“You’ve ruined every other man for me,” Lalita said on a rush, as if the confession was pulled from her soul by force.
“Go on,” Jeremy encouraged, his voice a whisper. This conversation was rocking his world almost as much as watching Lalita eat the fruit earlier.
“In the past five years, whenever another man has kissed me, your face has come up in my mind. The comparisons have not been favorable for the other man. I tried to convince myself that I loved Damian, that we could be a good match. But when he wanted our relationship to become physical, I couldn’t do it. I kept thinking about you and that night in your car. There was no hope after that, I had to break it off with him, because it wasn’t fair on Damian.”
Jeremy was surprised at the statement, although not unpleased. His heart fibrillated again. He should really see a cardiologist when he got back to the UK.
“Why did you run away five years ago?”
“It was something you said.”
“Something I said? I don’t recall talking at all. I wasn’t kidding when I told you at Jessica’s engagement party that that night is permanently seared into my brain, never to be forgotten.”
“You said, ‘You taste like heaven, Lalita Evans.’ When you used my full name it reminded me of who I was supposed to be. And all the other guys before. The ones that wanted to get to my father, or wanted me for my money.”
“Trust me, Lalita. I was not thinking of your father, or your money at the time. I wasn’t thinking at all. You, and you alone, have the ability to banish all rational thought from my brain. With you, I can only feel, and I like what I feel.”
Lalita searched his face.
“Your turn,” she said at last. “Tell me one thing about Jeremy Lakewood that would take me years to find out.”
She picked up another fig, giving it the same treatment as the previous one, except she didn’t close her eyes this time. She kept her gaze fixed on Jeremy. He took another sip of his water, his overheated brain trying to think of some reply.
“I love karaoke. I have secret pop star fantasies.”
Lalita laughed and Jeremy relaxed again.
“You tell me that now? After we’ve left the karaoke capital of the universe? Besides, I don’t think that’s fair. I told you something very personal. Your karaoke weakness doesn’t count.”
Candlelight flickered on Lalita’s gorgeous face. The distant lilt of a haunting melody coming from the bar area made the whole scene like a dream. Jeremy didn’t want to mar it with the harsh realities of his childhood. She looked at him expectantly and as she’d bared her soul, he felt he could do no less. He took a deep breath.
“I’ve been arrested.”
“I knew beneath all that suave sophistication beat the heart of a bad boy. Told you I had a habit of falling for the wild ones. What did you get arrested for?”
“Vandalism. After a drunk driver killed my father, I smashed up his house and car. I was arrested, but as my mum paid for the damages, the charges were dropped. I swore I wouldn’t cost my mother another penny. I’ve held some sort of job ever since.”
“What happened to the drunk driver?”
“He got three years in prison, served less than eighteen months. Meanwhile, my family got a life sentence.” Some days he could barely remember his father. He hoped his dad would be proud of him, even though the rest of the evening would quite possibly put his mother’s future at risk again. But there was no way he could deny himself the chance with Lalita tonight.
“I am sorry for your loss, Jeremy. I can’t imagine losing a parent, even now when I seem to have an over-abundance of them.”
Jeremy was glad Lalita was starting to see the bright side of her recent discovery. He thrust aside the past and concentrated on the woman who sat opposite him. Tonight would be the start of something new.
Chapter 10
The barefoot waiter appeared again, accompanied by a boy this time. Their feet crushed the flower petals strewn about the floor, releasing a delicate perfume that filled Lalita’s head. She tingled with each glance from Jeremy. His gaze lingered on her exposed cleavage and her breasts ached for his touch. Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. If there was ever a time for yoga breathing it was now, before she detonated.
She sipped her wine, lounging on her cushion, as the boy took away her empty plate. The waiter placed the next course before her. Staring across the top of her wine glass at Jeremy she recalled his words. He’d mentioned about being more than a lover. What did he mean?
Five minutes after the waiter took their plates away, Lalita couldn’t remember what she’d eaten. Her focus was entirely on Jeremy. His smile skidded across her skin.
“Finished?” Her voice came out as a whisper.
“I’ve not even begun. Shall we retire to a more private location?”
Lalita’s throat was so tight, she couldn’t have replied if she wanted to. She stood and waited for Jeremy. He got to his feet slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. Picking up her shoes, she carried them as they strolled hand in hand to the villa. Tension coiled in the pit of her stomach.
Jeremy opened the villa door and gestured for Lalita to precede him. The gentle hum of the air conditioning joined forces with the lapping of the waves on the beach. Someone had lit a myriad of candles in hurricane glasses and their light danced around the room.
Jeremy shut the door. The click of the latch echoed the shattering of Lalita’s self-control. Her heart pounded in her chest, her skin over-heated under his gaze.
He leaned against the door, his eyes following her every move.
“Well, that was fun. Good night, then,” she said.
Before she’d completed the sentence, Jeremy strode across the room and pulled her into his arms.
“I told you, I’ve not even started.” He kissed her, his lips soft and gentle. Lalita melted. Five years of anticipation, three weeks of pent up frustration and she couldn’t even make it through the first kiss. She tried to focus, tried to gather her scattered wits. It was too late. Jeremy’s lips and hands were working their magic.
The years evaporated in the heat. She was once again a junior executive, intoxicated at her sister’s engagement party, in the backseat of some charmer’s car.
“Lalita,” Jeremy whispered. He drew in a ragged breath. “I desire you, like I’ve never desired another woman in my life. But unless you want me, unless you want this to happen, it won’t. I’ll stop right now and go to my room, leave you alone.”
Jeremy dropped his hands and stepped back. His chest heaved, his pupils dilated.
Lalita took a deep breath, raised her head and held Jeremy’s gaze. “I want this, Jeremy. I want you. I have never wanted anything more in my life.”
“Then kiss me. Show me you want me,” he demanded.
It was all the encouragement Lalita needed. Stepping forward, she put one hand on his chest and the other on the back of his head. She pulled his mouth down to hers and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. It must have been enough because Jeremy kissed her like there was no tomorrow. And quite possibly, there wasn’t.
• • •
An hour later, Lalita raised her head from Jeremy’s chest. She traced random patterns in his smattering of chest hair with her index finger.
“That was worth waiting five years for, but I’d much rather have had five years of it.”
“Glad you enjoyed it.” Jeremy’s smugness might once have irritated her. Considering what she’d just experienced, he was fully justified in his arrogance.
“I can understand the five-year absence. I take responsibility for that. I was overwhelmed by what I felt for you — the passion that exploded between us. What I don’t understand is why we waited the past three weeks.”
He un-plastered
a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. “Your father said he’d sack me for improper conduct and blacken my name if I seduced you and got in your bed.”
“What! My father said that? Why would he say something like that?” Lalita sat, pulling the sheet up to her chest. The sudden intrusion of her father into the discussion shattered the blissful feeling that had taken over on a cellular level.
“He knows about our previous encounter. I think that’s why he sent you to Asia. Before we left for this business trip, he warned me against getting involved with you.”
Lalita fumed. Her father had a nerve, especially after what she’d recently learned. That was an argument she’d have with her father, however. She wasn’t going to waste her last few hours with Jeremy discussing her over-protective parent. Time was precious.
“Well, that explains the red dress my mother sent me in Manila. If my father knew of our previous encounter, then my mother would know. She must have sent the dress hoping to nudge us toward the bedroom. With Jane and Jessica successfully matched, she thinks it’s my turn.”
“I like the way your mother thinks.”
“I wish you would have told me earlier about what my father said. There is a simple solution to his ultimatum.”
“What’s that?” Jeremy’s hands began to explore again.
“He said you weren’t to seduce me and climb into my bed, right?”
“Something like that,” Jeremy murmured. He pulled Lalita down on top of him and nibbled her ear.
“If you had told me, I could have seduced you and climbed into your bed. For a Director of Marketing, you should have been able to work around the subtle nuances in his directive.”
Jeremy pulled back and caught her eye. “You think you can seduce me?” he challenged.
“Watch me,” she responded before sliding down his torso.
“Lalita!”
• • •
Jeremy woke with a stiff shoulder. He tried to move before realizing that Lalita’s head rested on it. Settling back, he reveled in the feel of her in his arms. Last night had lived up to every one of his fantasies, even exceeded a few. The connection he’d experienced with the woman in his arms had astonished him.
Usually, after a romantic encounter, he either wanted to get up, have a shower and something to eat, or fall asleep. With Lalita, he hadn’t had any of those thoughts. He wanted to hold her tight and never let her go.
Lalita shifted her head, her soft breathing indicating she was still asleep. Tomorrow he would be returning to the UK, and Lalita to Singapore. Their relationship was just starting and now they’d be opposite sides of the globe. They’d never discussed any future between them, never talked about emotional attachments. With any other woman it would be Jeremy’s ideal relationship, yet with Lalita …
She stirred, stretching her limbs, her long legs rubbing against his. Jeremy put all thoughts of the future out of mind and rode the waves of pleasure that followed Lalita’s waking.
• • •
“Want to play one of my favorite games?”
Lalita got out her phone and held it in her palm. Jeremy did the same. They sat in the Denpasar airport lounge waiting for their flights. Her heart was ready to burst, but she refused to let Jeremy see her pain. He was as charming and casual as ever. The only sign that he’d spent a passion-filled two days was the smile that played constantly about his lips.
“What’s your game?” His voice was deep, intimate. Lalita struggled to keep up her breezy nonchalance.
“When I say go, power up your phone. The person with the most emails, text messages, and missed calls wins.”
“What do I get when I win?” Jeremy put his hand over hers and stared into her eyes. Maybe he wasn’t as unaffected as he appeared.
“What do you want? You’ve had all of me, repeatedly.”
“And yet it still doesn’t feel like enough. How about the bet is that the loser has to fly to the winner’s city for another two days of passion?”
Lalita swallowed. Aside from the twenty-six hours spent on an airplane, it seemed a win-win arrangement. “Agreed. Go.”
They pressed the power buttons on their phones and watched the indicators rise. Lalita took a deep breath.
“I have one hundred and twelve emails, eighteen text messages, and forty-two missed calls,” Jeremy said. He scrolled through the missed calls list.
“I have two hundred emails, sixteen text messages, and thirty-one missed calls. I win.”
Jeremy looked up. “Thirty of my missed calls are from your father, as well as half the text messages. The other half are from my secretary saying the CEO is livid and I need to contact the office urgently.”
Lalita swore. “I have twenty missed calls from my father and a text from Grace saying he’s on the war path. I am to call her before I speak with him.”
She peeked over at Jeremy as he scrolled through his email messages. This wasn’t how she wanted to leave him. They had delayed letting the outside world in until the last minute. There was so much left unsaid, she didn’t know where to start.
Jeremy pocketed his phone. “It can all wait until I get back to the UK,” he declared.
Lalita scanned her messages.
“I have a nephew. Jane and Robert’s baby was born this morning at five A.M. Mum and baby are doing well. They are thinking of calling him Matthew.”
Lalita sighed.
Jeremy squeezed her shoulders. She closed her eyes for a minute, treasuring the last moments of peace. She glanced at her phone. Moment over.
When she’d invited Jeremy to come away with her to Indonesia, she’d thought two days in bed with him would take her mind off her parent situation, relieve the sexual tension, and let her get on with her life. Instead she was dreading his departure even more. The only thing to do was return to her impenetrable cloak of efficient businesswoman and hope the gaping hole in her protective covering, caused by Jeremy’s loving, wouldn’t show too much.
“I need to call Grace,” Lalita said. Her secretary was a wall when it came to protecting her boss’s privacy. Lalita had no doubt Grace wouldn’t have divulged any information to her father. However the fact that both she and Jeremy were un-contactable at the same time would have given her father as much information as he needed.
“Hello, Grace.” Lalita took a few steps away. She could sense Jeremy’s eyes on her.
Her secretary regaled her with the highlights of the various phone calls intercepted from Lalita’s father and advised her of a situation requiring immediate attention. Lalita disconnected the call, closed her eyes, and put her head on the cool glass of the window overlooking the runway. Forty minutes from now, she’d be sitting on an airplane waiting for takeoff, going farther away from Jeremy.
She turned back to him. “The head of the Philippine office has been severely injured in a car accident. His secretary was in the car with him for some reason and was killed. I’m booked on a flight to Manila tonight. I only have time to go home and repack.”
Jeremy stood and put his arms around her. It felt wonderful to be held by him. She let herself melt against his strong, hard body, absorb some of his strength. He raised her chin with his finger, his thumb caressing her cheek. Lowering his head, he was about to kiss her when the phone, still clutched in Lalita’s hand, rang. Automatically she glanced down.
“It’s my father,” she said. “I had better speak with him.”
Jeremy released her, his hand trailing down her arm. He squeezed her hand.
“I’ll get you a drink.”
Lalita took a deep breath and did her best to put on a normal voice.
“Good morning, Daddy. It’s early for you to be calling.”
“Don’t ‘good morning’ me, Lalita. Are you with Jeremy Lakewood?”
“Yes.”
“Are you asking as my boss or my father?”
“Both.”
“Then, as an employee, I will answer that I have worked twenty-six days straight, often from six A.M. to after ten P.M. I had no urgent meetings or work to be done, so I thought it was an appropriate time for me to take a few days leave.”
“And as my daughter?” Her father’s voice was gruff.
“As your daughter, I would remind you that I am twenty-eight years old and no longer live in your house. With respect, Daddy, my personal life is my business.”
“Lalita, you are my child, I love you. I only want the best for you, for you to be happy. I don’t want you to get hurt. Do you love him?”
Lalita’s heart stopped. It was a word she had avoided even thinking about with every fiber of her being. She could admit to wanting Jeremy, it was obvious. She even acknowledged that at times she needed him.
Glancing up, she saw Jeremy stride toward her, a bottle of water in his hand. Her heart did a flip-flop. God, he was fabulous.
“Yes, Daddy, I love him. And Jeremy told me what you said about sacking him. If you fire Jeremy over this, then you’ll have to look for my replacement also.”
“Get on that flight with Jeremy. Come home, Lalita.”
“I can’t. There’s an issue with the Manila office I have to deal with first. I’ll return when I’ve sorted it out.”
“Very well. We’ll discuss this further in person. I want you home as soon as this issue in Manila is resolved.” The CEO was back in charge.
“Yes, sir.” Her father hung up without saying goodbye. Lalita heaved a big sigh.
“Everything all right?” Jeremy put the bottle of water on the chair. He pulled Lalita into his arms.
“It’s fine. I told my father that if he fires you I’ll quit.”
“You didn’t need to do that,” Jeremy whispered into her ear. “I can fight my own battles.”
Romance in Color Page 179
