Compulsion

Elias Mendoca knew he was going to bait her the instant he realised she was heading in his direction. It was just something he did. A habit that admittedly was an automatic but bad habit. A habit that had lasted well over fourteen years. No point changing a habit of a lifetime. For some inexplicable reason, lurking just beneath the debonair mantle he usually wore with aplomb was this mischievious urge to ruffle her starchy feathers. Always. No matter where they were. No matter what the situation. The devil in him simply had to play.

His obsidian eyes glinted with suppressed laughter as he said, "Looking good GString."

The fact was that she did. But Georgia would register his term of endearment as ridicule. Their history saw to that. Their future appeared destined to involve affronts on his part and distance on hers.

Elias did his best not to laugh in delight when her response registered. She was so easy to tease. His gaze skimmed over her. Those obsidian eyes traced her from head to toe before going for another blatant but more leisurely examination.

Georgia was tall, willowy slim, and when her dark eyes flashed she was downright gorgeous. His blatant perusal had not gone unnoticed by either his date or Georgia. And while the impact it had on the two women was the same, (they were both furious), the manifestation could not be more different. Annabelle looked sullen. Georgia looked stunning.

He'd known Georgia since she was a schoolgirl. A geeky, studious schoolgirl but even back then he could see that she was going to be gorgeous. Just a pity he had all but ignored that potential at the time. The young girl had the bone structure of timeless beauty. The woman in front of him was all that and more. Just a shame she appeared to have got over her teenage infatuation with him.

"Darling!" Annabelle, his date, remonstrated and then spoilt it with a laugh as she strove to shake off the infuriation she felt. "You can't call her that."

Annabelle knew she had to stake a claim. Make it blatantly obvious he had just teased that he was out of bounds. It was just a shame that he did not know it. Annabelle leaned into his side and playfully cuffed his upper chest with the flat of her hand. To make sure her point hit home, Annabelle kept her eyes on the tall elegant woman who stood ram-rod straight and a good few inches taller than Annabelle.

As far as Annabelle was concerned the fact that Elias was rude to the lovely young woman was a good thing. She had seen the way his eyes tracked this tall willowy woman over the course of the evening. She had seen the glint of interest that lit his eyes when this particular woman had headed in their direction. Annabelle saw the awareness in his eyes intensify as Georgia drew nearer. Annabelle had never seen him with a reaction like this to any other woman, not even her. That rankled. But there was no disputing that there was a connection between Georgia and Elias.

It was still there. And Annabelle didn't like it. Not one little bit.

"It's so rude!" Annabelle pointed out with pseudo affront, but her eyes told Georgia clearly that she was just drawing attention to the fact that he had just insulted Georgia, in case Georgia failed to notice!

"It's just a nick name." Elias poked his tongue in his cheek, and kept his eyes on Georgia as he held the door open so that Georgia could pass. Not that he made it simple. She'd have to duck beneath his arm, and that made his lips quirk because he knew it would annoy her some more. Georgia pursed her lips but held her tongue. Arrogant prick she thought as she considered her options.

She had always been self-conscious about her height. Forcing her to duck beneath his arm would draw attention to her height. But if he wanted to play these games he was going to have to play them on his own. She wasn't going to get involved. If it meant looking stupid as she attempted to duck under his arm, then so be it, she thought.