That in itself was a heady sensation that made her reach out toward the building with her hand. She let the brick grate against her palm in the hopes it would calm her body, which was raging out of control, tilting, spinning. Listing.
“I’m waiting for my driver,” she said to fill the silence. Then inwardly cringed.
She was always saying the wrong things around men. She should be flirting, but Jane didn’t know how to flirt. She wasn’t coy or beguiling. She hated the games people played, and just wanted to find a man she could be herself around.
Every fall, ditzy moment, and disaster she had.
His half smile grew, crinkling the corners of his unusual gray eyes. “That would be me. I’m Banan.”
“Banan,” she repeated, letting the name roll through her mind. She liked the name.
He gently guided her to where he had parked the Mercedes. “You must be Jane Holden.”
“Yes.”
He opened the car door, and she easily slid into the backseat. “I’ll get you to the airport in plenty of time.”
Jane smiled as she rested her head back against the seat. With a grin like Banan’s directed at her, for the first time in her life she didn’t feel like a Plain Jane.
And she had managed to walk to the car and get in it without incident. Maybe the day was looking up.
Chapter 2
“Where is, Stan, the regular driver?”
Banan had expected that question, but he hadn’t anticipated the husky, sensual voice that passed through such inviting, luscious lips. Jane Holden was anything but typical.
And he hated to admit the lust that flared, when he’d first spotted her.
“He’s with Mr. Arnold tonight.” Banan said the lie easily. Almost too easily. Some might begin to question his integrity when lying became as effortless as breathing.
Then again, few were as old as time itself.
Banan glanced in the rearview mirror. Jane was looking out the window, her large, guileless coffee brown eyes seemingly staring at nothing. Though she might appear innocent, her relationship with Richard Arnold made her suspect. Like everyone at PureGems.
No matter how appealing she might be, he couldn’t let down his guard.
She didn’t speak, and he didn’t push her. It would have been prime opportunity to gather information. But one look at the dark circles under her eyes and the way she could barely keep them open, and Banan decided not to press her.
For the moment.
He stole another glance in the mirror. Her dark auburn hair was parted on the side, and it hung straight and sleek to her shoulders except for the hair that tapered around her face.
Banan tried not to notice the high cheekbones in her oval face. He tried not to notice the way her tongue licked at her plump lips. He tried not to notice how she ran her finger over her arched eyebrow as she looked into a mirror she pulled out of her purse.
But if he thought that was difficult, it was nothing compared to doing his damnedest to forget the glimpse of her long, lean legs as she’d gotten into the car. Or the straight skirt that fit her arse to perfection.
It was so easy to imagine those long legs wrapped around him while he…
Banan shifted in his seat, half-aroused. He had to get his mind off her. “Do you normally pick clients up at the airport?”
“No,” she said and tucked a glossy strand of auburn hair behind her ear, revealing a small jade earring dangling from her lobe. “Mr. Arnold prefers to do it himself, but he had a prior engagement. Which is really odd, now that I think of it.” She paused, her forehead wrinkled in a frown. “This is a high-profile client. He never would’ve allowed anyone but himself to pick them up.”
“It must’ve been something important indeed to take him away, then.”
She didn’t say anything, but he’d gotten her thinking. Just what Banan wanted to do. He had no idea how loyal she was to Arnold, so he had to tread carefully.
Banan said nothing more as they pulled into the airport. He stopped the car by a curb, but before he’d put the car in park, she was out the door.
He watched as she hurried into the airport looking one way then the other. His gaze raked down her frame, from her button-down shirt that fit against her curves to the snug-fitting skirt and tall heels that only elongated her legs even more.
“Damn,” he muttered, hating the lust that wouldn’t dissipate.
Banan’s phone rang then, and he wasn’t surprised to see it was Guy.
“Can you talk?” Guy asked.
“Aye. What do you need?”
“I wanted to know if you’d found out anything. I assumed you would’ve discovered something being alone in the car with the woman.”
Banan grinned as he kept watch on the airport doors for Jane. “I found out Arnold is the one who usually picks up clients, but he had Jane do it this evening. She doesna know what kept him away.”
“Could she be lying?”
“She could be, but I doona think so. She seems…transparent. Unless she’s a verra good actress, I think she’s telling the truth.”
Guy blew out a long breath. “Arnold is the top man in the London office. This has to involve him.”
“And if it doesna? It could be someone else in PureGems.”
“Doubtful, my friend. He’s the only one with the money and connections that could’ve gotten him our secret.”
Banan leaned his elbow on the door. “How is Elena?”
“She willna let me in her flat,” Guy said with a growl. “I even tried to sneak in, but she says she could be watched and doesna want anyone to know what she’s doing.”
“She’s right.”
“Aye,” Guy said angrily. “I know she’s right, but I doona have to like it.”
Banan chuckled at Guy’s frustration. “Where is Rhys?”
“He’s trailing Arnold. Hopefully he’ll come back with something useful. How much longer are you going to be?”
“No’ sure. Jane is looking for whoever it is she’s picking up.”
“Keep your eyes open.”
“I’ll be fine. Worry about your woman.”
“Doona remind me,” Guy replied testily.
Banan ended the call, but Jane had gone farther into the airport and he could no longer stare at her. Which was probably for the best.