The Hot-Blooded Groom

For one electrifying moment he looked at her mouth. The blast of raw desire she felt emanating from him scrambled her mind. Her lips remained slightly parted, quivering in wanton anticipation.

Then he dragged his gaze back to hers, locking onto it with searing force as he murmured, ‘Your pleasure is my pleasure.’

Her breasts prickled. Her stomach clenched. A tremor of excitement ran down her thighs. Her only conscious thought, rising out of the raging desire he stirred was…

It was real…his wanting her…as real as her wanting him right back…and if she didn’t take this gamble she might be missing the experience of a lifetime.

CHAPTER FOUR

BRYCE only just managed to stop himself from kissing Sunny York right then and there. The desire to ravish the mouth she seemed to be offering him was totally rampant. Only a belated sense of where they were—on a public street with a crowd of tourists around them—gave him pause, and his brain seized the pause to flash a neon-bright danger signal.

He was out of control.

Even so the physical rebellion against the warning was sharp and intense. But being in control had ruled his life so long, his mind automatically equated that factor with success, and losing this woman with rash action at this point was unacceptable. She had been skittish up until now. Moving too fast might frighten her off. It wasn’t smart to assume too much too soon, not when so much was hanging on the outcome of one night with her.

Dumping Kristen.

Marrying Sunny York.

Persuading her into a pregnancy she might not want.

It was a huge leap for him to take. How much bigger for her, without his cogent reasons firing the impulse to take this alternative road?

He stepped back, gesturing a continuation of their stroll. ‘A little slice of New York awaits you up ahead.’

Her beautiful amber eyes reflected inner confusion. Her vulnerability to what he was doing smote his conscience for a moment. She was afloat from her broken engagement, undoubtedly wanting an escape from the hurt to both heart and pride, and he was ruthlessly intent on drawing her into his net.

But he would look after her and give her a life full of riches if she came his way.

With that soothing justification riding on the advantage he knew he was taking, Bryce slid into charm mode, offering a whimsical little smile as he sought to ease her personal turmoil with outside interests.

‘The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Empire State Building are somewhat scaled down since they’re merely dressing up a hotel, but very recognisable,’ he said encouragingly.

She gave her head a little shake, alerting Bryce even more forcefully to the danger of moving too fast. She’d have to be totally insensitive to miss the sexual signals he’d been giving out and he suspected she was all too aware of them, given the way she’d been evading looking at him and the tension emanating from her. Although part of that could have been the need to hide her distress over the guy she’d just broken with.

‘Have you had any first-hand experience of New York?’ he quickly asked, talking to re-establish a more comfortable connection for her.

‘Yes, but only a few days’ sightseeing.’ She hesitated, her eyes scanning his uncertainly. ‘Not…not business.’

‘What was your impression of it?’ he pressed, relieved when she stepped forward, indicating her willingness to go on with him.

‘It had an exciting energy…the sense of a lot happening.’ Her mouth curved into a musing smile. ‘Extra-wide sidewalks. Hot dogs, with an amazing range of choices for spicing them up. Delicatessens with exotic food. Caramel apples…’

He laughed. ‘You must really enjoy food.’

‘Yes, I do.’ Her smile turned lopsided. ‘My sisters accuse me of having hollow legs.’

‘That has to be envy.’ Her incredibly sexy legs were an instant source of erotic fantasies.

‘Oh, I doubt they envy me much…except not having to diet.’

‘Then I hope you’ll have dinner with me. I shall enjoy eating with a woman who likes food and doesn’t see it as the enemy to be kept at bay.’ He slanted her a teasing glance. ‘You will eat more than lettuce leaves?’

She laughed. It was a delightful gurgle, spontaneous, warmly responsive. ‘We can skip salad altogether if you like.’

‘I take it that’s a yes to dinner?’

She scooped in a big breath. ‘Yes.’

Elation zoomed through him. He didn’t care if this was some kind of emotional payback to the guy back in the casino, who clearly hadn’t valued her enough. She was coming his way…plunging ahead with reckless disregard for caution.

After all, he triumphantly reasoned, what did she have to lose? His cynical side told him if it was pride driving her, he represented a top replacement in the lover stakes. What he was offering had to be all gain from her point of view—better prospects for her career, a transfer away from her erstwhile fiancé, and an enviable reason to remove herself from any criticism by her family with the CEO of Templar Resources taking a personal interest in her.

But falling into bed with him might not be on her agenda.

She might not see that as wise—in her position as his employee—or, indeed, desirable in a personal sense, given her very recent disillusionment with her fiancé. On the other hand, there was always impulse.

Bryce started planning a seduction scene as he continued chatting to her, building a rapport to bridge what he had in mind.

Sunny couldn’t believe her luck. Dinner with Bryce Templar. Dinner for two. Beautiful man, beautiful food, beautiful wine—probably the finest champagne to celebrate her taking up his proposition. Except she didn’t quite know what his proposition was, apart from its involving her transfer to the U.S. And the personal element.

A convulsive little shiver ran down her spine. Was sex on the side the pay-off for a big career promotion? She quickly shut her mind to that creepy-crawly thought. Bryce Templar liked her. She could tell from the way he was talking to her. He wasn’t just making conversation. He was enjoying the to-and-fro, smiling, laughing, connecting on all levels.

He was clearly interested in her as a person—what level of education she’d had, the various positions she’d held, leading to her current one, everything she’d done with her life so far, her likes, dislikes. In fact, Sunny was so intoxicated by his charm, it took her a while to realise he was actually conducting an in-depth interview while they wandered along the boulevard.

This was a somewhat sobering thought. Though reassuring, as well. It had to mean he was seriously considering where she could best be used in the company business, and more importantly, he didn’t seem at all put off by anything she’d said.

He wasn’t touching her, either. From the moment he’d stepped back from that highly charged moment in front of the Bellagio Hotel, he’d made no physical contact with her. Plenty of exhilarating eye contact, but nothing physical. Perhaps he had stepped right back from sexual temptation, deciding an intimate liaison with her was inappropriate.

Which, of course it was, Sunny told herself. If she held his high esteem, well…that was something very positive. Yet she couldn’t stop her gaze from surreptitiously wandering over him whenever he paused in his role of tourist guide, pointing things out to her.

The muscular breadth of his chest caught her eye as they lingered under the Statue of Liberty at New York, New York, watching the roller-coaster that looped around the hotel, its riders screaming their excitement. A woman would surely feel safe, held to all that strength, and as a father, he would easily be able to carry two or three children, clutched in his arms or perched on those shoulders.

Then his hand captivated her attention, directing her to look at the figure of the magician, Merlin, in the windows of one of the turrets forming the Medieval castle which was the Excalibur Hotel…a large strong hand, deeply tanned, long fingers, neatly buffed nails. To have such a hand holding her breast, stroking her…did it know how to be gentle? Was he a caring lover?

When they stood between the giant Sphinxes that flanked the great pyramid of the Luxor Hotel…he didn’t look at all dwarfed by them…more like a powerful pharaoh of his time…a man astride the world he was born to…and what would spring from the loins of this king of kings?

Sunny had to take a stern grip on herself. Secretly lusting over Bryce Templar was bad enough. She had to stop thinking about babies, especially connected with him. Whatever the deal he had in mind for her, babies would most certainly not be part of it.

They took the pedestrian overpasses to cross the street to the other side of the boulevard. The second one led them into the vast MGM complex, and an Elvis Presley impersonator strutting ahead of them and revelling in the notice he drew, evoked a bubble of shared amusement.

‘I’ve never understood that,’ Sunny murmured.

‘What?’

‘Why people want to be someone else.’

‘You never entertain a dream world?’