Second Chance Proposal: A Man Without Mercy / Bring It On / Rancher to the Rescue

He looked hard at her, and then he smiled. ‘Fair enough. Any more rules?’

‘I...I...can’t think of any more right now. But I reserve the right to add to the list if something important occurs to me.’

‘Same here,’ Jack said as he reached into the plastic bag which lay next to him and retrieved the box of condoms he’d told her about. ‘Okay, now that I know your rules and we’ve finished eating, I’ll ask you again. Very politely. Do you want a grand tour of the house first, or more sex?’

Vivienne swallowed. She knew what she wanted to say but simply could not bring herself to say it.

Jack rose from the stool, ripping the cellophane off the box of condoms as he walked around to her. ‘Of course, there is a third alternative,’ he said, his eyes holding hers. ‘We could combine the two.’

Vivienne just stared up at him, her tongue no longer working.

He reached out to run a tantalising finger around her slightly parted lips. Vivienne gasped when he sent that finger into her mouth, her head spinning, as suddenly she was that new Vivienne again, with all her wild, wanton boldness. Her lips closed around his finger, her green eyes glittering as she began a slow, sensual sucking.

‘I take it that’s a yes,’ he said thickly.

CHAPTER TWELVE (#ud8887f14-a148-5fbf-8088-29c9a3d45c2b)

‘WHAT DO YOU think you’re doing?’ Vivienne said sharply when Jack picked up her camera and pointed it in her direction. Vivienne was lying back on one of the desk chairs, dressed in nothing but her white blouse, looking sinfully sexy with only one button done up.

‘I’m taking a photograph of my beautiful new girlfriend?’ he said.

‘But I’m half-naked,’ she protested, sitting up and pushing her hair back from her face. ‘And...and my hair is messy.’

He laughed. ‘Don’t be silly. You look gorgeous.’

‘I’m serious, Jack. I don’t want you taking any photos of me like this. And I’m not your new girlfriend. Not really. We’re lovers, that’s all.’

Jack tried not to scowl. He should have been pleased that Vivienne wanted to restrict their relationship to a strictly sexual one. It was exactly what he’d thought he wanted. But after spending the whole day with her, he realised he wanted more from her than that.

‘I wouldn’t have asked you out to dinner tomorrow night if I wanted us to just be lovers,’ he insisted. ‘I like being with you, Vivienne. And talking to you. And not just about work-related matters. I want to spend time with you out of bed as well as in it. I would have thought that was obvious by now.’ They hadn’t spent the entire afternoon having sex. Between times they’d discussed the refurbishment of the house, whilst Vivienne had retrieved her camera from the car and taken photos of everything.

‘I like spending time with you too,’ she said. ‘But—’

‘So what’s the problem?’ he broke in, and put the camera down. ‘Too soon after Daryl, is that it?’

Vivienne stared up at him. To be brutally honest she hadn’t given Daryl a thought all afternoon. But now that Jack had brought him up, Vivienne wondered again if Daryl’s dumping her so cruelly was the reason behind her amazing change of character. Maybe her turning into Vivienne the Vamp was really just a revenge thing. Or a rebound thing. Or something equally self-destructive.

Common sense demanded she step back from this whole situation for a while until she could think more clearly. All that great sex today seemed to have addled her brain, because agreeing to become Jack’s girlfriend at this stage could be a foolish move. Rather like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Yet, despite all that common sense reasoning, she still wanted to agree. Quite desperately. It was one thing to say no to his taking candid photographs of her; she’d always hated having her photograph taken. It was quite another thing to say no to more sex with him. Which was what would happen if she refused to become his girlfriend. Jack was not the kind of man who warmed to rejection. He’d probably take back his offer of this job as well.

Of course, she could always make an alternative suggestion...

The idea which popped into her head was truly wicked. But oh so tempting, her heart quickening as the audacious counter-proposal formed in her brain. Hopefully, Jack would agree. Oh, surely he would. He was a man, after all. And what she would be proposing was every man’s fantasy.

Her mouth still dried with what she was about to suggest.

‘For pity’s sake say something, Vivienne,’ Jack finally snapped. ‘You must know how much I detest indecision.’

‘I do too,’ she threw back at him. ‘So, yes, it’s way too soon for me to consider being any man’s girlfriend.’ Especially one who’s already admitted to being emotionally bankrupt, she thought, but didn’t say. ‘I’m not even keen on thinking of us as lovers. You and I both know that love has little to do with what we’ve been doing today. I’m not in love with you any more than you are with me. But there’s no denying I love having sex with you. More than I would ever have thought possible.’

Vivienne could not help but notice this last statement of hers didn’t go down too well. But Jack had claimed he liked honesty and she was only being honest.

‘I dare say you might be shocked by what I am about to suggest...’

‘I doubt anything you say now is going to shock me, Vivienne,’ he said very drily. ‘So suggest away.’

Vivienne buttoned up her blouse then took a deep breath before going on. ‘Firstly let me say I would very much like to do this job,’ she began, waving her hand up at the façade of Francesco’s Folly. ‘But, as you yourself said, it would be impossible for us to work together now without sleeping together. So, for the duration of this project, I would like to become your mistress.’

His head snapped back, his eyebrows arching at the same time. ‘I guess I was wrong. You have shocked me. So, exactly what kind of mistress did you have in mind? The kind who dresses in shiny black leather and carries a whip?’

‘Don’t be silly,’ she retorted.

‘In that case, you must mean the kind I install in a flash apartment with all the bills paid, in exchange for which I get to do whatever I like to you whenever I like to do it.’

‘I’m not that kind of girl, either.’

‘That’s a relief,’ Jack said.

‘I just meant the kind of mistress who’s kept a secret. I don’t want anyone and everyone knowing that we’re sleeping together.’

‘Why not? It wouldn’t bother me if people knew.’

‘Well, it would bother me.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it would lead to questions from friends and family that I don’t want to answer.’ Not that she had much of either. But Jack did.

‘You’re worried they might think badly of you,’ he said. Quite intuitively, Vivienne thought.

She stood up. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said. Aside from how soon it was after Daryl, everyone she knew thought she didn’t like Jack. They’d wonder what had come over her. They’d probably think she’d lost it.

Jack frowned. ‘You wouldn’t have to worry about that if you became my girlfriend.’

‘But I don’t want to become your girlfriend, Jack,’ she said, feeling both irritated and frustrated with him. ‘I just want to have sex with you, okay?’

Once again Jack looked none too pleased with her. ‘Okay,’ he bit out. ‘Where?’

‘What do you mean, where?’

‘Just exactly that. Where are we going to do it? Not your place, I gather—or your good friend and neighbour Marion would twig, and then you’d have to answer those questions you don’t want to answer. So that leaves my place, or a hotel room.’

Jack was taken aback when Vivienne blushed. Lord, but she was full of contradictions. In truth, he didn’t know what to make of her today. Same as himself; why wasn’t he happy with her mistress idea? Why was he trying to needle her? Nothing made sense to him any more. No, he knew exactly what was bugging him: his ego had been dented. His considerable ego.

Get a grip, Jack, he lectured himself sternly. You’re onto a good wicket here. If you don’t stuff it up, that is. Think of the positives: all the sex you want with none of the complications. No clinging. No commitment. No having to say you love her. Exactly what the doctor ordered. So put aside your emotions and take a more pragmatic approach to Vivienne’s offer which, if you think about it sensibly, was really rather exciting.

‘Obviously that idea doesn’t appeal,’ he said, trying hard not to sound sarcastic. ‘Maybe you should rethink the idea about my getting you that flash apartment. I can afford it and it would solve the “where?” problem.’