Misbehaving Under the Mistletoe. Heidi Rice
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Название: Misbehaving Under the Mistletoe
Автор: Heidi Rice
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon M&B
isbn: 9781472097064
isbn:
‘But I have plans for Christmas Day,’ she added. ‘And shopping and stuff to do before then.’
‘Not a problem,’ he said, curving his hand round her neck and pulling her to him for a long, languid kiss that would have to last him till dinnertime. ‘I’ve got business commitments myself.’ When he lifted his lips, the blush of embarrassment had turned to the flush of arousal. Just the way he liked it. ‘I won’t hold you prisoner at The Chesterton.’
She gave a quick, artlessly sexy smile. ‘Promise?’
He chuckled. ‘See you in a couple of hours.’
But as he strode through the living room, grabbed his jacket off the sofa and then let himself out of the tiny flat he knew it wasn’t a promise he was likely to keep. He wasn’t going to be letting her out of his sight for the next few days; whatever plans she might have, he’d just have to persuade her to adjust them. He’d speak to his PA after this afternoon’s meeting and get her to reschedule the rest of his own commitments until after Christmas.
He’d been denying his libido too long; the way he’d overreacted this morning was proof of that. His sudden inability to control his emotions had all been tied in with his lust. The next few days would be about working that need out of his system. And showing Cassie what he suspected she might have been missing in her sex life too. Once they’d both got what they wanted out of their affair, Cassie wouldn’t have any more of an effect on him than all his other flings.
Cassie climbed out of bed as she heard the front door slam behind Jace. And pushed aside the spurt of hurt and disappointment that he’d rushed off so quickly.
What was she upset about? She’d agreed that their liaison was about great sex. He wasn’t making a commitment for anything more than that and neither was she.
And while his suggestion that she come and stay at the hotel—correction, his insistence that she come and stay at the hotel—had made her panic button pop again, she could see now it was the practical solution.
Grabbing her clothes up off the floor, she dropped the duvet and began to get dressed. Not only that, but the hotel suite was beautiful. And it would be much easier to remember this whole thing as some glorious sexual fantasy afterwards if they didn’t spend too much time in her flat. Not that it would be a problem. But she didn’t want to store up memories of him here. It would seem too much like a proper relationship when it wasn’t.
And she’d be free to come and go at her leisure. Which she would definitely have to do. Because while she’d done her usual copious research for all the Christmas presents she had to buy, she hadn’t actually got round to buying any yet.
Sitting back at her easel, she lifted up the Sugar Plum Fairy design and scrunched up the card. Then drew out a new card and started drawing. She’d finish her Christmas card design, get Manny at the printing shop round the corner to do a rush job, then post them before she packed up some stuff and went round to The Chesterton later.
There was no big rush, especially as Jace wouldn’t even be there.
This was a casual affair. That was how he was treating it, and how she would treat it too. No blowing it out of proportion in any way. And no getting upset about him having to rush off to a business meeting, especially as she had lots of things to rush off and do in the next few days too.
‘IT’S Sunday!’ Cassie stared at the Sunday papers she’d just noticed folded on the coffee table, the spoon of muesli poised in mid-air. ‘It can’t be.’
Jace glanced up from the plate of Cumberland sausage and eggs he’d been tucking into. ‘That’s correct. Sunday usually comes right after Saturday.’
Cassie plopped the spoon back into her bowl. ‘But Sunday is Christmas Eve.’
‘Is it?’ Jace said, apparently unconcerned as he sliced into his sausage.
Cassie blinked. Watching him as he chewed the meat, then swallowed, her mind having gone completely blank. How could this have happened? She’d arrived at his hotel suite on the night of the twentieth of December. And now it was the morning of the twenty-fourth!
Which meant, even with her atrocious maths skills, that they’d spent three whole days cocooned in his hotel suite. Ordering in room service and indulging in an orgy of sexual pleasures, fulfilling every prurient fantasy she’d ever had, not to mention a great deal more that she’d never even dreamed of.
‘I can’t believe it’s nearly Christmas Day already,’ she murmured, feeling disorientated.
Three whole days. It didn’t seem possible she could have spent all that time doing nothing but making mad, passionate love to Jace Ryan.
The small talk he’d promised hadn’t really materialised. Not in the way she would have hoped. He’d asked her a lot of questions about her work as an illustrator and she’d learned a little about his web design business, which was clearly very successful. But the few times she’d strayed into more personal territory, he’d clammed up and then distracted her. Mostly with sex. And she had forced herself not to take it personally. And not to push. Revelling instead in the passion he stirred so easily.
He shrugged, sent her a suggestive smile that had the heat pooling low in her abdomen. ‘We’ve been busy.’
Cassie’s skin heated as he pierced her with that hungry look again.
Pushing back from the breakfast table, she tightened the tie on her robe. ‘I should shower and get dressed. I’ve got a lot to do today.’ Three whole days had gone by in a haze of lust and passion and she hadn’t even noticed.
As she went to walk past him he snagged her wrist. ‘How about I come in and scrub your back for you?’
She tugged her hand free, dismayed by the way her pulse punched his thumb and her hormones instantly jitterbugged into overdrive as if leaping for joy at the prospect.
They’d made love less than half an hour ago when he’d woken her up to tell her breakfast had arrived, his fingers had started stroking and before she’d known it she’d been rocketing to orgasm while she was still barely awake. And just like all the other times they’d made love, she’d felt the clutch in her chest, the tightening in her heart muscle as he’d carried her into the suite’s living room and plopped her down in front of her breakfast. And she’d steadfastly ignored the bump. But even she couldn’t ignore the fact any longer that her behaviour was veering out of her control.
If this was all just about sex, why couldn’t she seem to get enough of him? And why was the need inside her increasing with each passing day instead of abating?
‘I’d better shower alone this morning,’ she said, remembering how last morning’s shared shower had ended.
‘Hey.’ He stood up as she turned to go, circled both of her wrists with his fingers to hold her in place. ‘What’s the matter? You look kind of spooked.’
Spooked was putting it mildly, she realised as СКАЧАТЬ