Prima Donna by Karen Swan Read Free Book Online Page B

him.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, clearly not. ‘But the gym is closed.’
    The man turned around.
    Pia started.
    ‘You!’
    Will Silk beamed. ‘Well, what a surprise,’ he said, eyes glittering. ‘I didn’t expect to see you again
quite
so soon. I didn’t realize it was to
here
that you were going.’
    ‘I wasn’t.’
    ‘And yet, here you are.’ Will paused, hands on hips. ‘
You’re
not stalking
me
, are you?’
    ‘Hardly,’ Pia snorted, getting to her feet. Will’s eyes fell to her curves. She looked a knockout. He thought of all the high-maintenance women in their designer kit usually
populating the gym, and she knocked spots off them wearing a hotchpotch of cast-offs that even Britney Spears wouldn’t pull together. What was it with dancers wanting to look like they were
homeless?
    ‘You can’t be in here,’ Pia said imperiously, aware of his eyes like hands on her body. ‘I have exclusive use of the gym. You have to go.’
    She turned her back to him and dropped into a deep
plié.
    ‘That’s funny. That’s what I said to them,’ Will murmured, watching her. She was incredible. Even just doing that, he could see her brilliance. It was clear she had more
raw talent – and passion – than any other person he’d ever met in his life.
    ‘What?’ Pia demanded, springing up and turning back to him. Her eyes were blazing. She wasn’t in the mood for riddles.
    ‘Well, I figure one of the upsides of owning the hotel has got to be—’
    ‘You
own
this hotel?’ Pia stood there with her hands on her hips. ‘
You
do?’
    Will nodded, enjoying her fury. He could see that she felt put on the back foot at being a guest at his establishment. He tried to keep his eyes from following a bead of sweat that was trickling
down her neck and into her cleavage.
    ‘I’m the major investor here. I’ve got a few hotels actually,’ he added. ‘I’ll send the details through to your pretty PA, just in case you’re ever
passing.’
    ‘P-passing?’ She was incandescent with rage.
    ‘Yes,’ he nodded. ‘Seeing as we’re friends now.’
    ‘Why would you think we’re friends? I despise men like you. Bored playboys who think you can buy anything or anyone.’
    ‘Oh don’t tell me,’ he said teasingly. ‘You’re going to insist on paying for your room too now?’
    ‘Cartier’s picking up the bill for this,’ she replied witheringly.
    ‘Ah, right.’ Will nodded acquiescingly and turned away from her, stepping onto the running machine. Setting it to the Hills programme, he fell into an easy jog.
    Pia watched him for a moment, furious that she couldn’t force him to leave. The man was impossible, slippery. He had an answer for everything. She picked up her towel and flounced to the
door, something she could achieve with a great deal more grace than most women.
    ‘Please – don’t mind me,’ Will said, as he watched her in the mirror. ‘Don’t let me drive you away.’
    ‘Oh you haven’t,’ she said contemptuously, slamming the door behind her.
    ‘I know,’ Will muttered, smiling to himself as he pushed the speed on the machine even higher and finally allowed himself to break into a sweat.
    Sophie was sitting in the suite by the time Pia got back, reading in the
Daily Mail
the full update on her boss’s suspension and arch-rival’s
appointment.
    ‘Are you okay?’ she asked, as Pia burst through the doors, pink and flustered.
    ‘No!’ Pia pouted, gliding over to a table with the water jug on it. ‘That dreadful man from the Victoria’s Secret show. He burst into the gym and just
leered
at
me. I had to leave.’ Her delicate wrist fluttered with distress.
    Sophie nodded sombrely. She was well used to Pia’s histrionics. As she recalled, that dreadful man had been pretty gorgeous and had retained his manners, even in the face of Pia’s
outrageous insults.
    ‘I remember him. The guy was such a jerk,’ she said faithfully, folding the newspaper away from sight. ‘Anyway,