The Engagement Deal

by Kim Lawrence

  ‘Rowena?’

  ‘Not fall down staggering drunk, you understand,’ she hastened to assure him. ‘More maudlin, where-is-my-life-going sort of drunk. I never knew,’ she marvelled with transparent naivété, ‘that Rowena ever had any doubts. She always seemed to know exactly what she wants. I think it’s all got something to do with Quinn Tyler.’ She shook her head thoughtfully. Yeah, the more she thought about…‘She didn’t say anything specific, but his name came up a lot. You don’t look surprised,’ she accused. ‘Is that why you had such a down on him? Did you know?’

  Niall shrugged. ‘I saw Quinn leaving Rowena’s late one night, a while back. She tried to cover it up but she’d obviously been crying. He’s got a reputation…’

  ‘So have you,’ she reminded him tartly. It hadn’t escaped her notice he didn’t offer any explanation of what he’d been doing at Rowena’s late. ‘And you made me cry, last night.’ She shrugged. ‘Does that make you a bad guy?’

  Niall’s big body went rigid; his eyes darkened dramatically. The only time he’d ever seen even a gleam of moisture in Holly’s eyes was after they’d listened to a particularly sloppy piece of Puccini. Tough, self-reliant, stubbornly prosaic Holly crying…Something deep inside him rebelled fiercely at the idea.

  ‘Probably.’ She didn’t notice his deep voice sounded oddly uneven and more gravelly than usual. ‘You cried?’

  Quite suddenly, he knew that he’d do just about anything to protect her from a potentially painful situation…and he’d been the one who made her cry! He took a deep shuddering breath, his nostrils flaring with self-disgust.

  ‘I do, you know—cry, that is. Though—’ she smiled a bit uncertainly up at him, but he didn’t respond; his expression was oddly wooden, his normally mobile mouth set in a grim straight line ‘—not excessively.’ His jaw, always firm, looked pretty uncompromising.

  Niall cleared his throat before he eventually responded. ‘I shouldn’t have said…I didn’t mean to make you cry.’ His grim gaze seemed to be fixed at some point over her left shoulder.

  ‘I know that, but you were quite right. I’ve been thinking about what you said. We both have our own lives to live. Just because we’re lovers doesn’t give me some sort of exclusivity deal…I know…’

  That focused his attention with a vengeance. She took an instinctive step backwards as the laser intensity of his menacing blue glare hit her head-on.

  He grabbed her shoulders firmly to stop further retreat. ‘In my bed, it does!’ he ground out.

  His fingers bit hard into the soft flesh of her upper arms. It registered in her bemused brain that he was acting as if somehow she’d just mortally offended him.

  ‘You may not be wearing my ring for real—’

  ‘I’m not wearing it at all.’ She held up her naked hand to prove the point.

  ‘But I don’t want to be one of many. There’s a hell of lot of difference between casual and promiscuous.’

  ‘I wasn’t advocating bed-hopping,’ she gasped, blushing wildly. ‘I meant f-friendships, other commitments and so forth,’ she stammered huskily. ‘Actually, though, I’m quite glad you brought up the subject.’ She certainly hadn’t expected him to and definitely not in such an emphatic and spectacular manner! It would seem she had no worries on that score. ‘I don’t want to be your Friday girl or whatever…The one you fit in between—’

  ‘The other members of my vast harem.’

  She felt his body relax as his grip on her shoulders loosened. The tautness was still there, stretching the skin tight across his jutting, strong cheekbones, and that little nerve was still doing a war-dance in his lean cheek, but he no longer looked as if he was about to explode.

  ‘Girl Friday?’ One corner of his mouth quivered. He reached forwards and tucked a shiny strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I’ve never been one for juggling,’ he told her gravely. ‘Besides, you’re a high-maintenance sort of girlfriend. I don’t think I’d have the time…’ His dry humour seemed distinctly frazzled around the edges.

  ‘I was thinking more about the inclination.’ Holly, her confidence soaring, was beginning to enjoy herself. Niall wanted her and nobody else—at least for the moment.

  Niall laughed and the remainder of the dangerous, explosive quality left his face. ‘You’re worried about my low boredom threshold?’ His wry expression suggested he found the idea deeply amusing. ‘If I live to be a hundred, you’d never bore me, little witch,’ he told her, framing her face between his big hands. ‘And you can quote me on that if you like.’ His scrutiny held a heart-stopping degree of tender amusement.

  Holly smiled back in what she suspected was a besotted sort of way at him. Suddenly she didn’t care about hiding the way she felt. He was bound to find out eventually, she decided fatalistically—why not now? Not that she was going to blurt it out, or anything, but if he caught on, would it really matter…?

  ‘Do people quote you often?’ she enquired wonderingly. ‘You know, Niall, I’m beginning to worry about your aspirations in the divine direction.’

  ‘Shut up,’ he advised benignly, just before he kissed her.

  Holly tingled from the crown of her burnished head to her toes and all the places in between. Only a kiss, she thought wonderingly as he finally lifted his head. Whoever said that had definitely not been kissed by Niall Wesley! She clung to him for support and brought her forehead to rest against his chest.

  ‘You’re a very excellent kisser.’ She lifted her head, looking slightly sheepish. ‘And you can quote me on that,’ she told him with the beginning of a smile.

  Niall caught his breath; he fought a tough internal battle to maintain control. He’d been seduced on several occasions, often by women who were experts at the craft, but never so completely as with that not-quite smile. It was that sort of smile and this was the sort of feeling—the one like a dull knife in his guts—that men had been prepared to fight dragons and wage wars for down the years.

  ‘I didn’t think you were ever going to get around to it.’ Her smile grew smugly satisfied as she looped her arms around his neck.

  Her natural optimism was reasserting itself. This morning hadn’t gone at all as she’d thought it would. She had imagined that Niall, like herself, would have spent the previous night realising that their relationship was doomed—they had nothing whatever in common. Rowena might not have dwelt on her sister’s new and surprising relationship, but with a few well-chosen words she had managed to nurture the seeds of doubt that were already in Holly’s mind after Niall’s cryptic parting shot—it had sounded very like an ultimatum.

  ‘But then that’s why you asked me to come, isn’t it?’ she reminded him huskily.

  He stiffened. She knew straight off she’d said the wrong thing; if she had any doubts, the cold disdain etched on his face didn’t leave much room for doubt on that score. She just couldn’t imagine what it was she’d done to anger him. Confusingly Niall, who had put the ‘laid’ into laid-back, seemed to have suddenly got awfully sensitive. Or was he, despite his reassurances to the contrary, just simply having doubts about the way things were going?

  His hands went to hers, which still lay at the base of his skull and he brought them around to shoulder height.

  ‘Sorry I didn’t wade right into the foreplay, or did you want to skip that, too?’ he enquired crudely. ‘I mean, I can see it must be frustrating for you if I actually want to have a conversation first.’

  ‘I don’t believe this,’ she gasped, her eyes widening to their fullest extent. ‘You’re actually accusing me of using you as a sex object! Excuse me,’ she snapped, trying to pull her wrists from his grip, ‘while I choke on the hypocrisy in the air. When have you treated me like anything else but a body?’ This wasn’t strictly true, but it was worth the lie to see his colour deepen significantly.

  ‘I mean, what else would you want me for?’ She looked expectantly towards him and for one moment it seemed as if he would reply to her jibe. Holly swallowed her disappointment
when he maintained his silence and embraced her growing anger. ‘You’re the one who asked me to come here, and it wasn’t to play dominoes!’ she reflected bitterly.

  A rumble emerged from Niall’s throat that sounded surprisingly like laughter, but when she glared suspiciously at him his expression was as sober and earnest as she could have wished.

  ‘Am I supposed to wait for you to make the first move? Well, in case you didn’t notice, I did! Is it my fault I feel impatient? Is it my fault I want to rip your clothes off the instant I see you?’ Holly tilted her head back and closed her eyes. It was too much to hope I only thought that. She opened one eye and risked a quick look. Oh, no, I said it, all right—from the expression on his face, I probably bellowed it!

  Niall had brought her hands down, but he still hadn’t released her, even though she’d tried to twist away. A dark corner to hide her terminal embarrassment seemed like an appealing option just now.

  His thumbs began to rub the blue-veined inner aspect of her delicate-boned wrists. Tiny, tingling quivers of pleasure went zinging through her body. Holly tried to cling to the shreds of her hostility, but it was swallowed up by the insidious, soothing lethargy his touch induced.

  ‘Can you actually play dominoes?’

  She opened her heavy eyes and languidly lifted her head. ‘I’m a legend at the local, back home.’ It was impossible not to respond to the beguiling smile in his eyes.

  ‘Perhaps you could teach me a few tricks?’

  ‘Maybe…’ she conceded with a sniff.

  ‘The difficulty is, we spend most of our time together in bed… Not the place, I’m sure you agree, for domino lessons. If we spent more time together, it might be easier. If you moved in here, we’d have more time; I might even be able to teach you to cook.’

  ‘You can cook?’ Holly selected the less compelling and safer of the two questions she ached to ask. Her head was spinning. She was suffering from a heavy dose of unreality.

  ‘Compared to you, I can cook.’ Holly could only stare warily as he pulled out the stool set by the gleaming baby grand and casually straddled it. He patted the seat in front of him suggestively. ‘You look as if you should sit down.’

  She swallowed hard, and shook her head. Her heart was kicking wildly against her ribs. It was hard enough thinking on the opposite side of the room; if she settled in that comfortable spot between his legs, her intellect would go the same way as her morals and common sense.

  ‘Did you just ask me to move in with you?’ She laughed weakly to show she recognised a joke when she heard one.

  Niall folded his arms across his chest and fixed his unblinking enigmatic stare upon her face. ‘I did,’ came the flat response.

  ‘Oh!’ she faltered hoarsely. ‘This is pretty…pretty…’

  ‘Unexpected?’

  ‘I wish you’d stop doing that,’ she rounded on him.

  ‘Doing what?’

  ‘Putting words in my mouth.’

  ‘All right,’ he acceded casually. ‘There are other things I prefer to put in your mouth.’ The gleam in his eyes deepened as she let out an inarticulate, shocked whimper. ‘What were you going to say?’

  He knew full well she couldn’t say anything at all. Holly gritted her teeth. ‘I was going to say, this is pretty sudden.’

  ‘That puts a whole new perspective on things,’ he agreed mockingly. ‘What do you think about my idea?’

  ‘You want the truth?’

  ‘That depends on your answer.’

  She frowned critically at his flippancy—this was no joking matter. ‘You really want me to move in with you…?’ She still couldn’t quite believe he meant it. The cool, almost clinical expression on his face didn’t suggest he was inspired by some wild romantic impulse—I should be so lucky, she thought. ‘What would people say?’

  ‘Do you care?’ he wondered scornfully, dismissing public opinion with a careless flick of his elegant wrist.

  Staring at his long, shapely, tapering fingers, she decided it was likely the piano wasn’t just for show. She could see those hands moving over the keyboard—just thinking about how sensitive and skilful they were intensified the aching empty feeling low in her belly. Getting orgasmic about his hands—how hopeless is that? she despaired.

  ‘I care about what some people think…My mum, my dad…’

  ‘Your great-aunt and those two cousins twice removed, I know…and your pet rabbit is very sensitive about change, too,’ he cut in impatiently. ‘I asked what you thought, Holly. I think that’s the important thing here.’

  ‘Well, I’m not entirely sure what I think,’ she hedged, ‘until you tell me why you asked me.’

  ‘I asked you because we’re so sexually compatible it’s off whatever scale these things are measured by…’

  ‘That’s not a reason to move in with someone,’ she interrupted hoarsely. Did he really think that…? He sounded as though he did. Even though she craved a bit of depth in his feelings, his heartfelt fervour was extremely gratifying.

  ‘It’s one great reason,’ he contradicted her firmly. ‘But hold on; I’ve only just started. There’s more. I just find when I’m in the same room as you, or even,’ he added, making a clean breast of his dilemma, ‘when I’m not, I tend to focus on that aspect quite a lot. But we have a lot of things going for us I could focus on.’

  He thinks about me like I think about…Holly’s breath seemed to burn as she forced herself to exhale slowly. Her eyes were dramatically dark and burning in her milk-pale face. She felt weak with desire…And he hasn’t even touched me!

  ‘I don’t think you’ve thought this through, Niall.’ One of them had to be practical.

  ‘I’ve thought about very little else, Holly.’ The words emerged almost reluctantly and his blue eyes blazed with similar angry resentment, mingled with something primal and raw.

  Holly felt as if she were suffocating; she lowered her eyes abruptly.

  ‘And if we’re talking practical, Holly, what could be more practical than you moving in here? Would you prefer to end up sharing a house with strangers, or settling for some poky little bedsit that smells of cabbage? I wouldn’t expect you to look after Tom, if that’s what’s bothering you, and you’d like Fiona, the nanny.’

  ‘It’s nothing to do with Tom,’ she told him with a frown.

  ‘You work long hours; here, you wouldn’t have to come home and start cooking and cleaning. My housekeeper lives in the flat over the garage; the place runs like clockwork.’

  ‘Stop!’ she pleaded sharply, holding up her hand. ‘You don’t have to sell the house, Niall—just your reasons for wanting me here.’

  ‘You work long unsocial hours; so do I.’

  ‘That’s true,’ she agreed.

  ‘I want more than a few snatched hours with you.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘You look shocked.’

  ‘I am. Fall in a heap sort of shocked.’

  ‘Is it a crime to want more?’ he demanded angrily. ‘I know your independence is important to you, but what we have isn’t enough for me.’ His dark brows drew together to form a dark uncompromising line as he glared at her with an if-you-don’t-like-it-tough, sort of expression.

  Holly was drowning in a flood of panic and desire. ‘I suppose…’ Her voice sounded echoey and distant. ‘We’d find out soon enough if boredom was going to set in.’ The whole scenario had a strange dreamlike quality.

  ‘I’ve already told you I’ll never—’

  ‘I was thinking more about you boring me, actually…’

  Niall shot to his feet. All that was lacking was a victorious war cry; he positively oozed male triumph. ‘That’s settled, then!’

  ‘Is this the point where we spit on our hands and shake?’ she enquired tremulously. He hadn’t said he loved her, not even once. But then Niall was a pretty straight-talking sort of man; he wouldn’t insult her by faking it. ‘I’ll pass, if you don’t mind.’

  The basic need to conquer and master was
buried deep in most males, no matter how superficially civilised they were. In some, she reflected, looking at Niall’s tall, commanding figure, it was hardly buried at all! For a vanquished party, she felt pretty damned good. For a man like Niall to suggest they move in together, his feelings obviously ran deeper than he was admitting—maybe not the L word, but maybe deeper than he actually knew. If she was patient and didn’t push it, she thought exuberantly…who knows?

  Niall stretched out his hand and Holly automatically did the same. ‘I was thinking of an exchange of bodily fluids,’ he admitted, straight-faced. ‘Just not that one,’ he explained outrageously.

  Instead of shaking her hand, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her, sending her on a collision course with his chest. His strong arms cushioned the impact but not the flood of desire that made her cling weakly to him.

  His lean fingers twisted in her bright hair and he dragged her head backwards. ‘Open your mouth, Holly,’ he commanded urgently. ‘I want to taste you. Sweet…sweet… Holly…’

  Holly touched the tip of her tongue thoughtfully to her upper lip. ‘You make me sound cloying and sickly.’

  The wilful little pout made his breathing quicken. ‘Honeyed and luscious,’ he corrected throatily; he was looking with unambiguous hunger at the modest but very inviting swell of her breasts. His stark expression wiped the flirtatious look off her face.

  ‘I can live with that,’ she conceded huskily.

  ‘And me?’ One dark slanted brow quirked.

  ‘Time will tell.’

  Niall looked exasperated by her cautious response. Her lips parted under the forceful pressure of his lips. She twisted sinuously as his hands began to move over her body.

  ‘Well, we’ve got plenty of that, anyhow. Time…’ he reminded her, in response to her glazed uncomprehending stare. ‘Tom’s staying with Tara tonight.’

  ‘Well, actually, Niall…’

  ‘You don’t start work until Monday, do you?’

  ‘It’s not that. It’s just Rowena seemed so low and I…I sort of suggested we all go out to dinner tonight…She’s flying out…What are you doing?’ she gasped, as he swung her up into his arms.