Summer Temptation: Waking Up In The Wrong Bed / Once a Rebel... / The Devil and the Deep

‘I don’t get to come on the trips much.’ She coloured again as she saw him smile. ‘I’m usually stuck in the office working on the paperwork. I’ve not been there that long.’ She shrugged. Trouble was she excelled at paperwork—every job she had she’d done too well in the admin department to be let out of it. Frustrating wasn’t the word.

‘And so to make sure you got the most out of this trip, you went hunting for some pleasure as well?’ He was laughing as he said it.

And what could she do? There was no hope in denying it or in explaining the mad moment of need for contact that she’d experienced. So she nodded. ‘Massive mistake.’

‘Yeah, but not a disaster.’

Not a disaster, no—she’d had the best sex of her life. But it had been with a total stranger. They hadn’t even kissed. There was absolutely no emotional connection between them. It just wasn’t supposed to work that way. And she couldn’t want more—could she? She tried to claw back her common sense—because what kind of a guy happily screwed complete strangers? A playboy. With a smile that cheeky and attitude that cocky? Yeah, as he’d admitted, he was no innocent.

She closed her eyes and groaned. ‘Why didn’t I turn on the light?’

‘Given the way you’re clutching that sheet around you, I’m guessing you like it best in the dark.’ He laughed. ‘Typical.’

‘Excuse me?’ Indignance rose, she couldn’t restrain her reaction to his tease.

‘Hiding your body.’ He shook his head. ‘What a waste.’

There was some truth to his accusation. Lights on for sex wasn’t something that did it for her—fast-train to self-conscious. And it was then that she became aware of what she must look like—no doubt her hair would be bigger and more bouffant than some eighties rockstar’s. Oh, fabulous. At least she wouldn’t have panda eyes from smudged mascara. But still, this didn’t really make up for the fact that she’d slept with the wrong guy. The guy she couldn’t tear her eyes from.

He was smiling as dangerously as ever. ‘But then you clearly have a latent wild streak.’

It seemed so. But next time she felt in need of satisfaction she’d mail order a vibrator. She clamped her elbows to her ribs, holding the sheet in place while she tried to cool her cheeks with her hands. She was getting turned on all over again just by looking at the guy. ‘Look, I really should go. Let’s just forget this ever happened.’

She attempted a march to the door. Only her sheet was a liability and his nudity gave him a speed advantage.

‘You don’t get away just yet.’ He leaned against the door blocking her exit, all six feet four inches of bared magnificence. ‘We have some more to talk about.’

Now he was standing up and towering over her, she had the melting sensation so deep it was unbearable. Her fingers itched; she could hardly stand still against the hot pull inside. Secret muscles flexed in excitement. Her heart thundered.

‘Will you put some clothes on?’ she asked desperately. He was too damn hot and she couldn’t think with him like that.

His amusement flared again. ‘Why? I’m not going to hide how attracted I am to you.’

It wasn’t her he was attracted to, it was sex. And his nudity was messing with her hormones too. She’d gone completely animal. She half laughed on a gasp. ‘Just please put some clothes on. Please.’

He shrugged his refusal, his expression one of total tease. ‘I’m comfortable. You’re really not comfortable with baring all, are you?’

What she wasn’t comfortable with was her body’s insane reaction to the sight of his—tall, toned and so sex-ready her insides were curling in on themselves. Her nerves clamoured for the sensation of him sliding in and out of her. This complete stranger had her more insanely excited than she’d ever been in her life. ‘Well, can you please turn around while I get decent?’

‘Really?’ His full lips pouted. ‘I don’t get the peep show?’

‘You’ve had more than enough, okay?’ she choked. ‘Please be the gentleman I know you are and turn around.’

‘What makes you so certain I’m a gentleman?’

She fearlessly held eye contact. ‘You let the lady go first.’

‘Oh, that wasn’t gentlemanly. That was for my own pleasure.’ His lips curved more deeply into that delicious smile and he answered mock primly, ‘But, okay, if you insist, I shall avert my eyes.’

He presented her with his rear view. She just gawped for a second, before remembering her intention and dropping the sheet to hurriedly dash back across the room, around the bed to find her slip. Glancing down, she saw a couple of light bruises colouring her thigh. The faintest of finger marks. She remembered his firm clutch with vivid clarity. The squeezes as she’d slid down to take him to the hilt over and over. She turned her head away and screwed her eyes shut tight, as if she could block the blush as the involuntary excitement skittered through her.

‘Okay, I’m decent.’ Breathing in, she watched him turn back to face her. He was no more physically ‘relaxed’.

‘You were wearing that?’ He half gasped, theatrically pressing his hand against his ribs. ‘Damn, I wish you had turned on the lights.’

‘Stop it.’ She laughed. ‘You don’t need to try and flatter me.’

‘Yeah, I do.’ He walked towards her, totally serious now. ‘How can I not?’

She could see the muscles twitching under his skin. She’d never considered herself any kind of seductress before and she knew she wasn’t really now—it was that sexual toy thing. They shared an illicit fantasy for real. The guy was no doubt sex-mad. Insatiable. One track. Only problem with that was his condition had rubbed off on her. Hell, the thought of him finding her so attractive put a zing in her step. But to do this again—stone-cold sober and in the cold light of day? She wasn’t that crazy. She backed up, snatched up the towel from the low table next to her and threw it at him in defence.

He caught it and held it so it unfolded like a flag. ‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

Oh, hell, she’d not got the towel—only the facecloth that had sat on top of it. Pocket-hanky-sized—ridiculously small hanging from his hand.

‘I’m insulted,’ he teased. ‘I think you need a refresher in what I have to offer.’

‘Oh, don’t.’ She giggled, unable to hide her all-over-body blush in just the slip—she needed the sheet back. ‘Just...don’t.’

He chuckled. ‘I’m glad you can see the funny side.’

Biting her lip, she shook her head. ‘Oh, this is such a nightmare.’

‘Crazy, yes, nightmare, no. Don’t regret it.’

She steadfastly met the sincerity in his eyes. And the smile on his mouth. Yeah, she bet he’d experienced many a morning after. ‘You know how to give a girl a good time.’

‘I like to think it’s one of my strengths.’

Oh, it was.

He turned, his attention grabbed by something out of the window. ‘This Nathan guy,’ he muttered. ‘Wouldn’t have dark hair and laugh like a hyena?’

She reluctantly moved to stand next to him. Not a hyena, but a distinctive laugh. She remembered hearing it late last night, right when she shouldn’t have. Right when she’d breathlessly been falling towards sleep, when her lover had still been inside her and caressing the base of her spine with gentle fingers.

‘Oh.’ She swallowed the swearword when she saw Nathan kiss the pretty young woman they’d met at the bar in the late afternoon yesterday.

Naked Guy’s eyebrows had shot upwards. ‘It looks like he might have been sharing his flirt around.’

Just a little.

‘It’s like a French farce,’ Ellie muttered. But it was real. ‘In a chateau and everything.’ She felt her mystery lover turn his gaze on her and refused to show any kind of disappointment.

‘I can’t believe you mistook me for him,’ Naked Guy accused in a tone of utter outrage. ‘He’s at least five inches shorter than I am. And not as fit.’ He flexed his muscles in a preening display.

Yeah, they were poles apart. This guy was way more outrageous than Nathan. Bold in flirtation. In his demands. Desire. He tempted with humour and cheerful abandon.

‘You were lying down,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘And you hadn’t slept with him.’ He sounded pleased about that.

She didn’t reply. She knew she’d admitted that last night in her amazed gasps of pleasure. They both watched the couple in the courtyard for another moment.

Her tall lover was the one to break the silence, turning to face her directly. ‘Well, I’ll be frank, I think you got the better deal.’

She gaped at him. Then giggled. ‘Arrogant much?’ She laughed again only for the sound to die quickly as she shook her head and gave it to him. ‘But I’ll admit in this case, I think you might be right.’

‘You think?’ he asked, mock-outraged. ‘Come on, you know that was spectacular.’

She felt her blush rising again as memories twisted between them, trying to draw them together.

‘Well.’ She breathed out, brazening her way through the most mortifying experience of her life. ‘Okay. Yes. Thanks so much, it was...’ She couldn’t think of an appropriate adjective.

‘Fantastic and you can’t wait to see me again,’ he inserted for her.

She shook her head. ‘No.’ She tempered the bad news with a smile. ‘This was what it was.’ One almighty screw-up. ‘But we’re not going there again.’

‘Oh, come on.’ He walked forward. ‘That hot, that quick?’ He shook his head. ‘We’d be crazy not to enjoy that again. You want to as much as I do.’ His gaze flickered to her chest. She didn’t need to look down to know her nipples were turned on like bright beacons, begging for his touch again.

Oh, yeah, she was tempted.

‘It had been a while for you, hadn’t it?’

‘Last full moon,’ she said breathlessly.

‘Liar.’ He called her on it. ‘You’re blushing more than a gaggle of schoolgirls. You can hardly look at me. You’re no vixen. Although it has to be said you have potential.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘And you’re offering to give me a bit more practice?’

‘Of course I am,’ he said simply. ‘It had been a while for me too.’

She snorted. That she simply didn’t believe.

His grin flashed. ‘Truth. I’ve been busy at work and I haven’t had any midnight callers. But you’ve really whet my appetite.’

Had she? It wasn’t only his appetite piqued.

‘I know it was an unconventional way of meeting, but we’re good together.’

For a moment Ellie let fantasy rule—imagined being with him again for another round or thirty of spectacular sex. Fantasy morphed—from this they’d develop some wonderful relationship that would rival the highest-grossing Hollywood chick flick’s happiest of endings... And, yeah, there was the problem. In the past she’d given too much where it wasn’t wanted. She’d been crushed before; she wouldn’t be daft enough to set herself up for a similar sort of heartache. She knew herself, before long she’d want the full fantasy. But a guy like this wasn’t the sort to do happy ever after. She’d seen his unveiled edge—unashamed, reckless—a complete playboy. Someone who could go along with an anonymous one-night stand with such relaxed, outrageous humour? Too, too casual. And while she could live with a casual—frankly marvellous—mistake in her life, it had to be one-off. Her non-plan with Nathan had been for just the once. This definitely had to be just the once. Naked Guy here was just too fit for her to keep up with.

‘It can’t happen.’ Her final decision.

‘Not because of Nathan.’ Statement not question.

‘No. Because of me.’ She’d get burned by Mr Naked & Too Hot to Handle. He was too much more everything than any other man she’d met—more gorgeous, more good-humoured, not only blessed by nature but more talented in bed than any guy had the right to be. She’d fall so hard, in a heartbeat.

He hadn’t taken his eyes from hers, as if trying to read her thoughts. Looking right back at him, into those molten-chocolate eyes, Ellie felt her thoughts begin to splinter dangerously. One thought became dominant. Not a thought—an urge. Steam rose, blinkering her vision—all she wanted was to plant a kiss on those perfectly curved lips.

She breathed, blinked, stepped back. Not going to happen. She moved quickly, opening the door and stepping out of the insanity.

‘Wait.’ He stepped after her, apparently not caring that she was in the middle of the hall in a sheer slip and he had only a facecloth failing to protect his modesty. ‘I don’t know your name. Mine’s—’

‘Don’t.’ She held up her hand. ‘Let’s just pretend the whole thing was a dream.’

‘But—’

‘Bye!’ She clutched her breasts so she could sprint down the hallway to the stairs.

‘You’re going to leave me like this?’

She turned at his holler, saw him standing outrageously proud, bolder than anyone she’d met in her life. He had a fascinating lack of care, and an ability to find amusement in anything—that made him all the more intriguing. But she forced another step back from temptation. ‘I’m sure you’ll figure something out.’

Yeah, it’d be no time ’til he tempted another woman into his bed. And Ellie would be all envy.

CHAPTER THREE

‘ELLIE, where have you been?’ Nathan pointedly looked at his watch when Ellie finally made it down to the breakfast table an hour and a shower later. There was no sign of his girl guest—or any other guests either.

She squared her shoulders, refusing to feel even a hint of regret about last night. Maybe she should feel worse, but the gorgeous Naked Guy had completely diffused any threat of angst with his humour and relaxed attitude. And Nathan here had been scoring someone else. At least he never had to know about her crazy intention last night. She really had got the better end of the deal.

‘I’ve been waiting ages for you.’ Nathan’s tone turned more to the ‘smooth’ one he used so often.

And she really didn’t think so. ‘I didn’t know we were in such a rush to get going,’ she answered ultra matter-of-factly.

‘We’re not leaving.’ Nathan surprised her. ‘He’s here.’

‘Who?’

‘The owner. He’s turned up unexpectedly.’

‘The French guy?’ Son of the folly man? Given the old dude hadn’t lived to see the chateau finished, she guessed the son to be in his late forties or fifties.

Nathan nodded vehemently. ‘We have to do whatever it takes to convince him this is the place.’

Ellie didn’t want to stay here a moment longer than necessary, not when she had that other guest to avoid. Besides, securing permission to film onsite wasn’t usually a problem. Business owners were thrilled to get the exposure. Plus they were well compensated. Although this place was in a class of its own. The elite of the elite retreated here where every luxury was on tap—and the key was its privacy. ‘What’s your plan?’

Nathan was frowning at her outfit. ‘I thought you might toy with the man or something?’

‘Pardon?’ Ellie asked, certain she’d heard wrong.

‘You know, charm him.’ He was still frowning at her outfit. ‘Flirt him round your finger.’

Ellie blinked as the real Nathan was revealed. Yeah, now the smooth had been removed—she realised that was what he did. Oozed charm to get what he wanted. All those compliments and the coy flirting he’d done with her? What had he really been after? Clearly not sex. She’d known the industry she worked in was all about the illusion—but this was killing the dream too much for her. ‘We might work for film-makers, but the casting couch doesn’t happen when it comes to locations.’

Lying back in bed—still recovering from his interrupted sleep—Ruben was glad for the open window and the way words spoken in the courtyard were carried up to his ears. The conversation going on down there was supremely interesting.

‘He’s French, isn’t he? Frenchmen love an elegant woman. Not sure they like jeans.’

‘Actually denim was originally created in France,’ Ellie—Ruben liked her name—snapped back at the Nathan prat.

‘Well, don’t you have anything sexier? What about a skirt or something?’

‘I don’t think skin is going to get us far. He’s probably married.’

Ruben bit back a chuckle at that suggestion.

‘Can’t you make the effort? This is a major deal—you know that, don’t you?’

‘I’m not going to prostitute myself just to land a contract, Nathan. That’s not the way I operate.’

‘You know this industry is all about image,’ Nathan lectured her. ‘I wanted you here because you’re so boringly together with paperwork, but you have to step up to the plate when the heat is on.’ Nathan began with the clichéd metaphors. ‘You need the killer instinct. You do whatever it takes to impress him.’

Ruben couldn’t believe she’d wanted to get it on with this idiot. What had she been thinking?

‘You might flirt your way into getting what you want, but that’s not what I’m about,’ Ellie answered back.

Go, the spitfire.

‘Don’t you want to win?’ the doofus asked.

‘Not at that price,’ she answered smartly.

No, he’d known she wasn’t ruthless or cynical. Ruben frowned at the hint of real hurt in her tone. Had she really had feelings for the jerk?

‘Fingers crossed the guy is gay, Nathan, so you can be the one to flash the skin.’

Ruben got out of bed and walked into his bathroom. He couldn’t wait to get down there. But by the time he did, she was alone, the only sign of any lingering annoyance the light flush on her cheeks. A flush that deepened when she saw him.

‘Good morning,’ he said to her for the second time that day.

‘Oh.’ She looked startled he’d spoken, as if she’d thought he was a mirage or something. ‘Hello.’

Ms Cautious herself.

‘You never mentioned your plans this morning.’ He walked to the table that was laden with breakfast options. ‘It’s a beautiful place—are you going to explore it some more?’

She shook her head and looked everywhere but at him. ‘I’m here to work.’

‘But you don’t much like your work. You’re supposed to come here to relax and escape. Have you hunted out the spa facilities yet?’

Her flush deepened again. ‘I don’t have time for the spa. I really have to work and I really do need to get on with it so...’

‘Maybe you ought to have some breakfast first. You must be hungry after last night.’

He sat down at the table, aware of the frustrated look she directed at him. No, he wasn’t going to leave her alone. He bit into a croissant to hide his smile.

‘I think I’ll just have a coffee.’

He reached for the pot before she did, pouring a cup and handing it to her with deliberate care.

‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.

Ruben sent her a hot look. He didn’t like her reserve; he preferred the tease he’d seen up in his room. And he knew there was a bomb going off behind that frozen exterior.

‘Ruben Theroux!’ a guy called loudly, striding out from inside, a huge smile on his face. ‘Wonderful to see you.’

Ruben knew the difference between sycophantic and genuine warmth. This was a no-brainer. He glanced at Ellie—a total ‘what were you thinking?’ look. Then he turned back to Nathan.

‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure who you are,’ Ruben answered coolly, not bothering to stand, just looking up from the table.

But clearly Nathan had done his homework—unlike his sidekick.

‘I’m Nathan, I’m here with CineSpace. You know we’re interested in your fabulous property. It would be just perfect for—’

‘I’d like to finish my breakfast first,’ Ruben interrupted, blatantly dismissive. ‘Perhaps we can talk later?’

‘Oh.’ Nathan rallied in less than a second, his reply too collegial. ‘Of course.’

‘Why don’t you go down to the stables? I’ll be sure to find you there.’

Having sent the pain in the neck away, Ruben looked at the stop-sign-red face of his curvy midnight caller and felt that foreign tug in his chest again. To cover the awkward moment he went for the usual—tease. ‘So, what are you going to do next to impress me?’

Ellie forced back the faint feeling. The guy she’d slept with was the owner Nathan reckoned she had to ‘do anything to impress’—and he’d listened in to that conversation?

‘How else?’ Her temper flared. Did he think last night had been her attempt at the casting couch? ‘Look, I didn’t know who you were. It was a genuine—’

His laughter cut her off. ‘I know that, sweetheart. I got in really late, no one knew until this morning that I was here. I know you weren’t trying to convince me to say yes in time-honoured fashion.’

She still didn’t believe he was the owner. ‘You’re supposed to be French.’

‘I’m half French but I’ve lived in New Zealand since I was six.’

‘You’re not old enough to own this place.’ He looked late twenties. Dressed in jeans and a tee he looked more like the gardener than the owner. But that fitting-too-good tee shirt had ‘Lucky’ emblazoned across his chest and Ellie already knew the guy got lucky—every, single, time.

‘My father was an old man when I was born.’

And he’d had a folly of a marriage? To a much younger woman? Ellie decided to skip that can of worms—she had a huge enough one open already. ‘You told me you were a guest.’

‘You assumed that. I did try to explain who I was but you were too busy apologising to listen.’

‘I’m not going to apologise any more,’ she said defiantly. ‘You should have told me. You should have stopped me making a fool of myself twice over.’

He stood and walked around to her side of the table. ‘You never made a fool of yourself with me.’

She stood, speaking through a clamped jaw. ‘Mr Theroux.’

He stepped closer. ‘You can’t be serious.’ His voice dropped to an intimate whisper.

‘Actually I am,’ she declared firmly, shoring up her quivering response. ‘You know it’s inappropriate for us to talk further. You need to talk to—’

‘Nathan.’

‘That’s right.’ She inhaled—bad idea because she caught that deliciously spicy soapy scent.

‘I don’t want to deal with Nathan. I want to deal with you.’

Now she knew what menopause was going to feel like: the hot flash stunned her. ‘You can’t.’ She snuck a breath. ‘It would be unprofessional. Nathan will work on it alone.’

‘There’s nothing to work on.’ He shrugged.

‘Are you saying that because I’m leaving, you’re not interested in negotiating?’ she asked even more breathlessly. ‘Are you trying to blackmail me?’

He hesitated. ‘I’m open to negotiations. But I would prefer to talk with you.’

‘But if I’m not available will you still be open?’

He grinned. ‘I’m a businessman, not an idiot. I know there are benefits to be had from this place being used as a location. Not for just any movie, of course.’

She gazed at him through narrowed eyes. Not sure she could believe him.

‘I enjoyed every second with you in my bed, but I’m not slimeball enough to use our fling in my business decisions,’ he said quietly but firmly. ‘Just as you’re not slutty enough to think sleeping with me could make me change my mind, right?’

‘Right,’ she said. ‘But the fact is we don’t know each other very well.’

‘And as far as you’re concerned we’re not going to get to know each other any better.’

‘I think that’s best, don’t you?’

‘Not at all,’ he answered bluntly. ‘But unlike your colleague I’m gentleman enough to respect your wishes. I’m not into harassing people.’

Just how much of that conversation with Nathan had he overheard?

‘I’m capable of keeping my business and my personal life separate,’ he continued easily. ‘It won’t make any difference.’

Well, he was more capable of that than she was—she couldn’t think straight with the guy around.

‘Truth is I’m in the midst of a new deal to take on two new boutique hotels so a cash injection plus publicity could be useful. That’s why I’m more open to film negotiations now than I was a couple of months ago.’

‘Well, you’ll need to talk to Nathan. I no longer work for the location company.’

Utterly silent, he stared—his brown eyes shifting to black and hard in a whisker of a second. ‘You got the sack?’

Ellie shivered in the face of iced fury. The ultimate in easy-going humour had a frozen fiery depth she hadn’t anticipated. Ruben Theroux wasn’t someone to make angry. And now she knew he hadn’t listened in to the whole conversation she’d had with Nathan.

‘Nathan didn’t have the authority to sack me. I resigned,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘With immediate effect.’

His jaw dropped. ‘Why?’ Now he looked even more angry. ‘You’re just going to quit and run from some silly little mess?’

It wasn’t a silly little mess. It wasn’t anything to do with Ruben. She’d seen the light. She’d been taken on by that company to keep the paperwork tidy and to flooze where necessary. She might be a complete pleaser but that was taking it too far.

He glanced down at her clothes—and, no, her jeans weren’t designer like his. Hers had frayed at the edges from use, not been bought that way.

‘What are you going to do?’

Pride surged. ‘I’m not so stupid to throw in a job without having something else lined up. It’s all sorted already. I start next week.’

‘Doing what?’

She didn’t want to tell him the finer details—not that she was embarrassed, more that she sensed it would be safer to keep him distanced. He was in her ‘past’ already. ‘Same industry, different job.’

‘You’ve got a part in a film, then?’ He suddenly grinned. ‘Lead role?’

‘No.’ She bit back an answering smile. ‘I’m not a wannabe actress.’

‘But you have leading-lady looks.’

She vehemently shook her head. ‘Please not the flirting again.’

‘It’s impossible not to,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, tell me.’

She shook her head. ‘Not acting.’

‘That’s really not a fantasy?’ he scoffed. ‘Any woman who works in the industry has that fantasy.’

‘Well, I don’t. I can’t think of anything worse than being judged harshly on a giant screen.’

He gave her a sideways look. ‘Well, you got your new job organised pretty quick.’

‘She’s been after me for some time.’ It was true. She’d only had to send a text asking Bridie if she was still keen and the emphatic ‘yes, start Monday’ had been received less than a minute later. ‘I’ve been mulling it a while.’

Fact was she was tired of trying to please everyone—and of not progressing.

Ruben Theroux still looked troubled. Ellie’s pride bit deeper. ‘Don’t think that my decision has anything to do with what happened with you.’

‘It doesn’t?’

‘I’ve been thinking of a change for months.’

‘You’re not letting that Nathan drive you out, are you?’ he asked carefully. ‘Because he’s not worth it. Trust me, no relationship is worth killing your career for.’

‘You know this from personal experience?’ she asked, happy to get the focus on him for a change.

‘Possibly.’ He shrugged. ‘Just don’t let anyone get in the way of what you want to achieve.’

‘Okay.’ She laughed, not needing the ‘best friend’ advice from her random-stranger lover. ‘Actually I feel liberated.’

She wanted the fun back—to be involved in the industry where she was among her own kind: the fans. And that was what Bridie was offering her. They’d met one day at a location—Bridie took fans on set tours, and she knew just how much of a movie buff Ellie was.

‘How liberated are you feeling?’ Ruben Theroux’s expression had sharpened.

Already she knew what that gleam meant. ‘Not that liberated.’

‘There’s absolutely no conflict of interest now.’

‘That’s definitely not why I resigned.’

‘But you know that, despite everything, we never did kiss.’

‘We did a whole lot more than kiss.’

He shook his head. ‘But we never kissed mouth to mouth. I remember that clearly. I’ve spent the last hour remembering every second we had, very clearly.’

She mirrored his head-shake. ‘We’re not going to kiss now.’

‘You can’t tell me you’re afraid.’

His whisper stirred right where she refused to be stirred. ‘You can’t try to tease me into it.’

It wasn’t right that she have the best sexual experience of her life with a complete stranger. One who’d no doubt share himself with the rest of the female population given half the chance. She convinced herself it had been so amazing because she’d been without so long. She’d been celibate for so many months, it had been like a cork releasing from an all-shook-up bottle of champagne. But these things didn’t last. Another sip and she’d discover how flat it had gone. It had to be that one-off pop of pleasure.

‘I think we should try just the once, just to see.’ A winning, teasing, tempting smile.

She laughed. It was very apparent that Ruben Theroux wasn’t used to having his plans thwarted. He got what he wanted. And while part of her wanted what he was offering, she knew she’d want more than what he was prepared—or even able—to give in the long run.

‘No.’ She could say that to him and mean it. Sure she could.

‘There’s nothing so simple as a kiss.’

‘And nothing so complicated.’ And unfortunately, nothing else she could think about. His lips caused the problem. That natural curve upwards made them so inviting. Then there was that screamingly masculine line to his jaw. And those wretchedly captivating, laughing eyes.

‘Well, if you’re sure...’ He extended the invitation another few seconds.

‘Thanks anyway.’ She stepped back from it, turned and fled.

* * *

Up in her room it took all of thirty seconds to fling her things into her overnight bag. She giggled at the thought of his temptation. Terribly gorgeous guy, bound to be terribly unreliable.

He was waiting round the front of the chateau. Her car had been brought up by one of those invisible service people who were brilliant.

‘I’ll make sure Nathan gets home somehow,’ Ruben said with a faint grimace.

‘Shouldn’t you be off talking with him already?’ She stowed her bag in the backseat.

‘He’s not my number one priority at the moment.’

‘Oh, you’re so good at the flattery, aren’t you?’

‘Given you’re so determined to leave, I guess I’m not that good.’ He tempered the words with that charming smile.