Had he overstepped the mark by manhandling her like that? He’d not meant to make her uncomfortable but they were supposed to be there as a couple, so it wasn’t as though it wasn’t within his remit to act that way around her.
Ugh. There was no point in beating himself up about it. He’d just have to be more careful about the way he touched her, or not, for the rest of the evening.
As soon as the dance finished, other couples joined the newlyweds on the dance floor and, spotting Cara, Jack broke away from Amber and made his way over to them.
‘Cara, I’m so glad you made it!’ he said, stooping down to pull her into a bear hug, making her squeal with laughter as he spun her around before placing her back down again.
Cara pulled away from him, her cheeks flushed, and rubbed his arm affectionately. ‘Congratulations. And thank you for inviting us. It’s a beautiful wedding.’
‘I’m glad you’re having a good time,’ Jack replied, smiling into her eyes. ‘Want to dance with me, for old times’ sake?’ he said, already taking her arm and leading her away from Max onto the dance floor. ‘You don’t mind if I steal her away for a minute, do you, Max?’ he tossed over his shoulder, plainly not at all interested in Max’s real opinion on the matter.
Not that Max should mind.
Watching Cara laugh at something that Jack whispered into her ear as he began to move her around the dance floor, Max was hit by an unreasonable surge of irritation and had to force himself to relax his arms and let them hang by his sides instead of balling them into tight fists. What the heck was going on with him today? How messed up was he to be jealous of a new groom, who was clearly infatuated with his wife, just because he was dancing with Cara? It must be because the guy seemed to have everything—a wife who loved him, a successful career with colleagues who respected him, Cara as a friend...
The track came to a close and a new, slower one started up. Before he could check himself, Max strode across to where Jack and Cara were just breaking apart.
‘You don’t mind if I cut in now, do you?’ he said to Jack, intensely conscious that his words had come out as more of a statement than a question.
Jack’s eyebrows rose infinitesimally at Max’s less than gracious tone, but he smiled at Cara and swept a hand to encompass them both. ‘Be my guest.’ Leaning forward, he kissed Cara on the cheek before moving away from her. ‘It’s great to see you so happy. You know, you’re actually glowing.’ He slapped Max on the back. ‘You’re obviously good for her, Max. Look after her, okay? She’s a good one,’ he said. ‘But watch your feet; she’s a bit of a toe-stamper,’ he added, ducking out of the way as Cara swiped a hand at him and walked off laughing.
Turning back, Cara fixed Max with an awkward smile, then leaned in to speak into his ear. ‘Sorry about that. I didn’t want to admit to the truth about us and break the mood.’
Max nodded, his shoulders suddenly stiff, surprised to find he was disappointed to hear her say that her glow was nothing to do with him.
Don’t be ridiculous, you fool—how could it be?
His feelings must have shown on his face because she took a small step away from him and said, ‘You don’t really need to dance with me, but thanks for the gesture.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s no problem. You seemed to be enjoying yourself and I was anticipating Jack being commandeered at any second by Amber or another relative wanting his attention so I thought I’d jump in,’ he replied, feeling the hairs that had escaped from her up-do tickle his nose as he leaned in close to her.
She looked at him for the longest moment, something flickering behind her eyes, before giving him a small nod and a smile. ‘Okay then, I’d love to dance.’
Holding her as loosely as he could in his arms, he guided her around the dance floor, leading her in a basic waltz and finding pleasure in the way she responded to his lead, copying his movements with a real sense that she trusted him not to make a false step. His blood roared through his veins as his heart worked overtime to keep him cool in the accumulated heat of the bodies that surrounded them. Or was it the feeling of her in his arms that was doing that to him?
He felt her back shift against his palm and turned to see she was waving to Lucy, the woman who had come over to apologise to her at dinner.
A sense of admiration swept thorough him as he reflected on how well she’d handled that situation. When he’d returned to the table, after needing to take a breath of air and talk himself down from a strange feeling of despondency when he heard she was likely to find a new place to live soon, and seen them talking, he’d feared the worst. An intense urge to step in and protect her had grabbed him by the throat, making him move fast and put his hands on her, to let her know he had her back if she needed him.
She hadn’t, though. In fact she’d shown real strength and finesse with her response. Another example of why she was so good at her job. And why he respected her so much as a person. Why he liked her—
Halting his thoughts right there, he guided her over to the side of the dance floor as the music changed into retro pop and drew away from her, feeling oddly bereft at the loss of her warm body so close to his own.
* * *
The room was spinning.
And it wasn’t from the alcohol she’d consumed earlier or even the overwhelming heat and noise—it was because of Max. Being so close to him, feeling the strength of his will as he whirled her around the dance floor had sent her senses into a nosedive.
‘Max, do you mind if we go outside for a minute? I need some air.’
The look her gave her was one of pure alarm. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine, just a bit hot,’ she said, flapping a hand ineffectually in front of her face.
Giving her a curt nod, he motioned for her to walk out of the ballroom in front of him, shadowing her closely as she pushed her way through the crowd of people in the hallway and out into the blissfully cool evening air.
Slumping down onto a cold stone bench pushed up against the front of the house, she let out a deep sigh of relief as the fresh air pricked at her hot skin.
‘I’m going to fetch you a drink of water,’ Max said, standing over her, his face a picture of concern. ‘Stay here.’
She watched him go, her stomach sinking with embarrassment, wondering how she was ever going to explain herself if she didn’t manage to pull it together.
Putting her head in her hands, she breathed in the echo of Max’s scent on her skin, its musky undertones making her heart trip over itself.
‘Are you okay there?’
The deep voice made her start and she looked up to see one of the male guests looking down at her, his brow creased in worry. She seemed to remember Amber’s second cousin pointing him out as Amber’s youngest brother and the black sheep of the family. Womaniser was the word she’d used.
Sitting up straighter in her seat, she gave him a friendly but dispassionate smile. ‘I’m fine, thanks, just a bit hot from dancing.’
Instead of nodding and walking away, he sat down next to her and held out his hand. ‘I’m Frank, Amber’s black sheep of a brother,’ he said with a twinkle in his eye.
She couldn’t help but laugh as she shook his hand. ‘I’m Cara.’
‘I don’t know whether anyone’s told you this today, Cara, but you look beautiful in that dress,’ he said, his voice smooth like melted chocolate. He wanted her. She could see it in his face.
Cara was just about to open her mouth to politely brush him off when a shadow fell across them. Looking up, she saw that Max had returned with her glass of water and was standing over them with a strange look on his face.
‘Here’s your drink, Cara,’ he said, handing it over and giving Frank a curt nod.
Frank must have seen something in Max’s expression because he got up quickly and took a step away from them both. ‘
Okay, well, it looks like your boyfriend’s got this, so I’ll say good evening. Have a good one, Cara,’ he said, flashing her a disappointed smile as he backed away, then turning on his heel to disappear into the dark garden.
‘Sorry,’ Max said gruffly, ‘I didn’t mean to scare him off.’ He didn’t look particularly sorry, though, she noted as he sat down next to her and laid his arm across the back of the bench. In fact, if anything, he seemed pleased that the guy had gone. Turning to look him directly in the eye, her stomach gave a flutter of nerves as something flickered in his eyes. Something fierce and disconcerting.
Telling herself she must be seeing things, she forced a composed smile onto her face. ‘It’s okay; he wasn’t my type anyway.’
Not like you.
Pushing the rogue thought away, she took a long sip of the water he’d fetched to cover her nerves. What was she doing, letting herself imagine there was something developing between them?
‘Thanks for the water. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m feeling better now I’m in the fresh air.’
Despite her claims, he was still looking at her with that strange expression in his eyes.
‘Why are you single?’ he asked suddenly, making her blink at him in surprise.
‘Oh, you know...’
He frowned. ‘It’s not because I’ve been working you too hard, is it?’
‘No, no!’ She shook her head. ‘It’s through personal choice.’
His frown deepened, as if he didn’t quite believe her.
She swallowed before expanding on her answer, linking her fingers tightly together around the glass. ‘I decided to take a break from dating for a while. My last relationship was a bit of a disaster.’
He relaxed back against the bench. ‘How so?’
‘The whole fiasco at LED pretty much ruined it. After I started having trouble coping with what was going on at work I got a bit down and it made me withdraw into myself. My ex-boyfriend, Ewan, got fed up with me being so...er...unresponsive.’ She cringed. ‘That’s why I’ve been trying so hard to stay positive. I know how it can get boring, having people around who feel sorry for themselves all the time.’
He ran his hand through his hair, letting out a long, low sigh.
Heat rushed through her as she realised how Max might have interpreted what she’d just said. ‘I didn’t mean... I wasn’t talking about you.’
He snorted gently and flashed her a smile. ‘I didn’t think you were. I was frustrated on your behalf. I can’t believe the guy was stupid enough to treat you like that.’
‘Yeah, well, it’s in the past now. To be honest, that relationship was always doomed to fail. He was a little too self-centred for my liking. He made it pretty obvious he thought I wasn’t good enough for him.’
‘Not good enough! That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard,’ he snapped out, the ferocity in his tone telling her he had a lot more he wanted to say on the matter, but for the sake of propriety was keeping it to himself.
She smiled at him, her heart rising to her throat. ‘It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me any more.’ And it really didn’t, she realised with a sense of satisfaction. Her experiences since breaking up with Ewan had taught her that her real self-worth came from her own actions and achievements, not pleasing someone else.
Putting the empty glass onto the ground by the bench, she tried to hide a yawn of tiredness behind her hand. It had been a long and intense day.
‘Do you want to get out of here?’ Max asked quietly.
Clearly she hadn’t been able to hide her exhaustion from him.
Looking at him with a smile of gratitude, she nodded her head. ‘I wouldn’t mind. I don’t think I’ve got the energy for any more dancing.’
He stood up. ‘Okay, I’ll go and fetch the car.’
‘I’ll just pop back in and say goodbye to Jack and Amber and I’ll meet you back here,’ she said, gesturing to the pull-in place at the end of the sweeping driveway.
He nodded, before turning on his heel and heading off towards where they’d left the car parked by the estate’s church.
She watched him disappear into the darkness, with his jacket slung over his arm and the white shirt stretched across his broad shoulders glowing in the moonlight, before he dipped out of sight.
After saying a hurried goodbye to the now rather inebriated newlyweds, she came out to find Max waiting for her in the car and jumped in gratefully, sinking back into the soft leather seat with a sigh. Now she knew that bed wasn’t far away, she was desperate to escape to her room and finally be able to relax away from Max’s unsettling presence.
It only took them five minutes to drive to the B&B she’d booked them into and as luck would have it there was a convenient parking space right outside the pretty thatched cottage.
‘We’re in the annexe at the back,’ she said to Max as he hauled their overnight bags out of the boot. ‘They gave me a key code to open the door so we won’t need to disturb them.’
‘Great,’ Max said, hoisting the bags onto his back and following her down the path of the colourful country cottage garden towards the rear of the house. The air smelled sweetly of the honeysuckle that wound itself around a large wooden arch leading through to the back garden where their accommodation was housed, and Cara breathed it in with a great sense of pleasure. The place felt almost magical, shrouded as it was in the velvety darkness of the night.
Cara tapped the code into the keypad next to the small oak door that led directly into the annexe and flipped on the lights as soon as they were inside, illuminating a beautifully presented hallway with its simple country-style furniture and heritage-coloured décor. Two open bedroom doors stood opposite each other and there was a small bathroom at the back, which they would share.
‘I hope this is okay. All the local hotels were fully booked and Jack said this was the place his cousin and her family were going to stay in, so the owners were pleased to swap the booking to us, considering it was such a last-minute cancellation.’
Max nodded, looking around at the layout, his expression neutral. ‘It’s great.’
The hallway was so small they were standing much closer to each other than Cara was entirely comfortable with. Max moved past her to drop his bag into one of the rooms and his musky scent hit her senses, making her whole body quiver with longing. The thought of him being just a few feet away from her was going to make it very difficult to sleep, despite how tired she was.
After dropping her bag into the other room, Max walked back into the hallway and stood in front of her, a small frown playing across his face. ‘Are you feeling okay now?’
She smiled, the effort making her cheeks ache. ‘I’m fine.’ She took a nervous step backwards, and jumped a little as her back hit the wall behind her. ‘Thank you so much for coming with me. I really appreciate it.’
He was looking at her with that fierce expression in his eyes again and a heavy, tingly heat slid from her throat, deep into her belly, sending electric currents of need to every nerve-ending in her body. For some reason she was finding it hard to breathe.
‘It was my pleasure, Cara,’ he said, his voice gruff as if he was having trouble with his own airways. ‘You know, that guy you were talking to earlier was right. You do look beautiful in that dress.’
She stared at him, a disorientating mixture of excitement and confusion swirling around her head.
His gaze flicked away from hers for a second and when his eyes returned to hers the fierce look had gone and was replaced with a friendly twinkle. ‘It occurred to me that you might have a bit of trouble getting out it—after needing my help to do it up this morning. Want me to undo the buttons for you?’
What was this?
Cara knew what she wanted it to be: for Max to want the same thing that she did—to alleviate this unbearable need to touch an
d kiss and hold him. To slide off all their clothes and lose themselves in each other’s body.
To love him.
Did he want that, too?
Could he?
Her heart was beating so hard and fast, all she could hear and feel was the hot pulse of her blood through her body.
‘That would be great. Thank you,’ she managed to force past her dry throat.
She rotated on the spot until her back was to him, her whole body vibrating with tension as she felt his fingers graze her skin as he released each of the buttons in turn.
As soon as the last one popped free, she trapped the now loose dress against her body and turned to face him again, trying to summon an expression that wouldn’t give her feelings away.
He looked at her for the longest time, his eyes wide and dark and his breathing shallow.
She watched him flick his tongue between his lips and something snapped inside her. Unable to stand the tension any longer, she rocked forward on her toes and tipped her head up, pressing her mouth to his. His lips were firm under hers and his scent enveloped her, wrapping round her senses, only adding to her violent pull of need to deepen the kiss.
Until she realised he wasn’t kissing her back.
He hadn’t moved away from her, but she could feel how tense he was under her touch. As if he was holding himself rigid.
She stilled, one hand anchoring herself against his broad shoulder, the other still holding her dress tightly against her body, and pulled away, eyes screwed shut, her stomach plummeting to her shoes at his lack of response.
What had she done?
When she dared open her eyes, he was looking at her with such an expression of torment that she had to close them again.
‘I’m sorry. So, so sorry,’ she whispered, her throat locking up and her face burning with mortification.
Unlocking Her Boss's Heart Page 12
