Tycoon for Hire

‘I’m prepared to drive you home.’

‘Thank you, but the bus stop will do.’

‘There’s no need to be a martyr,’ Jennifer said patiently. ‘Tell me where you live.’

‘Must we finish up with an argument?’

‘What does it matter?’ she said despondently. ‘This whole evening has been a disaster.’

‘Not the whole evening,’ he reminded her. ‘There were a few enjoyable moments—’

To her dismay she could feel her cheeks burning at the reminder. To make sure he didn’t suspect, she spoke stiffly. ‘Forget them, Mr Leary. I’ve already done so.’

‘That I don’t believe.’

‘These things happen. People get carried away. It means nothing.’

‘You act like that with every man? Shame on you!’

She could hear the grin in his voice and strove to keep her dignity. ‘You know what I mean. The night’s over and we’ll never meet again.’

‘Think so?’

‘Not while I can prevent it.’

‘A reckless man might interpret that as a challenge.’

‘Don’t try.’

‘I’ll bet you another kiss that you contact me before the week is out.’

‘We’re approaching a bus stop. Goodnight, Mr Leary.’

As she pulled in to the kerb Steven began to fidget with the diamond cufflinks. ‘You’d better have these back.’

She didn’t want them. She could never give them to David now. Weariness and disappointment made her say, ‘There’s no need. Keep them to console yourself for losing your bet. You’ll get a good price for them.’

Steven already had the door open, but at this he stopped and regarded her coolly. ‘Perhaps I’d rather wear them to remind me of you.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t,’ she said, wishing that he would get out and leave her alone with her sadness. ‘I want to forget everything about tonight.’

‘And I don’t mean to let you,’ he said firmly, putting a hand behind her head and drawing her hard against him. It was a swift, decisive movement that left her no time to resist. Before she could think, his mouth was on hers, devastating her with the power and sensuality of his kiss.

He kissed her with fierce purpose. His lips were firm and warm, moving over hers insistently, allowing her no time to protest, to think, or do anything except respond.

‘Stop this,’ she said in a hoarse whisper.

‘I don’t want to stop,’ he growled. ‘And nor do you.’

She tried to deny it, to refuse him the easy mastery that he took for granted, but her blood was pounding and she couldn’t think of the words. And besides, his mouth had silenced her again.

He kissed her as though he had all the time in the world, teasing her with swift flickerings of his tongue against her lips. Those expert movements sent electricity sparkling and crackling along her nerves until every part of her seemed to be sensitised to him.

Her mind protested, but he’d found a way past thought, direct to her deepest, most sensual instincts. He was a master of the skills of the body, a master of provocation and incitement, and if she let him he would soon become her master too.

But the hand she raised to fend him off assumed a will of its own and touched his face instead. Perhaps her fingers curved about his neck and into his hair. She wasn’t sure. She was beyond being sure of anything except that she was caught up in a bittersweet delight. She was mad to have let this happen, but it was too late now.

She felt his fingers drift lower to her tiny waist, sliding over the smooth satin that covered the womanly curve of her hip.

But something stopped him. She felt him grow tense, then draw back, releasing her lips abruptly. He was breathing hard and his eyes glinted. ‘You madwoman,’ he growled. ‘Coming out with a stranger like this! You’re not wearing anything under this dress. Are you crazy to do such a thing?’ He gave her a little shake.

‘This shouldn’t have happened,’ she cried. ‘If you’d—you weren’t meant to—’

‘The hired help was supposed to keep his hands to himself, wasn’t he?’ he said angrily.

‘Get out of this car,’ she said in a shaking voice. ‘Get out at once. Do you hear?’

‘Yes, perhaps I’d better escape while we’re both still safe.’ He got out and closed the door, still looking at her through the open window. ‘Until we meet again.’

‘We never will.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ he said harshly. ‘You know better than that.’

There was only one way to silence him and she took it, slamming her foot on the accelerator pedal and driving away. A glance into her rearview mirror showed him still standing there, watching her, a scowl on his face.

CHAPTER THREE

JENNIFER was late getting to her desk next morning. She’d overslept, after spending most of the night tossing and turning. She was horrified at the way she’d succumbed to the physical attractions of a man she barely knew, but he’d triggered sensations that had alarmed her.

She’d finally dozed off, and awoken with one certainty fixed in her mind. She must never, ever see Steven Leary again. He could make her act like a stranger to herself. Or rather, he could bring her up against the fact that she had no clear idea who she was.

She was Barney Norton’s beautiful, successful granddaughter, and the apple of his eye. But she was also someone who took in waifs and strays, because she felt like a waif herself, and without them her life was lonely. She was a top businnesswoman who was bored with business. And somewhere deep inside she was still the little ten-year-old girl whose adored father had walked out without a backward glance.

She’d thought of David, whose gentle manners and kindly nature she loved. Neither of her menfolk had appreciated him.

‘He’s very sound,’ Barney had said, damning him with faint praise. ‘Sound’, in Barney’s vocabulary, meant uninspired.

Trevor had put it even more bluntly. ‘He’ll never set the Thames on fire.’

But she didn’t want a man who would set the Thames on fire. She wanted a man whose steadiness she could rely on, and David fitted the bill perfectly. At least he had, until their quarrel. But that was her fault, she assured herself. She’d offended him by the clumsy way she’d tried to help. When they made up she would be more careful.

Safe, dependable David had never tried to rush her, never demanded. True, there had been moments when she’d wished he could be a little more decisive, but he was also vulnerable in a way that touched her heart. Jennifer’s nature had a bedrock of quiet strength, and while she needed a man to hold onto, she also needed a man who would hold onto her. She couldn’t turn away from anyone who needed her protection, and David had only to smile and say, ‘What would I do without you?’ to make her melt.

That was her touchstone, the reason she loved David tenderly. It was why she would never love Steven Leary, who hadn’t a hint of vulnerability in his nature.

What had happened between them was something apart, a warning that her sensuality could betray her into the arms of the wrong man if she wasn’t careful. But she would heed the warning. Nothing was going to come between her and David.

She’d reached the office in such a rush that she was only vaguely aware that her staff were giving her curious looks. As always, her first task was to check the firm’s share price. What she discovered made her stare at the computer screen, frowning.