‘No. It’s not. I’ve thought about kissing you ever since I found out from Crystal that I’d been so wrong about you.’
A tortured sound emerged from Nick’s throat. His hands went around her waist and he pushed her away a little, trying to create some physical distance between them. ‘I’m not convinced you’re thinking straight and I’m not going to take advantage of that.’
‘I am thinking straight.’ If anything, her shock and the way he’d supported her through it had solidified her need for him.
Nerves balancing on the sharp edge of a razor she watched as he appeared to wrestle with his decision.
His chest rose and fell as he inhaled deeply then expelled an audible breath. His conflict was palpable and she loved that he didn’t want to take advantage of her but it only made her want him all the more.
‘Let me get you that drink before I see you safely back to your room,’ he said at last.
No! Panic gripped her as she read the decisiveness in his features. She had this one chance. She couldn’t let it slip away.
‘Please, Nick, kiss me. You’re probably right that I’m still shaken but that has nothing to do with the needs I’ve had for weeks—needs you’ve aroused in me.’
‘This is madness.’ The words rasped from his throat. A faint crease of indecision appeared between his brows.
Instinctively she knew she had to seize the moment. She moved against the resistance of his hands until there was no gap between them. ‘If this is madness, Nick, then I want to embrace insanity with you.’ She’d never been more certain of anything in her life.
With a hoarse expletive, his hands moved. His fingers tilted her head up so her lips were right in position for his to plunder. His gaze darted to the base of her neck, where her pulse hammered frantically.
‘You’re an amazing woman, Sarah.’
Oh yes. It was so much better to be told she was amazing than to be told she was beautiful.
‘I love how transparent your feelings are when I look into your eyes,’ he rasped.
She felt her cheeks dimple. ‘I would’ve thought my eyes were glazed over now because every one of my senses is totally intoxicated by you.’
The deep sound of his laughter was like molten honey soothing over nerves that were tightly strung and fraught with need as they fired in anticipation of his kisses. The intimacy of his breath fanned her mouth as he bent his head and his lips hovered over hers.
So close.
She rocked forward on her feet so she stood on her tiptoes.
‘I’d better make certain you don’t regret this.’ His words were a pledge, and by God he delivered.
Sweet heaven. The most amazing sensations made every one of her nerves sing in unison like an ecclesiastical choir.
His lips explored hers with tender, thorough determination—almost as if he didn’t quite believe she was recovered from her shock and he still needed to treat her with care.
Sarah didn’t regret her decision for a second as she became lost in the exquisite sensation of his lips moving against hers. Her hunger built and her fingers pressed more firmly into the hard muscles of his shoulders as she kissed him back with the mindless fervency of her need.
The heat from his mouth pervaded her entire body and her frame became soft and compliant—melting against him like an ice cube dissolving in the shimmering heat of the midday sun.
As he felt her yielding to him and pressing closer, his kisses grew more demanding. There was no hesitation from her because she was ready for the increased urgency. It was an exciting journey of discovery. The first time she’d ever responded to this level of passion, it was everything she’d ever hoped for and more.
His thorough exploration gave as much, maybe even more, than he took and God help her she wanted to follow wherever this went. No. She didn’t just want to follow. She wanted to yield to the natural dictates of her own body and let her instincts lead her.
Her hands trailed down, enjoying the well-defined muscles of his biceps and loving the width of his shoulders. Then, the fingertips of one hand delighted in spearing through his thick hair, while the others played along the hard-set muscles of his shoulders. When he moved his body for a snugger hold, she moaned her pleasure. His hands ran possessively over the contours of her feminine frame and moulded her closer to him.
While she revelled in the masculine strength of his body, she became aware of the powerful firmness of his arousal. The feel of his erection stirred up bittersweet emotions within her. She wanted for this to follow its natural conclusion so badly. Her core ached with emptiness and longed to be filled by him, but she should at least warn him. It would be unfair if she didn’t and impossible to bear if she exposed herself and he looked at her in horror.
Pull back.
Tell him.
Trust him.
Maybe he sensed her inner torment.
Maybe he’d reached his own conclusion that this needed to be damped down before it blazed into an inferno that was impossible to control.
Whatever the reason, slowly—and with seeming reticence—he pulled away.
When his fingertip trailed down her cheek, sensation shot all the way through her and down her spine.
‘That was incredible chemistry.’ His voice was thick with need.
‘Was?’
His hands cupped her face. ‘I burn for you, Sarah.’
‘Yet, you’re not kissing me anymore.’
Which gives you the perfect opportunity to tell him, Sarah.
‘It would be so easy to take this to the next step, but we can’t.’
‘Why? I told you, this isn’t a reaction stemming from shock.’
‘Even so, you’re working for me and for my sister, not to mention I’m here with my thirteen-year-old daughter who’s likely to have forgotten something she needs and come bounding in here any second.’
‘You’re saying all those things make this too complicated.’ It was impossible to conceal the note of disappointment in her voice.
He nodded once and took a few steps away from her. ‘I’m saying the timing isn’t ideal.’
Sarah raised her hands and ran her palms down her cheeks as she wondered whether the timing was ever going to be ideal. ‘When I’m finished this filming for NOCO my work is going to keep taking me away from England.’
‘Not necessarily. Eduardo and Manuel might prefer more exotic locations for their fashion shoots but I don’t think Jocelyn does. I expect you’ll be in London quite a bit working for her.’
There was that—especially as she didn’t work for Eduardo and Manuel anymore. Still, her lesser contracts had just had her in Kenya and Japan so her trips abroad weren’t going to end completely.
‘We’ll find a way.’ He raised one of her hands to his lips and kissed the pad of each of her fingers. ‘But for now, I think we should resist.’
Part of her was frustrated.
Part of her was relieved.
Being with Nick was one giant push-pull of emotions.
‘Rose tells me you’ve dated a long list of women from the modelling and entertainment world. She said you might set your sights on me for the sheer challenge of it.’ She shook her head. ‘If she was right you wouldn’t be calling it quits now, would you?’ Gosh, she sounded as insecure as she felt. ‘I’m not very experienced with men, Nick. Tell me I’m right. Tell me you didn’t kiss me to add me to your list.’
‘You don’t have to ask. You know I kissed you because both of us wanted it.’ He took another step away from her. ‘Rose is obviously basing her opinion on the trash that’s printed to sell tabloids. She’s also selling us both short. I don’t treat women as conquests and I don’t keep a list.’
‘I’m sorry. If I really thought that about you I would never have kissed you but I needed a bit of reassurance.’ She drew her bottom lip in under her top teeth for a moment then let it go abruptly because the sensation reminded her of how much she wanted his lips back on hers. ‘In this line of work I get pro
positioned quite a bit,’ she said heavily.
‘I don’t think it has anything to do with your line of work, Sarah. You’re a beautiful, caring and intelligent woman. It wouldn’t matter what you did, you’d always attract male attention.’
The compliments he gave her were hard to take in.
She frowned and found herself confessing, ‘I model clothes professionally but I don’t want to be used as someone’s fashion accessory in my personal life.’ For some reason, now she’d started, she couldn’t stop. ‘That you’re putting the brakes on before anything has even started between us is something I’m not used to. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been propositioned by some guy who wants me to be his conquest—someone who sees me as representing nothing more than sex and wants bragging rights for having dated or bedded a well-known model.’ As she continued she became more passionate. It was like a dam had burst and now all her anger at how she’d been treated kept pouring out. ‘I’m more than a face and a body. I want more out of a relationship than …’
She stopped abruptly.
Nick hadn’t moved a muscle all through her tirade. Now he nodded slowly. ‘I understand better than you might think. You want the man you’re with to make love to Sarah Smith the woman, not Sarah Bryant the world’s most popular model.’
‘Yes.’ She exhaled the word from a pent-up breath.
It was incredible. He did understand.
‘All the more reason for this not to go any further tonight.’
She stared at him.
‘We hardly know each other, Sarah. If this is going to progress, let’s make sure we take it slowly and get to know each other.’
She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. Far from feeling rejected, she now felt respected.
‘Working with you during the filming of this documentary and for its promotion over the next six months will be a chance for us to get to know each other much better,’ he continued.
Everything he said was what she’d always wanted to hear.
All he proposed was so perfect it was almost like he could read her mind.
It was surely too good to be true.
Actually, maybe it wasn’t so good. ‘Six months seems an awfully long time to have to wait to get to know you, Nick.’
He laughed and hugged her tight against him. His words were quiet next to her ear. ‘Don’t be in a hurry, Sarah.’
‘I’m not an easy person to get to know.’ Crazily all her long-held secrets seemed to rise to the surface. They bubbled there, building pressure like a shaken up bottle of champagne wanting to force the cork out. But crazy was the operative word. As much as she recognised an unfamiliar sense of desperation to connect fully with Nick and to be understood, she couldn’t go and blurt out her deepest secrets so soon.
He pulled his body back from hers and looked at her. ‘Then I must be breaking all sorts of speed records because tonight is only the second night we’ve been together since our truce was declared and I think we’ve come a long way to knowing each other.’
‘It is crazy,’ she agreed. ‘I’m so comfortable with you it’s like you’ve seeped right through to my bones.’
‘We share a passion for saving the world’s oceans. Apart from that I intend to find out whether we’ve got more in common than this amazing chemistry.’ When she remained silent, he suggested, ‘You don’t want to be viewed solely as a beautiful model and I don’t want to be seen solely as a billionaire. Maybe we’re both looking for someone to be with who’ll regard us as who we are rather than what we represent?’
He was speaking straight to her heart and it pounded a strong Yes. Yes. Yes.
His voice lowered. ‘I promise that when we become lovers, it won’t have anything to do with me wanting to have bragging rights.’
When we become lovers …
The air in the room was suddenly depleted of oxygen. ‘You do feel it too,’ she said on a strangled inhalation.
‘I suspect it’s inevitable.’
It was. She wanted them to be lovers. It was the last hurdle she had to jump and she wanted to take that leap of faith with this man. He was so right to take it slowly and for them both to get to know each other rather than to run away with physical needs.
‘I’ll walk you back to your room now,’ he told her.
Her conscience nagged.
There were two secrets she hid from Nick. Should she be upfront with him now or would it break the relationship before it began?
Sarah wanted to be honest. Surely there was no point in either of them investing any more if he didn’t know the truth about her?
Give Nick a chance.
‘Nick—’
A sharp knock on the door to the suite made Nick look at his watch and grumble, ‘This is an odd hour to be calling.’
Sarah followed him out of his bedroom and through the suite as he went to the door.
‘Luca,’ Nick said when he opened the door. ‘What’s up?’
‘Katie’s complaining of stomach pain and she’s just started throwing up. Olivia’s had appendicitis and she’s fairly certain that’s what Katie’s got.’
‘With an onset this fast?’
Luca looked beyond Nick and acknowledged Sarah with a half-wave and not a trace of surprise. ‘She’s admitted to Christiana that she’s been suffering from some moderate abdominal discomfort on and off this afternoon. She didn’t want to say anything in case you made her stay in bed and miss meeting Sarah tonight. Apparently at times it was quite sharp and stopped her from falling asleep when she tried to rest after lunch and it’s got steadily worse since dinner. Katie described the pain as having started in one place and moved around which Olivia believes is a classic sign of appendicitis.’
‘Have you called an ambulance?’
‘Olivia was phoning when I came to get you.’
Nick turned back to Sarah. ‘Sorry, Sarah.’
She shook her head vigorously. ‘Don’t apologise, just go!’
Chapter 13
‘Hi, Nick.’
At the sound of Sarah’s voice, Nick looked up from where he was sitting outside Katie’s hospital room. For a moment his lungs ceased to function as he was struck again by her natural beauty.
He stood and kept his hands firmly at his sides to stop from reaching out to take her in his arms. ‘Thanks for coming, Sarah.’
‘I wrangled a couple of hours grace from the documentary director to come and visit.’
‘Your legs are okay?’ The light cargo pants she wore hid the injuries from the previous night.
‘They’re fine. More importantly, I heard the operation went well for Katie?’
‘Yes. She’s having a sponge bath but she’ll be thrilled to see you when we’re allowed in.’
‘How was your night?’
‘Difficult.’ He’d spent a sleepless night at the hospital. He’d worried about Katie while she was in surgery then, when it was clear she’d make a full recovery from her appendectomy, he’d spent the rest of the night fantasising about Sarah and all the ways he wanted to make love to her.
‘It’s so good that Olivia recognised the symptoms and they were able to operate in time.’
‘Try convincing Katie of that.’
‘Pardon?’ She tilted her head and the action drew his attention to her loose blonde hair. His hands immediately itched to run over the silky strands.
Despite his resolve, it was hellishly difficult to be with Sarah and not yield to their mutual attraction but his inner voice urged him to be patient.
‘The surgery obviously left a scar and my darling thirteen-year-old is now telling me very dramatically that she’s scarred for life and there goes any hope she had of a modelling career.’
‘Oh.’
‘I told her if she hadn’t had the surgery and had a burst appendix, she wouldn’t have been alive to have a modelling career. Unfortunately that pragmatism isn’t sinking in.’ He shook his head. ‘There’s no reasoning with her and she’s dissolved int
o tears a few times.’
‘I feel for both of you, but mainly for you because I can see how you’re struggling to deal with her emotions.’ Heat burned through him when Sarah reached out and put her hand on his bare arm. ‘Katie’s probably still under the effect of the anaesthetic and no doubt it was all a bit of a shock the way she was rushed off to hospital at the start of her holiday.’ She hesitated for a moment before venturing, ‘Would you mind if I talk to her about the scar?’
‘Be my guest. But don’t be too disappointed if she doesn’t cheer up.’
‘I’ll have her thinking positively in no time.’ Her blue-eyed gaze met his squarely and her hand stayed right where it was on his arm. ‘Want to bet on it?’
He couldn’t help but smile. ‘Betting on the outcome of something involving a just-turned-teenager is fraught with danger.’
As she removed her hand, he watched a small smile play around her lips. ‘I’m game if you are.’
There was something secretive in her eyes—something that told him she was one hundred percent confident she was going to win this bet.
Having listened to Katie’s outpouring of emotion, he was fairly confident nothing Sarah could say would change his daughter’s depressing view that she’d lost her dream career. ‘What are we betting for?’
‘If I can cheer her up, you have to take me out for dinner. Afterwards we walk along the beach here at Palm Cove. Then, we sit on the sand, stargaze the Milky Way until dawn and watch the sunrise together.’
His heart skipped a beat before picking up pace.
She obviously wanted to push things forward between them because there was a certain inevitability about what the outcome of such an evening would be and they both knew it. There was no way such a romantic scene would play out without kissing at the very least and most likely making love. Sarah was a woman who knew what she wanted, and she was hardly suffering from a PTSD triggered anxiety attack now.
He had to clear his throat before he asked, ‘Do I get to set the conditions if you can’t change her mind?’
Her cheeks dimpled. ‘I guess that’s fair. What do you want to bet?’
That we go out for dinner. Afterwards we walk along the beach. Then, we sit on the sand, stargaze the Milky Way until dawn and watch the sunrise together.
Seduced by the Billionaire Page 15