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

‘Faster, Jack,’ she’d said in a voice unlike the one she used when working. Or even just now, here, in the car. There’d been nothing cool, calm and collected about that voice. It had been wild!

He felt the sex between them now would be even better, knowing he had all night. He could take his time with her. Make her wait more. Make her see the rapture in elongated foreplay. There was something infinitely satisfying about long, slow lovemaking where the emphasis was not so much on coming but on sensual experiences. He would stroke her back with gentle hands, massage her bottom with oil and caress her beautiful breasts. He would make her sigh with pleasure. He wanted to satisfy her more completely than she’d ever been satisfied before.

‘Now what are you thinking?’ she asked.

Jack turned to smile at her. ‘I was thinking that you don’t need to buy any new underwear. Because, from now on, you won’t be wearing any.’

Her blush startled Jack. Why on earth, he wondered, would the girl who’d just done what she’d just done blush at the idea of going without her underwear? It didn’t compute. She was an enigma all right. A woman of contradictions and contrary behaviour.

Take her apartment, for instance. Why was it furnished in such a stark way when her professional designs were never like that? Vivienne had a reputation for creating warm, comfy interiors which appealed to people. It was why he always hired her to do his show units and villas, because her décor made them sell. There had to be reasons for why she’d chosen to decorate her own place in such a soulless fashion; deep, personal reasons. Jack suspected it had something to do with her family background, which obviously hadn’t been very happy. She’d sounded stressed when she’d talked about her parents. She hadn’t been all that forthcoming, either. Most of the women he’d dated in the past were eager to talk about themselves, launching into detailed life stories without too much encouragement.

Of course, he wasn’t dating Vivienne, was he? He was just sleeping with her. For now, that was. Jack hadn’t abandoned his idea of her becoming his girlfriend for real. He’d just put it on the back-burner for a while.

One day, in the hopefully not-too-distant future, she would see that it would be good for her to date a guy like him: an honest, straightforward, straight-down-the-line type of guy who didn’t lie or cheat and who could show her a good time, in bed and out, without any false declarations of love and till-death-do-us-part commitment. Just the thing she needed after getting tangled up with El Creepo. And, when she finally realised that having an easygoing boyfriend would be good for her—and once she got her trust back in men—he would find out all that she’d been hiding from him.

Meanwhile, he would give her exactly what she wanted. Which was fine by him, because quite frankly, right at this moment, it was just what he wanted as well.

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

‘IT’S AMAZING HE could find a door to match your old one,’ Marion said as she looked at Vivienne’s new bathroom door. ‘Amazing that the man came on time to do it as well,’ she added.

‘Jack said all his contractors come on time,’ Vivienne said, very happy with the door. It had even been painted the same colour, Bert explaining that he’d taken a scraping of the paint when he’d come to look at it the first time. It had only taken him half an hour to remove the old door and put in the new one. Marion had dropped in once she’d seen Bert drive off.

‘In that case I’ll certainly be giving Jack a ring if ever I want something fixed. Tradies give me the willies, the way they’re never reliable.’

‘I know what you mean. Jack won’t tolerate workers who are late, or unreliable, or don’t do things up to his high standards.’

‘Hmm. A difficult man to work for, then,’ Marion said.

‘Difficult. And demanding,’ Vivienne agreed. ‘But fair.’

‘Still, make sure you get a proper contract with him. You can’t be too trusting, even if Jack is normally a fair man. He might try to get you to do this job under the table, so to speak. You know, cash in hand. There’s no security in that. Where money is concerned, even the fairest man might be tempted to take advantage. And you’re vulnerable at the moment, Vivienne, even more vulnerable in the coming weeks without me around to warn you to be careful. Jack didn’t get to be as successful as he is without being a bit ruthless on occasion.’

‘Don’t worry. I won’t let him take advantage of me. But, might I remind you that you never warned me about Daryl?’

Marion sighed. ‘I have to confess that Daryl took me in as well, the handsome devil. He was an accomplished charmer all right. Though, looking back, I suppose he was always too good to be true. Too ready with the compliments, if you know what I mean.’

‘Yes. Yes, I certainly do know what you mean,’ Vivienne said, recalling how over the top he’d been in his praise of her. Not just her looks but other things, things which she knew weren’t true. But she’d lapped it up all the same, thinking he was praising her out of love, imagining that he’d been blinded by loved, whereas in fact she’d been the one who’d been blinded.

Jack, on other hand, was thankfully light on the compliments. Yes, he’d called her beautiful and gorgeous at times, but that was par for the course with men who wanted to have sex with you. And, yes, when in bed he did say nice things about her body. Especially her breasts and her bottom. But he didn’t rave on at length, for which she was grateful.

What he did at length—last night especially—was make love to her. Impossible to call it anything else this time, Vivienne conceded Jack had showed her that sex with him didn’t have to be kinky or quick or in unusual places and positions to be stunningly pleasurable. He’d surprised her with how long he could spend on foreplay, caressing, admiring and gently exploring every inch of her body before finally entering her, where he rocked gently back and forth, kissing her every so often, bringing her ever so slowly to climax in the most satisfying way.

Then, after a short rest during which they’d lain in each other’s arms and talked about what plans they had for Francesco’s Folly, he’d made love to her again. Once again he’d been in no hurry, remaining still inside her for ages whilst he’d played with her breasts and told her how lovely they were, and that he could stay doing what he was doing for ever. Which was what it seemed like he did, in hindsight.

Vivienne knew she should have been exhausted today. Instead, she felt more alive than she ever had before. She could hardly wait to see Jack again tonight.

‘I have to go get ready for work,’ Marion said, breaking into Vivienne’s thoughts. ‘Now, forget all about dastardly Daryl. He’s not worth thinking about. See you tomorrow, love.’

Marion’s advice reminded Vivienne of her decision to go to Daryl’s engagement party. Once again, she no longer felt as strongly about doing so. If truth be told, Daryl was fading from her mind. Yes, it still stung, what he’d done. And yes, he didn’t deserve to get away with it scot free. But would she really have the gall to confront him at his engagement party? It would take courage; she could see that now. Jack hadn’t wanted her to go at first, then he’d said he did. Something about closure—he was probably right. She supposed she could do it, with him by her side. He wouldn’t let anything horrible happen to her. Of that Vivienne felt confident. He was a man who could be relied upon.