He smiled, causing another tremor of excitement to render me temporarily speechless. No man had ever had such a powerful physical effect on me. ‘Hi,’ I managed at last. ‘You must be Mr Gordon?’ I extended a hand, aware that it was trembling.

Peter’s eyes danced with amusement. He took my outstretched hand, but held my gaze. ‘Peter,’ he said, in a slightly husky voice that perfectly matched the sexiness of his appearance. ‘Call me Peter.’

I never got flustered with men. I always maintained an air of slight aloofness that seemed to attract them all the more. But I was definitely flustered with Peter. I could feel an unfamiliar heat in my cheeks and my voice quivered as I replied, ‘Nice to meet you, Peter. I’m Bella. Marcus will only be a few minutes. Is there anything I can get you?’

Peter smiled again and raised his eyebrows. ‘Now there’s an offer …’

I rolled my eyes, trying to regain some semblance of control over the butterflies in my stomach. He was clearly as attracted to me as I was to him and I knew without any doubt that he would be asking me out. ‘OK, well let me know if you change your mind,’ I told him, before returning to my office, knowing he was watching and thanking my lucky stars that I had worn the tight black pencil skirt and five-inch stilettos that showed off my bum and legs to perfection.

When his meeting with Marcus ended, I walked him to the lift, again making sure to walk slightly in front of him so that he could admire me from behind. By now, my heart rate had calmed slightly and I felt more in command of my emotions. I pressed the call button and turned back towards him with a knowing smile.

He returned the gesture. ‘So, Bella … would you like to have dinner with me tonight?’

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head slowly. ‘I can’t. I have plans.’

He smiled and raised an eyebrow back at me, already enjoying the sport. ‘Cancel them.’

Part of me wanted to tell him to get lost for his arrogance but already the attraction between us was too strong, too magnetic to resist and we both knew it. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

The lift arrived and Peter stepped in but held his hand over the door to stop it closing. He reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out a card with a number written on it. He fixed me with his sexiest stare. ‘Here’s my number. Call me.’

I took the card and turned as the lift doors swished shut. As I made my way back to my office, I was unable to stop smiling.

Marcus came out of his office and walked over to mine. ‘Well, you seem to have an admirer …’

My smile widened as I looked up at him. ‘Do you think so?’

‘I know so.’ Marcus came and perched on the edge of my desk, looking at me contemplatively.