To Become A Bride

‘Then I had better not keep you any longer,’ she said, bending to pick up her helmet and leather gloves from the carpeted floor where she had placed them earlier.

‘Haven’t you forgotten something?’ Jonas reminded her as she threw the car door open with her usual impatience.

She turned back to him, looking puzzled. ‘I don’t think so…?’ She shook her head, red hair framing the loveliness of her face.

So much perfect beauty, Jonas mused. What a pity her only reason for wanting to see him again was the hope of trying to get him to be less than discreet about his visit to the Summer estate today…! A wasted hope, he was afraid, but it would be interesting to see how she went about it…

‘You have no idea where I live,’ he told her, taking a pen and small notebook from the breast pocket of his jacket, quickly writing down his address before ripping the sheet from the pad and handing it to her. ‘I’ll be ready and waiting at seven-thirty tomorrow evening.’

Danie shoved the piece of paper in the pocket of her leather jacket, obviously annoyed with herself at the oversight. ‘I’ll try to be on time,’ she snapped before getting out of the car and slamming the door shut behind her.

Charles had barely had time to get back in behind the wheel of the Rolls Royce before the black motorbike, Danie bent grimly down over the engine, shot past them with a roar, then rapidly disappeared into the distance.

Jonas relaxed back onto his seat, a smile playing about his lips. Danie Summer’s tongue was as sharp as a knife, and she had an arrogance that bordered on contempt. But she was also incredibly beautiful, and the most intriguing woman Jonas had met for a very long time. If ever!

What a pity her only reason for wanting to see him again was the selfish one of wanting to know why he had been to see her father today.

And what a pity—for Danie!—that she was going to be unsuccessful!

CHAPTER THREE

‘DRESSED to kill’, she believed it was called. Danie studied her reflection in the mirror. The short green sequinned dress clung so lovingly to her body that she could wear only the minimum of clothing beneath it; she had dispensed with a bra altogether, and her panties were of the sheerest silk. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, like a rippling flame—red, with the merest hint of gold as it shimmered down her spine.

She had applied a little more make-up than usual, too—in fact, she didn’t usually bother with it at all!—her lashes long and silky, her eyes outlined with black kohl, giving them a look of wide innocence, her cheekbones aglow with blusher, the deep red gloss on her lips a match for the colour of her hair.

If Jonas Noble didn’t find her appearance attractive, then he simply wasn’t a normal flesh-and-blood man!

She had been so irritated when he’d refused her invitation to dinner yesterday, even more so when he’d then suggested they meet over twenty-four hours later. She had wanted to know what was going on then, not the next day!

But, in retrospect, the delay had been fortuitous. She’d had time to calm down, to collect her thoughts, to think rationally about how she was going to go about finding out the reason for Jonas’s visit to her father yesterday. And the only problem with the plan she had come up with, that she could see, was if she would be able to hold on to her temper long enough to try and seduce the information out of him!

She knew Jonas found her attractive, had seen his admiration for her looks in his face. There was no doubting the fact that he was handsome enough himself for her not to find flirting with him too arduous a task. It was the fact that he also annoyed her intensely that could pose a problem!

Besides, finding her physically attractive and actually being attracted to her as a person were two entirely different things—and Jonas had given every indication that he found her as irritating as she found him!

Not exactly a recipe for success, she acknowledged ruefully. Oh, well, she would just have to set about changing his opinion of her…

If she could have done this any other way, then she would have. She had gone back to the estate earlier today intending to talk with her father, only to find that he and Audrey had driven up to Scotland in preparation for a deal he was to complete there early tomorrow. Andie had also gone—back to her apartment in town, Danie assumed. Which was no help at all; Danie still had no intention of worrying either of her sisters with this until she was more sure of her facts.

Jonas Noble alone, it seemed, was the only person available to give her them…

Time to go, she decided firmly, picking up her small evening bag before throwing a light black cashmere wrap about her shoulders; she didn’t want to add tardiness to the list of faults Jonas had no doubt already found in her!

The address he had given her was in Mayfair. But she had expected to find Jonas owned an apartment, and the tall imposing three-storey house came as something of a surprise to Danie. Obviously, whichever field of medicine Jonas Noble had chosen to go into, it was very lucrative!

Jonas looked absolutely stunning in a black dinner suit and snowy white shirt, Danie discovered a few minutes later, when he opened the door to her ring on the doorbell!

The suit was obviously tailored to his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, the white of the shirt showing that he had a healthy tan. But it was his face, no longer looking fatigued, that took Danie’s breath away, the hard planes once again softened by the warmth of his deep brown eyes.

Perhaps seducing this man wasn’t going to be so easy after all—for her own peace of mind; she might actually find herself genuinely attracted to him!

‘Danie Summer, I presume?’ he drawled, obviously mocking the change in her appearance from her workman-like garb of yesterday.

Steady, Danie, she warned herself as she instantly felt a flash of anger at his derision. ‘Jonas Noble, I presume?’ she returned with dry sarcasm at the change in his own appearance.

He smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners with genuine amusement. ‘You’re exactly as I remembered you, Danie!’

She wished she could say the same! But now that he was no longer exhausted by lack of sleep, showered and decked out in his own finery, relaxed with the prospect of the evening ahead of them, Jonas Noble was dangerously attractive!

She gave a nod of her head. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment,’ she returned—knowing it had been no such thing; Jonas’s remark was obviously referring to the sharpness of her tongue. Then she had better not disappoint him! ‘Are we going to stand here on the doorstep all evening, or are you ready to leave?’

His grin deepened. ‘I wonder if you would like to come inside for a drink before going to the restaurant?’

She was disconcerted enough by the change in his appearance and demeanour without finding herself alone in this beautiful house with him. She definitely would feel more comfortable going straight to the restaurant. Although she couldn’t help feeling an inner curiosity about his bachelor home…

‘Perhaps we could come back for coffee after our meal?’ she suggested as a compromise—if she hadn’t managed to wheedle the information she wanted from him during the meal, perhaps she would stand more chance in the intimacy of his home…

‘Perhaps we could,’ Jonas agreed, those brown eyes seeming full of laughter now.

At her expense, Danie guessed. Could she help it if this particular man brought out every defence she possessed? Besides, he was intelligent enough to realise that her about-face yesterday had to have a motive of its own!

Which didn’t bother her in the least, Danie mused on the drive to the restaurant. She would think him conceited in the extreme if he hadn’t put two and two together and come up with the right answer. But he was still here, accompanying her to dinner, and that was all that mattered.

‘Danie!’ Marco, the Italian-born, but brought-up-in-England, owner of the restaurant greeted warmly as she entered at Jonas’s side. ‘It’s so good to see you again. And you too, Mr Noble.’ He turned to Jonas. ‘I didn’t realise the two of you knew each other,’ he added speculatively.

‘We don’t,’ Jonas said, shaking the other man’s hand. ‘Yet,’ he amended with an enigmatic glance at Danie.

Danie forced the smile to remain on her lips, determined Jonas shouldn’t see that his remark had caused her any alarm. Even if it had!

She had no intention of getting to know Jonas Noble, tonight or any other night, and his own professionalism should have told him that to do so would be very indiscreet. She totally dismissed the idea that she was behaving less than fairly herself. She wasn’t the doctor in attendance to a member of her family, Jonas was, and if he didn’t feel it was unprofessional to become intimately involved with her, then perhaps he damn well ought to!

‘You are looking as beautiful as ever, Danie—’

‘Cut the flattery, Marco,’ she told the restaurateur shortly. ‘I’ve had very little to eat today, and I’m starving!’ she continued indelicately.

‘You heard the lady, Marco,’ Jonas drawled, taking a light hold of her elbow. ‘I have a feeling Danie is a woman who may turn violent if she isn’t fed! What do you think?’ he bent to murmur softly in Danie’s ear, as they followed a smiling Marco through the noisily crowded restaurant to their table.

She arched dark brows as she turned to look at him from beneath her lashes. ‘I’ve been wondering for years why I seem to have this impatience with the rest of humanity—and you’ve solved the riddle for me only a short time into our acquaintance!’ she said with a sweetly insincere smile.

Jonas laughed huskily. ‘You only “seem” to have impatience, Danie…?’ he returned pointedly.

She shrugged, moving to sit down as he held back her chair for her. ‘Sometimes I’m merely baffled by their lack of imagination,’ she dismissed airily.

Jonas looked admiringly at her across the width of their window table once Marco had left them to peruse the menu. ‘And have you always had an answer for everything?’ he finally said.