Maddie's Love-Child

‘Don’t be silly, Miles,’ she interrupted, coming forward to link arms with him and turn him towards the stairwell in the corner. ‘I don’t do explicit nudes. You won’t have to be completely starkers to pose for me. I rarely put faces on my subjects, either. No one will know it’s you. Except for me, of course.’ Her sidewards smile was erotically suggestive in the extreme.

Frankly, the last thing Miles needed at that moment was anything remotely erotically suggestive. Her arm through his was bad enough to contend with.

She stopped walking and looked at him, her expression expectant. ‘So what do you say? Is it a yes?’

He stared into her striking face, with its high, exotic cheekbones, bewitching black eyes and luscious mouth, and knew his answer to her would always be yes. He was hers to command. Only his pride stopped him from openly admitting it, his staunchly embedded British pride.

‘We’ll see,’ came his coolly delivered, almost haughty words. ‘Posing for a nude portrait would not be looked upon favourably by the board of MacMillan Credit if it ever got out. I’ll have to give the matter some further thought. A man in my position can’t just do as he pleases all the time, Maddie. He must always be aware of his reputation.’

CHAPTER FOUR

MADDIE almost laughed at that point. How pompous could you get? But it was rather endearing, in a way. And it would make his eventual seduction all the more satisfying.

‘I’ll have to know your answer soon,’ she said coolly, extracting her arm from his. A tactical retreat at this critical point often worked to splendid effect. ‘Otherwise, I’ll have to find myself another subject. Entries for the Whitbread Prize close in a couple of months.’

Miles could see his chances of becoming her next lover slowly flying out the window. Why hadn’t he simply said yes to posing for the damned picture? Why had he come out with all that guff?

‘I’ll let you know next time we meet,’ he said, still unable to simply say yes.

Maddie sighed expressively and tossed her hair from her shoulders. Both actions drew his gaze—as she knew they would—first to her softly parted lips, and then to where the leather vest strained open for a second as air filled her lungs.

Miles clenched his jaw as his loins leapt once more to attention. The temptation to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless was acute. Yet he knew he would not be able to stop at kisses, not the way he was feeling.

He glanced around the half-finished area with its dirt floor and rough brick walls. A wheelbarrow stood in one corner, a stack of rough-cut timber in the other. To even think about making love in such a setting filled him with self-disgust, more so when the image of taking her in the dirt or up against the wall stirred his flesh to an even fiercer arousal.

As much as his need was reaching monumental proportions, his pride and self-respect remained the stronger forces. He was a gentleman, God damn it, not some wild beast in the jungle. For a gentleman, there was a time and place for everything. And this was not the time or the place.

‘You’d better get on with showing me the house,’ he said brusquely as he straightened his tie again. ‘Time’s getting on, and I have to be back in Sydney for dinner tonight.’

It was a lie, but a necessary one: He could not go on like this. He had to get away from her for a while, had to have time to gather his wits and his control. Miles hated anything that smacked of not being in control. It was why he’d fought against her attractions for so long. Even now, having surrendered enough to come in pursuit of her, he still refused to throw all standards to the four winds!

‘A business dinner?’ she enquired lightly as she led him over to unlock the door to the stairwell.

‘Not exactly.’

‘You could cancel it, then?’

He threw her a darkly frowning look. ‘In favour of what?’

‘Since Carolyn’s in hospital, I’m cooking Vaughan dinner tonight.,The dear man would live on Big Macs if I didn’t. I thought you might like to join us. We could use the opportunity to discuss the house. If you decide to buy it, that is.’

A jab of jealousy ripped through Miles. No woman—least of all Annabel—had ever cooked him a cosy dinner at home. Yet Maddie was going to do it for Slater.

Damn it all, he didn’t like that one bit!

His resolve to make a quick exit wavered considerably. How could he possibly leave her alone with that hunk? Okay, so they didn’t seem to be lovers at the moment, but who knew what might happen? Maddie was obviously feeling the absence of a man in her life, and in her bed. Why else would she have been coming on to him so strongly all day?