‘I’d say trusting me enough to open up to me is a positive.’
‘But —’
‘You know I’m not after your money. It’s you I desire.’
Her face fell, and the finger that had been tracing patterns over his chest now pushed a little against his breastbone. ‘You may desire me but you need a mother for Charlotte and you’re hoping this will work to our mutual convenience. My answer is still no to marriage, but I do want to be with you for as long as this lasts between us or until you find a wife.’
An unfamiliar sensation caught and twisted in his chest. He’d found a wife already.
He didn’t want anyone else. Sophie was perfect for him. They were perfect for each other. Why the hell couldn’t she accept that?
She leant toward him and kissed him before he could argue his case any further.
Slowly, he relaxed into her kiss, and told himself to stop thinking and just enjoy feeling. It wasn’t difficult. Her skin was soft as he traced her curves with his hands. A quiver went through her as he trailed his fingers down her spine, swept each hand out to her waist then upward until he was cupping the weight of her pert breasts.
The look in her eyes was pure need and it excited the hell out of him. Shifting her body away so they were not in such intimate contact, she made room for her hand to move down so she took his pulsing shaft in a firm grip. Logan closed his eyes and bit back a groan as his body shuddered. Her touch was an invitation to pure sin.
‘Whoa, sweetheart. Again, so soon?’ He borrowed her line.
A tinkle of laughter followed as she increased the pressure of her hand. ‘I think you’re up for it.’
‘I wouldn’t want you to think I’m a soft touch.’
The tip of her tongue darted out of her mouth and she ran it along her lower lip as she stroked him up and down. ‘Definitely not a soft touch. I’d say you’re a hard man. Very hard.’
Reacting quickly, he flipped her onto her back.
‘Hey!’ she protested playfully.
‘Didn’t I tell you I was a make-things-happen kind of guy?’
Pushing back against his shoulders she reversed their positions again immediately. Grinning at her stubborn determination, he let her have her way.
‘I’d say you’ve just met your female equivalent, Logan Jackson.’
Logan watched as a smile of utter satisfaction spread across her face. She reached across to the top of the bedside table for a foil packet. ‘Just as well we both had a stash of these,’ she said. ‘I had no idea I’d underestimated so much with my purchase. I’m going to have to find a different pharmacy today because I simply can’t go back to the other one again so soon or they’ll think I’m some kind of nymphomaniac!’
‘I like the sound of that,’ he said with a wink.
Without any further preliminaries, she applied the protection and straddled him before she took his length in her hand once again and positioned him at her entrance. Then she went up on her haunches and eased down to bury every inch of him within her.
There was no stopping the raw growl that rumbled up from his throat as she placed the palms of her hands on his chest and began to move her pelvis up and down, burying his length and then easing it out of her tight, hot sheath. Sophie had well and truly made up for her drought of however many years it had been since she’d last had sex. Her need for him had been as intense as his for her, and they were well matched as lovers.
Gradually she increased her pace until her thrusts were fast, and he saw the absolute raw need on her gorgeous face as she pushed her body to reach its climax. His shaft was burning, wanting to burst. His grip tightened on her buttocks to help her as she began to lose her rhythm.
Her groan of satisfaction and the fierce clenching of her internal muscles around him as she orgasmed was the catalyst he was waiting for to let go of his own restraint and join her. Afterward, she flopped on to his chest, her body still joined to his.
‘Mm,’ she breathed. ‘That was divine.’
He lay back, sated but not entirely content. She’d ridden him like a woman possessed, intent on fulfilling her physical needs. As he thought back over their night, he realised that despite all the great sex, the closeness he’d felt as she’d cuddled into him, and the tenderness with which they’d caressed and kissed each other, he was feeling uncertain.
That was a first.
This is just sex, she’d told him, I’m not making any commitment. How neatly the tables had been turned. Even though he’d uttered the same words too many times to count and had applauded himself for his honesty, and for laying out the rules right at the start of each relationship he’d embarked upon, Sophie’s declaration had left him unsure.
She’d said they’d be together until he found a wife. That must mean they were going to the Hunter Valley together this weekend, but as far as he was concerned he’d found his wife, so there would be no goodbye any time soon. But the way she’d ridden him just now had left him feeling a little as though she was treating him like the gigolo she’d initially thought him to be.
‘I’m going to have a hard time keeping my mind on work today,’ she pronounced.
‘Glad to be of service.’ Except that was the problem — that last time had felt like a service.
She eased her body off his and stood to don a bathrobe. ‘I’m a grown woman and I’m enjoying finally acting like one instead of holding on to foolish and very girlish romantic notions. I intend to enjoy this between us for as long as it lasts. No regrets.’
The hollow feeling in his chest cavity reminded him of the way all the air had left his lung when the bullet had punctured it.
What was wrong with him? She was offering him an affair full of mind-blowing sex for as long as they were both satisfied. That was the hand he’d always dealt his lovers, the terms and conditions he’d always laid out. So why did he feel out-of-sorts about her declaration?
Because he’d offered her something he’d only ever considered offering one other woman. Marriage. Thankfully he’d found out that the woman he’d thought he loved was more in love with his wallet, and he hadn’t been embarrassed and repeated his father’s mistake of marrying a gold-digger. But, Logan had offered Sophie marriage and she didn’t even appear to be prepared to contemplate it.
Irritation flicked through him as he sat up, removed the condom and threw it into the bin he’d placed next to the bed during the night.
Had he met Sophie a month ago, he wouldn’t be feeling this way. An as-long-as-it-lasts affair with her would surely have been enough back then. Now, temporary did not suit his plans. Damn it! He couldn’t afford to indulge in a fling when he needed to present to the court with a wife. ‘I won’t accept that this is so short-term, Sophie.’
‘Oh, Logan,’ she sighed, as she tied the belt of the robe firmly around her waist. ‘It can only be a transient affair. We don’t love each other and you need to find yourself a wife pretty quickly.’
He stood. ‘I’ve offered you marriage.’
Her beautiful features hardened and his lover was gone. The Ice Princess was back. ‘Your offer is to act as your wife so you can gain custody of your goddaughter. In my book that doesn’t constitute marriage.’
‘It would be a real marriage.’
‘Your idea of a real marriage is a partnership with exclusive sex for the very short-term. To me, marriage should be based on love, and there should be enough commitment there from each person to make it last a lifetime.’
Agitation coiled deep in his gut. ‘Damn it, Sophie. I don’t do love.’
‘And I won’t ever marry again without it.’ She extended her hands in front of her, palms up. ‘We’re at an impasse.’
‘So you’re not prepared to marry me, but you’re still willing to have me accompany you to play the role of your lover this weekend to fool your grandfather?’
She held a hand up in protest. ‘Hang on, here. Firstly, we are lovers now — for however long it takes you to find a wife — and secondly I’m
not trying to “fool” my grandfather. I’m trying to make him happy, trying to let him find peace so he’s not worried about me, or his company. I want him to go into surgery without anything on his mind but his recovery.’
Logan clenched his jaw briefly before he accused, ‘Not to mention trying to ensure that you’re granted control of the richest mining business in Australia.’
He regretted his petty words as soon as they were uttered and he saw her bristle. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he griping like a petulant child who wasn’t getting his own way when she was a lover who’d just given him the most fantastic night of sex he’d ever experienced?
Get a grip, man.
‘My grandfather loves that company. It’s his life’s work, and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure it stays strong and Felix doesn’t have a chance to run it into the ground,’ she told him heatedly.
‘And what do I tell Charlotte if I don’t win the court case and have to leave her with her grandmother?’
For a few seconds, she looked away from him. Finally, she turned back and looked him in the eye. ‘If you’re not happy about coming to the Hunter Valley this weekend, then don’t come. Felix has seen us together. I’ll simply tell my grandfather that we’ve broken up.’
This woman was no pushover. She wouldn’t be enticed by his wealth the way other women had been, and what else did he have to offer her? Taking control of her grandfather’s company and making blasted Rigby Carlisle happy seemed to be the only thing she wanted out of life and Logan had already fallen neatly into her plans on that score. The only thing she wanted from him was the use of his body. Fabulous. She’d reduced him to being her sexual playmate. He smothered a curse of frustration. If that was what she wanted, that was exactly what she’d get. He’d make sex so damned good between them, she’d be addicted to his lovemaking — so addicted she’d have to marry him.
Frustration ate at him. He was starting to recognise that Sophie had the upper hand here. He had to find a way to convince her to become his wife. Apart from having her addicted to his brand of lovemaking, he couldn’t think of any other way to tie her to him…unless…Grim satisfaction surged through him. There was another way, and if he had to he’d use it. He’d never fought dirty in his life, but then again the stakes had never been quite so personal or so high.
Arms folded across her chest, she regarded him steadily. ‘Well, Logan, the decision about the weekend is entirely yours. What’s it to be?’
God, but she was so gorgeous and sassy as hell. ‘We’re going to the Hunter.’ Miss a chance to spend time to persuade her around to his way of thinking? No way.
‘Great. That gives us three more nights to establish our stories.’
He reached for her. ‘In the meantime we can continue getting to know each other in different ways, starting in the shower.’
‘We can’t this morning. You might be taking a short break from corporate insanity but I’m not.’ She stretched up to kiss him briefly on the lips. When he would have deepened the kiss, she pulled away. ‘If we end up showering together, I’ll never get to the office on time and I’ve got meetings lined up all day. I should be free about six-thirty tonight.’
Bloody hell! He was used to dating professional women with demanding timetables, but he’d always managed to persuade them to fall in with his schedule. Women simply didn’t say no to him.
Trying to recover from the small shock to his system, he said, ‘I’ll pick you up at your office.’
‘Okay.’
Well, he’d got her to agree to that much. Slowly, slowly he’d chip away at her defences.
‘You shower first,’ she said. ‘I’m going to make us some coffee.’
Left alone, still reeling at having the terms of this relationship dictated to him, Logan sat on the edge of the bed. Chipping away at her defences was all well and good, but he didn’t have a lot of time to play with. Sophie needed to agree to become his wife quickly. Just how thick was the defensive ice wall of hers that he had to break through, and did she have a weak spot?
The answer struck and he got his mobile phone from the pocket of his trousers and made a call to his right-hand man, or in this case, his right-hand woman. ‘Find out all you can about Carlisle Mining and Felix Carlisle. I want a full assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the company completed urgently.’ He paused for a moment as she responded. ‘Yes, and start buying up shares at market price. More than likely we’ll be mounting a two-tier take-over bid in the near future, so be discreet for now and double check with the legal department what laws the securities and exchange commissions have regarding disclosure information to the Australian Stock Exchange and to Carlisle Mining.’
Hopefully he wouldn’t have to resort to this action, but Carlisle Mining was this stubborn woman’s weakness. If he had to, he’d play ruthless. Sophie was carrying such deep scars from relationship fallout, she evidently couldn’t see that his proposal was a win-win. They were good together and a short-term marriage was the answer to both of them achieving their goals. She’d see that eventually but he’d do whatever it took to hurry that process along.
One way or another, Sophie would be his wife.
Chapter 8
‘Hi babe. How was your day?’
Sophie’s heart did a leap at Logan’s easy greeting. It beat out an erratic tattoo as he leant forward in the opulent foyer of the Carlisle Mining building, and kissed her as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
‘It just got a whole lot better,’ she said a little breathlessly wanting to melt into him and forget about the stand-up arguments she’d had today with Felix over environmental issues. ‘What did you do all day?’
‘Acquired office space, fielded a few important phone calls despite being on leave, had a quick meeting to see how Scott’s hotels business is going—’
‘You were left in charge of that, right?’
‘Yes. Scott’s original will left me as executor and placed me in charge of the business. I have the responsibility of making sure the business ticks over nicely but if Thea Winston wins custody of Charlotte, I’m pretty certain her next action would be to challenge me for control of the hotel chain as well.’
Sophie felt her lips firm. ‘I imagine Felix will mount a challenge to me as well when the day comes that Grandfather passes away and his will is read.’ She pulled a face. ‘He won’t be content with a share. He’ll want everything, including control of Carlisle.’
‘I drove up to the Hunter to meet with your grandfather today.’
‘What?’ Sophie stood, gaping at his casual announcement. Had she just heard him properly?
‘Let’s go. We can talk about this when we get to the restaurant. I’ve booked at a cosy little Italian place around the corner.’
Frissons of unease danced along her spine. Shooting him a look of incredulity and outrage, she shook her head. ‘You let drop that you met with my grandfather today then you talk about dinner in the next breath?’
‘Last night I didn’t mind going without food. Tonight, I’m going to make sure we’re both fed.’
‘Logan —’
‘My plans for after dinner require lots of energy.’
‘Hang on. I —’
He wrapped an arm around her waist and began to propel her out of the building. ‘Not here, sweetheart.’
He was railroading her again. As soon as they left the building and turned a corner into a relatively quiet side street, she stopped dead. ‘What the hell are you doing meeting with my grandfather behind my back? You didn’t mention anything about this last night or this morning.’
‘Last night, my mind was not on business. This morning, as I remember, you were in a hurry to get to the office.’
‘So you already had the meeting planned?’
‘Yes.’
‘As of when?’
‘Yesterday.’
The day after he’d met her.
The knot of tension in her stomach pulled tighter. �
��What was this meeting about?’
‘I mentioned your grandfather had wanted to sell me his diamond mine. At the time I declined. When I met you, I remembered and now I’m back in Australia for good I’d like to establish mining interests here — especially with the calibre of diamonds coming from the Top End.’
The palm of her right hand pushed against her forehead in frustration. ‘You should’ve told me. Felix told Grandfather he’d seen us together.’ Her hands cut through the air in anxious movements. ‘Grandfather rang me very early yesterday morning and asked me whether you were the mystery man in my life. He’d be wondering why I hadn’t mentioned that you were going to phone him and make an appointment to see him. What did he say to you?’
‘He did say he was surprised you hadn’t mentioned it.’
She swore. How could Logan be so calm about it? ‘What did you say?’
‘I told him I didn’t want my business discussions with him influenced by my personal relationship with you.’
Rigby would’ve respected that.
‘He wanted to know whether I was serious about you and when we planned to get married,’ he continued.
‘My God! What did you tell him?’
‘The truth.’ He shrugged. ‘I told him I’d asked you to marry me and you were hesitating because of your previous experiences.’
She stared at him, her lips parting with her horror. ‘Damn you, Logan, you had no right to do that! I told him I was madly in love with the man of my dreams. He’s going to expect me to marry you now he knows you’ve proposed! He’ll be wondering what’s holding me back.’ Her hands went to her temples and she turned in a small half-circle on the spot, shaking her head as helpless agitation fizzed in her bloodstream.
‘Sophie. Take a breath. Listen to yourself. You’ve achieved your goal. This is what you wanted.’
She swung back to face him. ‘Don’t patronise me. You’ve put this all back on me. I don’t suppose you happened to mention the motivation behind your proposal?’
He quirked his lips. ‘No, I didn’t.’
In contrast, her lips compressed and she delivered a wallop to Logan’s arm. ‘You are such a louse!’
Roses For Sophie Page 10