Chapter 10 Bella's POV
Chapter Ten
Bella’s POV
Fifteen minutes later, Xander walked into the boardroom, crisp in a navy suit and fresh tie.
He looked as handsome as ever, the navy suit really complimented his raven black hair.
I was already there, flipping through documents, trying to keep my composure like nothing happened fifteen minutes ago.
My throat dried up again as I remember Xander in the white towel. I need to get rid of that memory.
The way his taut abs lay waiting for me to run my fingers through them. The way his abdominal line curved to a perfect V shape.
He really kept his body in shape, unlike me. Ever since I had Noah, I've not been able to work out, thank God for good genes.
It was time for the meeting.
Xander addressed the room, his aura commanded respect.
The speech, numbers, the analysis e.t.c all came naturally to him. This was the man I fell in love with.
He looked sexy, and was even sexier in a white towel.
I pulled myself together and tried to focus on the meeting but it proved futile.
He loosened his tie a little and gesticulated with his hands as he spoke. His sleeves were rolled up.
His muscles protruded from the sleeves, they were lined up with veins.
I flipped through documents trying to pretend that my mind was here.
“Bella” he suddenly called out.
I jerked up immediately,“Huh?”
“The slides?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” I projected the slides on the screen and returned to my seat.
The investors continued listening with rapt attention as if there wasn't a distraction.
But if course, it was Xander Knight. Everyone was impressed.
His deep voice echoed across the room. It blocked off all noises.
Except the noise in my head. I reached for a cup of coffee to calm myself down.
My hand slipped on the handle and the brown liquid spilled on one of the investors shirt.
My eyes popped open and my hand flew to my mouth.
The investor burst out in fury, “What the hell is this?, what sort of carelessness is this?”
“It was a mistake, I'll make sure she gets her due punishment.”
“You better make sure if that Mr Knight. I don't like putting my money in careless people, I hope that will not be the case here?”
“Of course not.”
I stood there trying to comprehend what had just happened. Why was I clumsy all of a sudden?
It was Xander’s fault. His white towel image refused to leave my head.
I bowed my head and muttered apologies while trying to dab the coffee from the investor's shirt.
He threw my hand away and looked at me sternly.
I picked up what remained of my dignity and left the room.
Hours later they investors filed out of the room, Xander shook hands with them.
After they left, he scanned the surroundings with his eyes. They landed on me.
He signalled at me with his fingers and left to the board room. I followed him behind slowly with my head bowed low.
“I hope you know that your clumsiness almost cost us the investors.”
“I know sir, I'm really sorry sir.”
He lowered himself to my level and gently flicked his hand on my forehead, “What were you thinking about?”
Heat rose in my cheeks, I stared down at my shoes without answering.
“Care to let me know?” Was that amusement I detected in his tone?
It felt like he knew what I was thinking about. I swallowed and decided not to respond.
He leaned in slightly, his voice was low enough at only I could here even though we were alone. “Were you thinking about earlier?”
Blood rushed up to my ears, they burned bright red.” Of cour…of course not” I stuttered.
He lifted my face up with a finger and held my gaze, “Good. Next time keep your mind in the meeting, I'd hate for the board to think I was distracting my assistant.”
I broke the gaze and forced out a shaky laugh to ease the tension.
I shifted nervously from one feet to the other. “What sort of punishment do you have in mind sir?”
A sound tore from his chest, low and masculine. He was actually laughing at me, what was really amusing about this situation?
“You don't need to worry about that. I'll decide on the punishment when the time is right.”
“Okay sir.”
He suddenly reached out for my hand, there were blisters on them. I burned myself a little when I spilled the coffee.
He brushed his thumb softly over the reddened skin, I ignored the wave of warmth that flowed through me.
“You should have run this under water immediately.” he scolded gently.
I mummured, “I.. I didn't think…”
He sighed, “There's a first aid kit in the lower drawer, you can use it to treat those blisters.”
His thumb still brushed over the blisters gently, “Make sure you take care of those blisters, they can scar you.”
I nodded, “Noted sir.”
“One more thing Bella.” He paused and looked deeply into my eyes, “Be careful.”
A small laugh escaped me,“I'll try my best sir.”
He scowled, “Try harder.”
I turned my heels and escaped from the room before I utter another silly thing.
Outside, I leaned against the cool wall and released a breath I did not know I was holding.
Things were always intense with Xander, always.
I rummaged through the lower drawer and found the first aid kit. I pulled out the burn ointment and dabbed it across the blisters, I hissed sharply and bit my lower lip to endure the pain.
At least it was a distraction from the things Xander made me feel. I was drawn to him or rather, I am still drawn to him.
Xander Knight was still the one man I couldn't think straight around, and that thought scared me more than anything else.