by Maggie Cox
‘It is most definitelynot a joke, Sophie. I have thought very carefully about this and I am perfectly serious.’
‘It would be impossible!’
Rising to her feet, Sophie let the velvet cushion fall unheeded back onto the couch as she moved away from it, clasping her arms protectively across her chest as she turned back to face Dominic.
‘Why?’ His expression was stony, and hardly inspired confidence.
‘Because you can’t have thought about it carefully enough! We are poles apart, Dominic, can’t you see that? What use would someone like me be to you? Take this evening. I was like a fish out of water in that imposing place! I was tongue-tied and self-conscious, and I absolutely hated having my picture taken by the Press! I’m a very private person…not someone who remotely seeks attention. The last thing I need is to be ‘‘mistress’’ to someone who is the total opposite of that!’
‘I do not seek attention!’
‘No, but because of who you are, your wealth and your business acumen, you can’t help but command it. Be honest, Dominic. You don’t really need someone like me as a mistress. Besides, I’m sure you know a lot more suitable candidates.’
She didn’t say that if he had included a little more emotion orfeeling in his proposition it would have perhaps been more palatable—even if she still wouldn’t seriously have considered it. But Sophie wasn’t a fool, and she didn’t suspect for even a second that Dominic would have any feelings of affection for her at all. The only thing the two of them had going between them was a sexual passion so sizzling that they could start a fire just by gazing at each other. It would hardly make up for all the other glaring opposites in their relationship. And, besides all that, Sophie didn’twant to be any man’s mistress. Her independence was important.
She didn’t want to entertain the fact that it was perhaps fear, as well as her belief that independence gave her more security than any man could, that stopped her from even considering the possibility of living with someone.
‘I’m not considering other ‘‘candidates’’ for the position. Think about it, Sophie. You need never work orwant for anything as long as you are with me. All I ask in return is that you be there for me when I need you. Is that really so reprehensible to you?’
No doubt any other woman faced with the same extraordinary dilemma would be jumping for joy round about now—not feeling overwhelmingly sad that Dominic seemed to imagine that his vast wealth was the main inducement for Sophie agreeing to become his mistress.That thoughtdid cause her grief.Did the man never stop to think that a woman should love him for himself—for the man he was—before all else?
‘I did not say your proposal was reprehensible.’
When he said that all he’d ask in return would be for Sophie to ‘be there for him whenever he needed her’, she guessed he meant sexually, and also physically, if it was an occasion like the one at the Guildhall tonight, where a partner would come in handy. He clearly wasn’t talking about her being there for himemotionally .
Feeling suddenly cold, Sophie walked back to the couch and sat down again. She picked up the cushion she had discarded and clutched it to her middle once more.
‘I suppose I should be flattered that you considered asking me, but I don’t want to be your mistress, Dominic. And I certainly don’t want to give up work. I love my job. It may not provide all the amazing material benefits that your career does for you, but I love it just the same, and wouldn’t swap it for the world.’
Once again Dominic was struck by her integrity. He could hardly believe that a woman so highly principled as Sophie existed. Her adamant insistence that she wanted to keep her job, no matter what inducements he might put her way, frankly stunned him.But what to do about it?
‘What if I said you could keep your job and still live with me? If we could somehow work it so that you could make yourself available when I needed you, and not necessarily interfere with the demands of your career…would that induce you to consider my proposal?’
Gazing back into his indomitably handsome face, Sophie felt her heart constrict. She couldn’t understand why he wanted her to live with him. She really couldn’t. There must be dozens of women who’d jump at the chance to be the mistress of Dominic Van Straten—and women with far more suitable credentials than her own. But, beneath her undoubtedly strong desire to be close to this remote, enigmatic man, Sophie also knew a deep desire to be loved. She’d barely expressed it, even to herself, and especially not after her abortive attempt at a relationship with the man who had betrayed her, yet still she couldn’t deny her profound longing for it. If she moved in with Dominic it was highly doubtful that he would ever love her. She might fulfil any number of needs he had, but beyond that—not the one she craved herself.
‘Let’s just go to bed, Dominic.’
Linking her hand in his, Sophie tugged a little. Just because she couldn’t agree to become his mistress, it didn’t mean that she had to deny her physical need to be close to him.
When Dominic saw the strong evidence of that need in her direct blue gaze, he was riveted by it. Never before had a woman had the power to unravel him so.
‘Sophie…I fully intend to keep you preoccupied in my bed for most of the night, but before we go upstairs I must have your answer. Will you agree to come and live with me?’
Her eyes never leaving his face, and feeling the threatening and surprising sting of tears behind her lids, Sophie dropped her shoulders and sighed.
‘I’m sorry, Dominic…but my answer has to be no.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
SOPHIEheard his deeply in-drawn breath with profound unease. Freeing his hand from hers with a cold glance that did not bode well for further conversation of any kind—let alone intimacy—he stood up, went to the door, and called for Andrews.
Convinced that he was calling for his manservant to fetch her coat, Sophie anxiously got to her feet and followed him to the door.
‘It’s late,’ he said, his tone deliberately aloof. ‘You can stay in one of the guest rooms for tonight, then in the morning you can enjoy your swim, as promised. Andrews will tell you where the pool is.’
So…He no longer wanted to spend the night with her because clearly her company had suddenly become repugnant to him.
‘Don’t be like this Dominic…Please.’
Swallowing hard over the pain that was cramping her throat, she tried to reach him with a smile. Even now, when he was clearly angry with her, she didn’t know what to do with all the treacherous yearning for him that was pulsating through her. It consumed her like a fever and made every inch of her skin pine and ache for his touch. Her need was so powerful and relentless that it was like standing alone in a hurricane, knowing full well that she could be swept away any moment now—possibly into oblivion. Yet she didn’t care.
‘You want me to make love to you, yes? Yet you will not consent to being my mistress!’
Silently elated at the longing that was evident in her beautiful eyes, yet at the same time enraged that she had dismissed his proposal so easily, Dominic felt his pride silently warring with his staggering need to have her in his arms once again.
If he relented, he would no doubt spend another unforgettable night of breathless passion with her, and it would go some way to easing the incessant ache he had inside him for her touch. It was almost unbelievable to Dominic how great his desire for this woman was. But, as much as his body cried out for such vehement fulfilment, he would not relent to his need until Sophie consented to what he wanted. As a man who dealt ruthlessly with facts, he would use the very fact that Sophie was as passionately drawn to him as he was to her to gain the advantage he so desperately coveted.
And when he had gained that advantage, he would manipulate it to its natural conclusion…
‘Go to bed, and when you cannot sleep because of the ache in your body that will not go away I want you to think about my offer, Sophie. Perhaps in the morning, in the new light of day, you may see all the advantages of
such a union between us…and less of the disadvantages. Hmm?’
Knowing that his arrogance would normally infuriate her—even possibly make her walk out of his house and never come back—at that moment, gazing back into his deeply compelling eyes, Sophie could not make herself move. With her blood scorching so hotly through her veins that she could hardly think at all—never mind plan—she could not propel herself to do the thing that would probably serve her best.
‘Dominic, I—’
‘We will not discuss the matter any further tonight. There you are, Andrews,’
‘Yes, sir?’
‘I want you to show Dalton to a guest room, and also give her directions to the pool for the morning. Goodnight, Sophie. Sleep well, won’t you?’
And before Sophie could say anything else she was forced to bite back her words as Andrews politely indicated that she should follow him upstairs. As she reached the first landing, and glanced back down into the hall, Dominic was standing there: hands down by his sides, staring up at her with a provoking little smile that made her want to run to him and beg him to take her to bed. Aghast at how weak-willed she was around this man, Sophie glanced quickly away and followed Andrews down the plushly carpeted corridor.
It was a miracle that she’d slept at all, in light of the way she and Dominic had parted. But now, as she did her laps in the gorgeous, ornate pool with its Romanesque friezes and blue and white mosaic tiles, the morning sun beaming in at her through the glass-domed ceiling, Sophie sensed the ache easing out of her body and an upsurge of energy replacing it.
She couldn’t deny that the opportunity to swim totally uninterrupted like this was sheer joy. There were definitely some advantages about living in the lap of luxury she concluded, allowing herself a very wry smile.
Yet would sheseriously entertain the idea of becoming Dominic’s mistress and all that that entailed? She could converse with people on all types of subjects, yes—her teacher training had helped her enormously with that—and she could even make polite chit-chat, at a push—as long as it didn’t go on too long. Yet she was no social hostess who could host fabulous dinner parties with ease, or spend her time going to haute couture fashion shows so that she would appear appropriately and fashionably dressed as the consort of a rich and important man.
She could just imagine what her parents would have to say about the whole thing! Her father, in his typically brusque no-nonsense manner, would immediately dismiss Dominic as ‘no good’—else why wouldn’t he ask Sophie to marry him and not just live with him?—and her mother would fret and worry that her daughter was going to get hurt.
As she reached the end of her lap Sophie paused in the deep end, treading water as she tried to marshal her thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about how other people would react should she relent to Dominic’s proposition and move in with him. The question was, how didshe feel about the whole idea?
Running her fingers across the smooth tiles, which surrounded the pool, Sophie briefly shut her eyes as a surge of powerful longing throbbed through her body.She couldn’t deny she wanted him. But was sex a good enough reason to agree to what he desired? And if she did move in with him, became his mistress, wouldn’t she be cheating herself out of the possibility of having someone really fall in love with her?Yet how could she let someone else fall in love with her when her heart was already under threat of being stolen?
‘Good morning, Sophie.’
Her eyes flew open again at the sound of Dominic’s voice. In shirtsleeves and suit trousers he walked alongside the pool towards her, his tall, commanding figure causing disconcerting butterflies to take up immediate residence in her stomach. Self-consciously she smoothed back her damp short hair.
‘Morning.’
‘I trust you slept well?’
There was no denying the barely veiled taunt in his voice, and heat spread between Sophie’s thighs and travelled inexorably up to her breasts, the powerful extent of her passionate attraction to Dominic shocking her once again.
‘It was a lovely comfortable bed, and, yes…Idid sleep well.’ Her answer was typically defiant…if unconvincing.
Unable to take his eyes off her, with her beautiful shoulders gleaming with wetness in the plain black costume she wore, and her gaze a sea of startling seductive blue, Dominic sensed a dizzying river of carnal longing rage forcefully through his veins. He hadnot slept so well…in spite of the comfort of his bed. It had not helped his case, either, when, driven to get up in the middle of the night, he’d taken a freezing cold shower to help ease his ardour. It had merely left him wide awake and aching with need.Extremely in need as he’d thought about Sophie, sleeping just a few doors down from his, in her room in the same corridor.Had she given his proposal further and proper consideration? he’d wondered?
Dominic absolutely despised the fact that she was keeping him on tenterhooks. He had never allowed himself to become this on edge about going into any potentially tricky negotiation or meeting. He had always had full confidence that his immaculate planning and consummate business acumen would win the day. He couldn’t deny that he had taken his lead from his father and it had served him well.
‘Never allow emotion to cloud your thinking,’ he had advised. ‘Keep your head, don’t be attached to the outcome and the desired result will flow to you with ease.’
But Dominicwas attached to the outcome. He wanted Sophie to be his mistress. It would be true to say that he had becomeobsessed with the idea. Going out to dinner with his pick of beautiful women was no longer enough. He wanted justone beautiful woman in particular to be his companion. He was tired of empty sexual encounters just to fulfil a basic need. Sophie was an enchanting, engaging andeducated woman. Someone he could converse with, discuss plans and ideas with, someone he could spend time with and not be bored out of his mind in her company. Dominic wanted a longer-term companion to share the amazing fruits of his success. And the woman he wanted, the woman hehad to have, was Sophie.
‘So…’ he said, crouching down beside her. ‘You are ready to come out now and have some breakfast?’
At the answering growl in her stomach, Sophie silently acknowledged she was starving. She had hardly touched the food at the banquet last night, and after her vigorous swim she was even hungrier. Yet she was acutely self-conscious at the idea of climbing out of the pool and revealing herself in her costume. Even though it was plain black, its high cut on the legs and deep neckline barely left much to the imagination.
‘I will get your towel.’
Without further preamble Dominic went to the nearby cane lounger where Sophie had left her towel and brought it to her. Standing at the edge of the tiled steps, he waited for her to come out.
Smoothing back her saturated hair with a nervous hand, Sophie started to walk up the steps towards him. Dominic stared, making no secret of the fact that he was enjoying the privilege, and Sophie’s skin burned to have him look at her, because his glance was as potent and powerful as his very touch. When she got close, so close that she was intimately acquainted with the pupils of his eyes, Sophie held her breath, convinced that he was going to kiss her. When he didn’t, but instead merely draped the towel around her shoulders and started to walk away, she bit back her bitter disappointment and shivered violently beneath the towel.
‘We will breakfast in the conservatory,’ he told her over his shoulder. ‘Walk to the end of the corridor, turn left, then right, and you will find it. I’ll wait for you there.’
Dressed in jeans and a plain white cotton shirt, her body still glowing warmly from her swim, Sophie found her way to the conservatory.. and the sight of Dominic lounging back in his chair reading a newspaper. Around him bustled a small olive-skinned woman dressed in a black dress and white apron—presumably his housekeeper—busily laying breakfast things on the table in front of him.
‘Sophie…come and sit down. Maria will bring you some tea or coffee. What do you prefer?’
‘Tea, please,’ Sophie replied, take
n aback when Dominic stood up and pulled out a chair for her, then waited until she was seated before resuming his own seat.
‘And to eat? Do you like the ‘‘full English breakfast,’’ or are you one of those abstemious women who either don’t eat at all or eat only fruit in the morning?’
Surprised at his light banter, Sophie couldn’t help but grin. ‘Idefinitely couldn’t survive the morning on just fruit, so I would very much like the full English, if that’s all right? The only time I ever get a cooked breakfast is if I go home to my mum’s, so it will be a treat.’
Having grown up with a mother who had spent her days fundraising and social climbing, Dominic hadnever experienced anything so homely as having a breakfast cooked by his own mother. A brief flare of envy surfaced as he regarded Sophie’s pretty, animated face, and he caught himself wondering if she would do the same for her own children. His envy was quickly replaced by a moment of deep and profound reflection on the topic. Then, realising that Maria hovered at his side waiting for his instruction, he asked his housekeeper for two cooked breakfasts and a large pot of tea. As she bustled away, he levelled his interested gaze back to Sophie.
