Candy was blushing furiously. She shouted, 'Then why didn't you say so?'
Justin stroked his cheek against her hair. 'My darling, it would have frightened you witless. I may be a gambler but I'm not an idiot. I knew I had to bring you to it
gently. Of course,' he added wryly, 'I could see you were going to be hell on wheels.'
It's not going to be easy. He had said it, and it had come back to haunt her that very evening. Perhaps she too had recognised the feeling, even though she didn't realise at the time.
She said, 'I've been very stupid. I didn't think anyone like you could possibly be interested. You even called me a schoolgirl.'
Justin's arms tightened. 'Pure frustration.'
She said shyly, 'I didn't think I was in your league, you know. It wasn't just Lizbeth Lamont. There was your first wife. And I'd never had a proper relationship—just a lot of silly fantasies about Dave. I didn't know how to judge where I stood with you. I remember thinking once—when you told me about Marianne—that I could leave you and it wouldn't even ripple the surface of your life. You're so self-contained. You don't seem to need anyone.'
He made an inarticulate protest and turned her face up to his. When they drew apart, their breathing was tortured. Candy's head swam.
`Withdraw that,' Justin told her, amusement flickering in the uneven tones.
Candy felt a sudden glorious sense of freedom. She could feel his smile like sunlight warming her through to her bones. She chuckled, drawing his head down to her and feathering a kiss across his lips.
`I do, I do,' she assured him. 'I'm a reformed character.' Justin held her away from him, looking dubious. 'I am,' she insisted. `I'd even got some time off from the Centre before you turned up and started shouting at people this afternoon. I'm going to spend the next three weeks with you, wherever you are, working out exactly what constitutes provocation.'
She slid her hands under his jacket and began to slip open the buttons of his shirt. She felt his immediate reaction, and smiled to herself. Justin looked down at her, amused and so much more than amused.
One eyebrow rose. 'And then?' he asked at his most silky.
`And then,' said Candy with composure, reaching up to kiss his throat and loosen his tie at the same time, `I'm going to make sure you get as much of it as you can stand for as long as we live.'
No Provocation Page 17
