by Faye Avalon
“I can wear the heels again, so they’re okay, but I really need that belt.”
Opening the door, she reached her hand through again and waggled her fingers.
“You really like to test boundaries, don’t you, princess?”
Through the crack in the door, he gave her that sensual perusal again, making every inch of her flesh shiver in response. While she was perfectly decent, she was very aware of her near nakedness. He did that. He made her feel raw, exposed, vulnerable.
She clasped the towel tighter around herself. “Do you mind?”
His gaze slid across her bare shoulders, down to where the edge of the towel covered her breasts. “Not particularly.”
Refusing to look at him, she kept her attention on his chest. Big mistake. It was still as wide, still as formidable. Beneath that shirt she knew it was leanly muscled and so damn hot. She’d cuddled up against him enough times to remember the heat he emanated, to remember the strength of him, the feel of him.
Oh hell...
She gripped the towel so tightly her fingers hurt. It was difficult to get air into her lungs, and she knew her breasts rose and fell with the effort. Sensing his gaze remained fixed on her, she kept hers averted.
Only the gentle hiss of their breathing filled the space between them, yet it seemed to buzz with a heightened sense of awareness that felt decadent and dangerous.
Drawing in a breath, Gabe stepped back. “We’ll be landing soon.”
At the sharp change in his tone, Maddie looked up. There was no suggestive gleam in his eye, no arrogant slant to his mouth. What had happened? What had changed?
He reached behind him, then handed her a hanger with a dress covered in a thin layer of protective polythene. “Don’t take too long.”
Maddie grabbed the dress and closed the door. She ripped off the polythene and realised that the dress was actually hers. She might have recognised it sooner had she not been busy going all gaga remembering how toned his chest was.
He might have been extremely easy on the eye, and skilled between the sheets, but he wasn’t worth the effort of fathoming out. They were poles apart. He ate, slept and breathed business. Loved nothing more than analysing stock markets, projecting profit summaries, surveying property investment opportunities. Whereas she didn’t give a flying fuck about any of that stuff. She preferred creating things. Working with colour, shape and form to make something beautiful for people to enjoy.
Not that any of it mattered right then. Bigger fish to fry and all that.
She unzipped the dress, annoyed that despite what Gabe said, he must have gone to her apartment after all. The only other possibility was that he’d gotten someone else to do it for him. Laura? Her friend really disliked Oscar and had tried to talk Maddie out of the marriage. But Laura wasn’t a fan of Gabe’s, either, especially since she’d been the one to help pick up the pieces of Maddie’s heart two years ago.
Maddie added Laura’s name to her mental list of calls to make as she dressed in the plain blue shift dress and slipped her feet back into the wedding shoes.
While she hated being out of control like this, hated that Gabe was calling the shots, she knew that would change soon enough. Once they were in the South of France, she would arrange to return to London and smooth everything over with Oscar. She had to. Too much rested on her agreement with him.
With a sigh, she leaned back against the wall. The thought of going back didn’t exactly fill her with joy. What was she returning to? A loveless marriage with no prospect of sex. Not that sex was ever on the menu. She’d made damn sure Oscar hadn’t expected that to form part of their arrangement.
Maybe thinking about sex, or the impending lack of it, had made her hypersensitive or something, but a provocative thought lodged in her mind and refused to budge. Tapping a finger to her chin, Maddie considered her current position. Was she being hasty here? While this situation with Gabe hadn’t been of her choosing, it didn’t mean she couldn’t make the most of it. It could be a proverbial gift horse. The chance for some breathing space.
If, at the end of it all, marrying Oscar was still the best option, all well and good. In which case, this hiatus could provide an opportunity for a kind of last fling.
With Gabe.
Sex between them had been sensational. Off the wall. Who could blame her for wanting to repeat that experience before she settled for a sex-free future?
She tapped her chin some more, a little thrill tingling in her stomach at the thought of spending up close and personal time with Gabe. Now, wouldn’t that be fun? And didn’t she deserve it before hooking up in that loveless marriage? All she had to do was make sure she kept emotion out of it. A brief, temporary affair with absolutely no strings attached. How hard could that be?
Still considering her options, she walked to the door and stepped out. Her next move wasn’t entirely clear yet, but one thing was certain. It would most definitely be one of her choosing.
CHAPTER THREE
GABE HADN’T EXPECTED to have the floor drop out from under him. Yet while he’d admired Maddie’s smooth flesh and breathed in her enticing scent, his world tilted, making it feel as if the aircraft had hit pockets of turbulence.
Which made him a fucking idiot.
As his limo sped along the corniche from Nice Airport to Monte Carlo, he had cause to reflect on bringing Maddie here. He’d thought long and hard about the wisdom of going through with his plan, but it was the right thing to do. He owed her that much.
Their affair two years ago had been brief, hot, intense and had ended badly. The kind of blaze that eventually burns itself out, leaving nothing but bitter embers in its wake.
He’d felt bad about that. About having hurt her. And damned if he was going to stand by and watch her get hurt again, not when he could do something about it.
Getting her away from Kingston would prevent her from making one hell of a mistake, one that could cost her a damn sight more than her father’s business.
Yeah. That had been the plan, but seeing Maddie again had set up a slow burn through his senses, and it had taken just one tantalising glimpse of cleavage to shove him right back into the furnace.
Vivid memories of her perfectly round, soft breasts filling his palms. The way he’d enjoyed tonguing her nipples into tight buds before taking them in his mouth and sucking hard. Her erotic moans of pleasure and encouragement.
Shit. His blood was up and his dick was hard. Oh yeah. Fucking idiot.
He needed to keep his frigging head in the game, and his damn libido out of it.
By the time the limo pulled into his apartment complex, he was near to imploding. He beat his driver to Maddie’s door, opening it and watching her long legs slide out. She didn’t look at him, but spared a smile for his driver.
“You still live in the same place,” she said. “Somehow I thought you’d have gone for something even flashier by now.”
With his hand lightly touching the small of her back, he led her to the foyer. “Is that the best you can do? I’d have expected something far more cutting.”
“Just stating facts.”
She’d been uncharacteristically quiet on the journey from the airport, but he’d sensed her mind working overtime, possibly considering the various ways she could get back to London ASAP.
He nodded to the concierge and headed to the penthouse elevator. Taking the key card from his jacket pocket, he slid it into the security panel. The doors opened, and he stood back so Maddie could enter.
He had another waft of her scent and, because his body still hadn’t settled from its earlier stroll down memory lane, he pushed his hands in his trouser pockets and stood slightly behind her. He slid his gaze down the simple dress, which showed off her curves in devastating detail, fitting to perfection in all the right places before ending just above her knees.
He had to admit the hei
ght of the ivory heels did something amazing to her legs, not that they needed much embellishment. She had great legs, especially when they were wrapped around his waist, her ankles locked tight at the small of his back and driving him deeper...deeper...always deeper.
Fuck, and damn it. Couldn’t he keep his freaking hormones in check? What was he? Sixteen?
Maybe he was naive thinking he could go through with this and not be reminded of their week together. That he could ignore memories of sleeping in after an energetic and lust-filled night during which they’d fucked so many times he swore his cock would soon raise a white flag.
He’d enjoyed seeing her take her first sip of coffee in the morning, or biting into toast layered thickly in peanut butter, her particular favourite.
Thankfully, the elevator doors opened, cutting off his musing.
He led her into the private hallway and opened the door. Since she already knew the layout to his apartment, he let her find her own way around. She walked into the living room and glanced about her. Her focus reminded him of a property buyer scrutinising a potential new home.
She did the same thing in the kitchen.
“Where is it?” she asked at length. “Don’t you have a phone in this apartment?”
He almost smiled. He might have known. “Had it taken out.” He leaned against the door-frame. “Pointless keeping it, seeing as I do everything on my cell.”
She held out her hand, waggled her fingers.
“I told you your father’s okay.”
“Well, I want to talk to him myself.”
Her manner was mild enough, but the subtext was loud and clear.
She didn’t trust him.
“You’d do better talking to me about why you felt inclined to hook yourself up to Kingston. He’s not the kind you want to be involved with.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, it’s none of your business. And maybe you’d do better explaining to me the reasons for your bloody cavalier behaviour.”
Pushing away from the door-frame, he opened an overhead cupboard and took out two crystal glasses. He added a bottle of wine from the refrigerator. “I recall you prefer white.”
She barely gave the bottle a glance. “After the day I’ve had, I’d prefer something stronger.” She shrugged. “But that’ll do for now.”
He carried the wine and glasses out into the sitting area with its stunning views over Monaco. He gave the sea a wistful glance, wishing he’d hired a yacht and taken Maddie out onto the ocean. The air would blow their frustrations away, the rock and sway of the water a calm and steadying influence as they sailed off into the vastness of the Mediterranean.
The sea had always been his escape. He remembered how Maddie had enjoyed it, too.
Opening the doors to the deck, he accepted that he’d have to make do with the gentle breeze wrapping around him. Placing the bottle and glasses on the patio table, he slipped off his jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair.
Aware that Maddie had followed him, he indicated the chairs beside the table and uncorked the wine.
“I’m surprised you’ve got time for all this cloak-and-dagger stuff,” Maddie said, going to the terrace railing. “Haven’t you got some corporate takeover to supervise? A coup to organise?”
He smiled as he poured. “Nothing that can’t wait. Why don’t you sit down?”
Leaning back in his own chair, he stretched out and crossed his feet at the ankles. When she sat, he glanced down at her legs, mere inches from his. So close he could reach out, touch that smooth, milky flesh. He’d slide his hand between her knees, stroke along her inner thighs and up toward all that heat.
He expected her to react but, although she’d noticed the direction of his gaze, she kept her legs where they were. Watching him, she picked up her glass and took a long swig.
He held firm to her gaze and took a drink of his own wine. “So what does Kingston get out of all this?”
She drew in a breath, pursed those ripe, kissable lips. Lips that had tortured him, driven him to the edge of insanity. “What do you think he gets out of it? He gets to have me.”
Christ. He felt his head spin. “You’d really sell yourself? For a fucking business deal?”
Her eyes fired bullets at him. “Not like that, you moron.”
Right then, he found it hard to grab a clear thought. He was still reeling from the possibility that Maddie might have agreed to a proper marriage.
“I bring him respectability,” Maddie said, as if it was perfectly reasonable. “Oscar’s reputation took a hit during the last couple of years, and he’s working to reinvent himself. Marrying a Mallory will give him credibility.”
Gabe resisted scoffing out loud. He suspected Kingston’s real reasons were a whole lot darker. “You think that’s all he wants?”
She almost sneered. “Some people can make business deals without bringing sex into the mix.”
“Yeah. Kingston is a real prince. No possibility he’d ever renege on a deal.”
“Your sarcasm is noted, but misplaced. I’ve got everything tied up legally. The terms of our arrangement are itemised, notarised and every other kind of -ised. It’s watertight.”
Gabe doubted that, but damn it, he couldn’t seem to focus. His system was humming with inappropriate lust. She’d been crossing and uncrossing her legs while she spoke, affording him a flash of thigh. Her hand had stroked across her collarbone, bringing his attention to her throat. He licked his lips, imagining he could taste her velvet-smooth skin on his tongue.
Shit. She’d been planning to promise herself to another man mere hours ago, albeit in a union sans sex. It didn’t seem right to want to snatch her up, carry her through to his bedroom, and have hot and sinful sex with her.
But right or not, that’s exactly what he wanted.
“Anyway, you didn’t show up for the wedding,” he said, adjusting his position in the chair as his erection pushed against his trousers. “The deal’s off.”
She sipped her wine, then rested the glass on her knee. “Not necessarily.”
It didn’t come as that much of a surprise, since he’d anticipated she’d try and rearrange the wedding. It was just that she seemed calmly determined, and that scared the freaking life out of him.
“The thing is,” she went on, equally calm and determined, “while we’ve established this is all my business and absolutely none of yours, the fact is, since you’re the one who’s managed to cock up my plans, it’s only fair you should be the one to make things right.”
“Excuse me?”
“I realise it will take time to rearrange everything, of course, so maybe I should spend some time here while you do that. A sort of swan song to my old life, if you like.”
She gave him a sweet, innocent smile, and Gabe tried to read between the lines. Two words repeated in his brain. “Swan song?”
“Hmm.” She sipped her wine, and leaned back in her chair, looking out to the horizon as if deep in contemplation. “There are some interesting possibilities, such as revisiting things I used to enjoy when I stayed here before. Maybe I should make a list.”
Fuck. What the hell did that mean? His trousers grew tighter, presenting him with his own version of interesting possibilities.
Events had just taken a very fascinating turn.
* * *
Perhaps it was wicked of her, but Maddie enjoyed the way Gabe’s eyes darkened and how he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. She’d been aware of his erection and had barely resisted pointing out the fact.
It felt good to have the upper hand, too. While she hated that he knew her business, that he’d taken charge of her life, her decisions, she was secretly kind of thankful for this unexpected diversion.
Mentioning something about supper, Gabe had gone back into the apartment, which meant she could breathe easier without him so close.<
br />
She’d thought of him often since they’d parted, even more so during the last few weeks while persuading herself she could live quite happily without sex muddying the waters. But now, after a few hours with him, she wasn’t so sure.
Hell. She’d thought she’d had it all figured out.
Her parents’ marriage had primarily been a business arrangement—two influential people joining forces to create a flagship hotel chain that became synonymous with class and old-fashioned style. They always seemed happy enough, although they were far from demonstrative, either with each other or with her. Maddie could remember both of them often arriving home too late to put her to bed, and were it not for a much-loved grandmother, she might have been a very lonely child. She knew her parents loved her, but they were wrapped up in Mallory Hotels and tended to ignore her.
Maddie had tried hard to live up to their expectations, opting to focus on subjects like maths and science rather than following the creative pursuits she preferred. She’d buried her desire to create after having her paintings and drawings constantly dismissed by her parents with an indulgent smile and a pat on the head before they went back to discussing the far more important, and profitable, aspects of business.
It wasn’t until after her mother’s death that Maddie had realised how much her father relied on his wife. He had become even more focussed on business and, Maddie had discovered later, had developed that penchant for gambling.
After college, inevitably Maddie joined the business. Although she excelled at the marketing side of it and enjoyed interacting with guests and staff, her heart wasn’t totally invested in what she was doing.
When offered a chance to travel with her father to Monaco to negotiate a potentially lucrative deal which involved building several Mallory Hotels along the Côte d’Azur, Maddie had jumped at the chance. She’d always wanted to visit the principality and had hoped to garner ideas for the interior design of the prospective new build.
