An electric prickle rippled over her skin as she heard Kate say eagerly, ‘Oh, Mr Fleming. How lovely to see you again.’
Her eyes snapped open, and the next moment her heart lurched sideways as she heard a familiar deep voice say casually, ‘It’s nice to see you too, Kate.’
Pulse hammering against her skin, Daisy held her breath, painfully aware she was naked except for a pair of panties and a towel folded across her bottom and thighs.
Since suspending hostilities with Rollo, over a week ago, she’d actually begun to enjoy herself. In part, it was because she’d stopped feeling that being happy was somehow a betrayal of David. And in part because her new A-list life was quite hard to resist. But the main reason was that, oddly, being with Rollo was by far the easiest relationship she’d ever had.
Not just because he’d kept his word and had stopped picking on her. Or because he was smart, sophisticated and stupidly handsome—although that helped. Truthfully, it was the first time she’d ever really felt free to be herself with a man. With Rollo, she didn’t have to worry about her heart or the future. She could just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Although that theory had seemed a lot more convincing when she wasn’t lying almost naked on a bed in front of him.
Something cool slipped over her neck and down her bare back, and she knew as surely as if she was looking at him that he was watching her. Pushing away an almost overwhelming impulse to yank the towel up over her body and hide from his scrutiny, she said as casually as she could manage, ‘I didn’t know you were going to pop in.’
There. She’d done it. It wasn’t a ticker-tape parade, but they were now officially a couple. It felt strange, but exciting. Of course, Rollo’s personal household staff had seen them together but somehow having Kate there made it feel more real.
‘Oh, you know me, darling. Always acting on impulse. I hope I haven’t disturbed you.’
The teasing note in his voice as much as the unfamiliar term of endearment made her pulse twitch and her heart pound. She lifted her head slowly.
He was standing beside her, his beautiful sculpted face lit up with mockery and amusement, and nervously she wondered why he was there.
Hoping she looked less flustered than she felt, she shook her head and smiled. ‘Not at all.’
‘Excellent—well, you’re in good hands.’
Next to her, Daisy felt rather than saw the young therapist blush. Rollo’s eyes, however, were fixed so intently on hers that for a moment it felt as if they were alone.
With an effort, she dragged her gaze towards Kate and smiled. ‘Very good hands. I feel completely relaxed.’
‘That’s good. I know you’ve been a little stressed lately.’
He should know, she thought with a flash of irritation, since he was the prime cause of the stress. But, gritting her teeth, she said crisply, ‘A little. But there’s been quite a lot going on.’
‘A lot of our clients suffer from stress-related conditions,’ Kate said earnestly. ‘Muscle pain, breathlessness, headaches, insomnia—it can even cause loss of libido.’
‘Is that right?’ Rollo said softly. ‘We can’t have that, can we...darling?’
The heat and the perfumed air were filling his head. But that wasn’t why his brain was working at half speed.
What was he doing here? he wondered dazedly.
But watching Daisy’s pupils widen, the black swallowing the brown, he felt his body throb with desire and knew that the answer to his question was lying in front of him.
He was supposed to be on a conference call. Only on his way back to the office he’d glanced out of the window and noticed a pizza delivery scooter—bright red, with a big cooler box clamped behind the seat. Instantly he’d thought of Daisy, and before he’d known what he was doing he’d told his driver to divert to the spa.
But he’d needed to see her, he reassured himself. To tell her about the party at the gallery and give her time to get used to the idea. After all, tonight would be their first public outing.
Feeling calmer, he smiled lazily down at her. ‘Maybe I need to help you relax more. Perhaps I could learn how to massage.’
Daisy froze. There was something in his voice that made her breath dissolve in her throat.
Summoning up a careless smile, she said quickly, ‘That’s so sweet of you. But you don’t need to do anything, darling. Kate’s taking care of me.’
Rollo stared down at her assessingly. ‘Yes, she is,’ he murmured. ‘But then Kate doesn’t know you like I do. She doesn’t know your weaknesses.’
His eyes roamed over her naked back.
‘In fact, you know what? I think I’ve got this, Kate,’ she heard him say quietly, and then she tensed, her body straining like a sail in a high wind, as across the room she heard the door open and click shut.
‘I don’t think this—’ she began. But her protesting words dried up in her mouth as she felt his warm hand slide gently down her back.
Suddenly it was as though she was unravelling, his fingers untying every nerve, loosening her resistance and her willpower.
She watched dazedly as he reached down and picked up an open jar.
‘Mandarin butter. Sounds delicious.’ Scanning the label, he smiled slowly, so that her heart began to bang violently against her ribs.
‘Apparently it releases the body into a state of euphoria. What’s not to like?’ he murmured as his fingers splayed out over her shoulders and heat flared over her skin like a gunpowder trail catching fire.
Daisy shivered, the bruising ache in her pelvis muting the alarm bells inside her head. His hands were gentle and firm, their warmth melting the butter. But it wasn’t only the butter that was melting. A liquid heat was seeping through her body, her insides were growing hot and tight, and her muscles were tensing around the ache that was spreading out with a slowness that made her want to moan out loud.
Her heart started to pound. Don’t just lie here. Get up. Tell him to leave. Tell him to stop touching you, she told herself desperately.
But, like someone in shock, she could only lower her head, her limbs growing heavier, blood thickening and slowing like treacle, her skin twitching restlessly beneath his touch. Her eyes fluttered and closed.
He didn’t need to learn how to massage, she thought dizzily, a shiver passing down her spine as his hands rippled over her body. He already knew exactly how to touch. And where...
Staring down at the pale curve of Daisy’s back, Rollo watched the pulse throbbing beneath her skin like a trapped moth and felt his body grow hard—painfully hard.
He’d expected her to be having some kind of beauty treatment. It was a spa, after all. But he hadn’t expected to find her on a bed, her naked body barely covered. Glancing down, he rested his gaze on the jutting sweep of her bottom, pushing against the towel, and lust ripped through him like a train.
She was so beautiful—and he wanted her so badly.
Unable to stop himself, he lengthened his strokes, caressing lower and lower still—until, with the breath twisting in his throat, he pressed his thumbs into the cleft at the base of her spine, his groin tightening as he felt her body shudder and arch upwards.
‘Rollo!’
Her voice—raw, husky, shivering with desire—broke into his passion-clogged brain like a thunderclap.
What the hell was he playing at?
He’d been on the verge of pulling her into his arms and letting his hands and mouth roam freely over that satin-soft skin.
His heart jolted forward. His blood was humming, his body taut, straining with desire like some hormonal teenage boy, and there was nobody to blame but himself. From the moment in his office when she’d looked up at him, dazed but defiant, he’d wanted her. And, as with every other woman in his life, he’d assumed that he was in control. That he could contain the chaos she’d unleashed inside him.
But when he’d walked into the spa the sexual tension between them had been like a brutal punch to the face. Seeing her on that
bed had knocked everything out of his head except the need to touch her. A need so primal and intense that he’d been incapable of doing anything but respond to it.
His pulse shivered and, fighting against the excruciating sting of frustration in his groin, he ran a finger lightly up over her spine to the base of her neck. Pushing aside the loose knot of blonde hair, he watched as her eyelashes fluttered open.
‘I think that might be enough euphoria for one day. Unless, of course, you’d like me to do your front, as well?’
His eyes rested on her face, his gaze so intent, so intimate that suddenly she felt a teasing heat tiptoe over her body like a ballerina en pointe.
She stared at him mutely—dazed, almost drugged by the shivering heat spilling over her skin.
Remembering how she had moaned his name, she felt her cheeks grow hot. Had he heard? Did he know the effect he’d had on her?
Meeting his cool, assessing gaze, she felt her stomach tense.
Of course he did!
Which was why she should never have let him touch her. Only it was too late to start having regrets now.
Aware that he was still watching her, and hoping he hadn’t guessed quite how much her body had revelled in his touch, she gritted her teeth and gave him a quick, tight smile.
‘I think I’ll pass.’ She glanced pointedly past him to the door. ‘Kate will be coming back any moment. She’s going to give me a facial.’
According to Kate, it would help clear her skin of toxins. Her chest squeezed tight. If only it would also purge her body of this stupid and inappropriate physical attraction she appeared to have for Rollo. Not that anything was going to happen, she told herself firmly. She might have agreed to call a truce, but that didn’t mean she was going to have sex with him.
Sleeping with Rollo would be a mistake—and she’d already made quite enough of those. Maybe if their situation had been different, she might have considered exploring the chemistry between them. But she could hardly ignore the fact that he was blackmailing her. And, besides, she wasn’t about to do anything to jeopardise the entente cordiale between them.
Logic demanded that she override her hormones. It would be a lot easier though if her brain and body both felt the same way about him.
Or better still felt nothing at all.
Suddenly she was desperate to leave—to escape Rollo’s unsettling presence and the spiralling tensions in the room—and, reaching down, cheeks burning, she snatched the towel, pulling it swiftly up to cover her naked breasts.
‘Actually, I should probably go and look for her. Would you mind passing me my robe?’
He held it out to her, his fingers curling loosely in the soft fabric, and her heart started to beat faster as she remembered how freely and recently those same hands had roved over her body.
His green eyes lightened with amusement as she pushed her arms into the sleeves, trying to cover herself up as quickly as possible.
‘Relax,’ he said softly. ‘I’m not in the habit of jumping women. Besides, I’ve got a meeting with my head of finance—and, much as I’d love to give it a miss, I can’t just turn my back on work. Otherwise...’ pausing, he gave her a slow, curling smile ‘... I might not have a business left for when we finally convince Dunmore to sell to me?’
Sliding off the bed, disconcerted by his sudden, blunt reminder of why she was in his life, Daisy tried to match his smile. ‘Okay. Then I’ll see you later.’
He frowned. ‘Actually, a little earlier than that. There’s been a change of plan. That’s why I dropped in.’
His eyes rested calmly on her face and Daisy was jolted back into reality. Of course, there had been a reason for his visit. Hard-headed businessmen like Rollo didn’t do random or impulsive.
Ignoring the prickling disappointment inside her chest, she met his gaze. ‘Why earlier?’ she said stiffly.
‘We’re going out tonight,’ he said coolly. ‘To a gallery. I meant to say something before, only I got a little distracted.’
She nodded. But her brain was seething with resentment. He was so autocratic—taking it for granted that she had no plans, or none that couldn’t be rearranged to suit his agenda.
‘The limo will pick us up at seven. That should give you plenty of time to get ready.’
He spoke with the same brisk detachment he used for discussing the logistics of his day with his driver, Kenny, and he was walking towards the door before she finally managed to speak.
‘Tonight?’
He nodded. ‘It’s an exhibition. I’m a patron at the gallery and they’re having a party.’
Daisy stared at him in horror. ‘But what about my parents and David? They don’t know anything about us.’
‘That won’t change. It’s a small, private gallery. Local paparazzi will pick it up, but I doubt it’ll make the national news.’
She lifted her chin. ‘But you said we wouldn’t be ready for another week—’
His eyes drifted mockingly over her flushed cheeks. ‘I think we’re ready. Don’t you?’
She met his gaze. Her skin was still tingling from the heat of his touch, her body quivering like a city after an earthquake, and she knew that she must look dazed, feverish. Turned on. So, yes, they were ready.
Not that it mattered either way, she thought as the door closed behind him. Judging by Rollo’s expression, she was going to be at that party—ready or not.
* * *
Only another two minutes and it would be showtime!
Glancing furtively at the screen on her phone, Daisy felt a familiar rush of nerves—the mixture of excitement tinged with fear and dread that preceded every first night. Tasting the adrenaline in her mouth, she shuddered involuntarily.
‘Are you cold?’
She jerked her head around and glanced up at Rollo. She had almost forgotten he was there—which seemed incredible, given that she was sitting next to him in his limousine. But it was always the same before any performance: she had to lose herself in the fear, let the panic swamp her, before she faced her audience.
She shook her head. ‘No. It’s just nerves. I always get them—’ Suddenly aware that Rollo was unlikely to be interested in her stage fright, she broke off.
But instead of turning away, he stared at her levelly. ‘You’re scared?’
‘Yes.’ She sighed. ‘But I need to be.’ Seeing his gaze sharpen, she felt colour suffuse her cheeks. ‘I know it sounds crazy.’
‘It’s not crazy. It’s biology.’ Reaching out, he laid his hand over hers. ‘Fear is important. It warns us of danger.’
Her heart squeezed. If that was the case, then why wasn’t she pushing his hand away? Or climbing into the boot? Or anywhere Rollo wasn’t?
Glancing over, she felt her breath dissolve in her throat. Up close in the limo, his beauty was almost intimidating. He was so perfect, so glamorous, with that fringe of eyelashes grazing the curve of his cheekbones. His dark suit accentuated his broad shoulders and lean torso, and above a pale yellow shirt his eyes were as green and intoxicating as absinthe.
Smiling perfunctorily, she turned to the window—away from the dazzling symmetry of his face.
It was so confusing. He was the bad guy—the villain. She wasn’t supposed to like him. And it had been easy not to like him when he’d been brutal and ruthless. But it was harder when he held her hand so gently. Hard too, to pretend that she wasn’t enjoying being half of a beautiful couple.
She breathed out. Everything was so much simpler when they fought. At least then her feelings were straightforward. Now, though, she felt increasingly unsure of herself—particularly when she was sitting so close to him.
His fingers slipped around her wrist. ‘Your pulse is racing,’ he said softly.
‘It’s because I’m not breathing properly,’ she said quickly. ‘I need more oxygen.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘A science lesson on the way to an art gallery? What’s next? Spelling? Long division?’
She had to stop her mouth from cu
rving up at the corners. ‘It’s just biology. And I’m sure you don’t need me to teach you anything about that.’
His eyes locked on to hers. ‘I bet you say that to all the men.’
‘Actually, no,’ she said crisply. ‘Only you.’
After she’d come so close to losing control at the spa, she was trying to keep her distance. But it was difficult with the hard length of his thigh pressing against hers.
He smiled. ‘So you’re nervous. What can I do to help?’
She gazed at him in exasperation. ‘You? What could you do? You’re the reason I’m nervous.’
His fingers stilled against her skin and there was a thick beat of silence. Staring past him, Daisy swallowed. Her cheeks felt hot. She was tingling all over.
‘I make you nervous?’
‘Not you,’ she managed finally. ‘This. Us.’ Even to her ears her denial sounded unconvincing, and she felt her face grow hotter. ‘I mean, us being out together in public. It makes me nervous. You, I can handle.’
Her heart was pounding. Who was she trying to kid? She might just as well say she could handle an escaped lion.
She met his gaze defiantly and instantly wished she hadn’t, for he was watching her lazily, a hint of a smile tugging at the curve of his mouth.
‘Is that right?’
Colour spread like spilt wine over her throat and collarbone, but thankfully there was no time to come up with a sensible answer because the car was pulling up outside a pale grey building. Suddenly there was a jostle of photographers, and flashbulbs exploded against the windows of the limo.
Inside the gallery everything was cool and quiet. A pianist was playing some familiar jazz tunes, and immaculately groomed men and women were drifting around in pairs and groups, stopping to sip champagne and gaze at the paintings.
Or rather they had been looking at the paintings.
Daisy felt her whole body grow rigid.
Now they all seemed to be gazing at her and Rollo.
‘Relax. You look beautiful.’
His voice was soft, and she felt his fingers tighten around hers as she glanced down at her dark blue dress.
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