head. ‘I’ll take you on as a consultant, but not a partner.’

She muttered something under her breath—something he doubted was complimentary—before striding to his side and flipping his laptop around to face them both. ‘Which one of these preliminary ideas did you like the most?’ She sat down, stroking the mouse key and scrolling through the images until she came to a picture of the reception area. ‘You know with very little effort we could turn these vaulted cathedral ceilings into glass domes that made them look like they touched the sky. But maybe you prefer the idea about the themed guest rooms. Off the top of my head my favourite would be the captain’s quarters of an old-fashioned pirate ship with carved atlases and a four-poster bed. You might like a room with a Japanese infusion—ice futon and a tropical fish tank in the ceiling.’

‘You can put a tropical fish tank in the ceiling?’

She straightened away from him, breathing hard, her eyes chips of green fire. ‘I can do anything.’

Right now Lukas didn’t doubt it.

And it wasn’t often that he had been surprised in his life—well, in his adult life. Or impressed.

He turned his head and caught a whiff of apples. If she turned her head toward him they would be inches apart and he had a sudden and very primitive urge to taste her.

As if sensing his thoughts she went still and then shifted very subtly away from him. Harnessing a driving need to follow he clamped down on his unusually wayward libido and forced himself to relax back against the sofa. ‘Actually, I quite like the sound of that pirate’s cabin.’

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