His Christmas Acquisition (10 page)

She stood up and brushed the backs of her thighs where tiny specks of sand had stuck from the chair. She did her best to ignore his dark eyes thoughtfully watching her.

‘So what are our plans for tomorrow? I know that your sisters leave with Tom and Patrick and the kids. I have no objection to working in the evening. You’ve been more than kind in letting me take so much time off to relax.’

‘Let’s not get back on that gratitude bandwagon,’ Ryan said irritably. His eyes skimmed over her, taking in her slender legs, slim waist and pert breasts barely contained underneath the vest. Her work suits did nothing to flatter her figure. The memory of her full mouth pressed against his flashed through his head and ignited a series of images that made him catch his breath sharply. ‘I haven’t seen you at the pool,’ he continued, standing up and swamping her with his potently masculine presence. Jamie instinctively took a small step backwards.

‘I … I’ve sat there with my book a bit.’

‘But not been tempted to get in the water. Don’t you swim?’

‘Yes.’ She
had
stuck on her black bikini on one occasion, but the thought of parading in a pool in a bikini with
Ryan—her boss—splashing around, having fun with the family, had been too much. She had promptly taken it off and replaced it with her summer shift. Much safer.

‘Then why the reticence? Did you feel shy with my noisy family all around?’

‘No. Of course not!’

‘Well, they’ll be gone by tomorrow evening, and things will be a lot quieter here. You can start enjoying the pool in peace and quiet.’

‘Maybe. I really should be getting in now.’

‘Wild imagination here, but I get the feeling you don’t like being alone with me. A guy could get offended.’

Jamie tensed. His lazy teasing was dangerously unsettling.

‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but I spent three hours alone with you today.’

‘Ah, but in the company of a flip chart, two computers and a range of stationery.’

‘I’m just doing my job! It’s what I’m paid to do and I’m going to head back now.’

Up the stone steps leading down to the pool, the path skirted the house, taking them across the sprawling gardens where palm trees fringed the edges, leaning towards the sea. Underneath, a huge variety of plants and shrubs were landscaped to provide a wild, untamed feel to the garden.

Jamie’s feet seemed to have wings. She was acutely conscious of Ryan behind her. She had never been very self-confident about her body. With Jessica as a sister, she had been too aware growing up of the physical differences between them. She was shorter, her figure so much less eye-catching. And she was wearing shorts!

Of their own accord, her thoughts flew back to the parade of models who had flitted in and out of Ryan’s life: blondes with legs to their armpits and hair to their waists.
Unconscious comparisons sprang to mind, addling her, and maybe that was why she stumbled over the root of a tree projecting above-ground, walking so quickly, rigid as a plank of wood, arms protectively folded and her mind all over the place. It was a recipe for disaster on a dark night in unfamiliar surroundings.

She gave a soft gasp as her body made painful contact with the ground but before she could stagger to her feet she was being lifted up as though she weighed nothing.

Jamie shrieked. ‘Put me down! What are you doing?’

‘Calm down.’

The feel of his muscular arms around her and the touch of his hard chest set up a series of tingling reactions in her body that made her writhe in his arms until she realised that her writhing was having just the opposite effect; he tightened his hold, pulling her more firmly against him. Instantly, she fell limp and allowed herself to be carried up to the veranda where he gently deposited her on one of the wicker chairs which were strewn at various intervals around the house.

‘I’m absolutely fine,’ she muttered through gritted teeth and was ignored as Ryan stooped down and removed her espadrilles.

His long fingers gently felt her foot and her ankle, which he ordered her to try and move.

‘I haven’t twisted anything!’ she exclaimed, trying to pull her foot out of his grasp while her treacherous body was tempted to go with the flow and succumb to the wonderful sensation of what his hands were doing.

‘No. If you had, you wouldn’t be able to move it.’

‘Exactly. So if you don’t mind …’

‘But you’re bruised.’ He was peering at her knee and then doing it again, sweeping her up and informing her that it was just as well to put no strain on it but that she needed cleaning up.

‘That’s something I can do myself.’ Her breasts were pushing against his chest and, good lord, her nipples were hardening as they scraped against the fabric of her bra, and between her legs felt damp. Every bit of her body was responding to him and she hated it. It terrified the life out of her. She just wanted him to put her down so that she could scuttle back to the safety of her bedroom, but instead he was carrying her through the house, up the short staircase that led to the wing of the house where he was staying and then—when it couldn’t get any worse as far as she was concerned—into his bedroom. Jamie closed her eyes and stifled a weak groan of despair.

She hadn’t been here yet. His room was huge and dominated by an impressive bed fashioned out of bamboo. The linen was a colourful medley of bold reds and blacks and looked positively threatening.

Beneath the window was a long sofa and he took her to it and sat her down.

‘Don’t move a muscle. I have a first-aid kit in the bathroom—hangover from my Boy Scout days.’

‘This is ridiculous—and you were never a Boy Scout!’

‘Of course I was!’ He disappeared into the adjoining bathroom and through the open door Jamie glimpsed him rifling through a cupboard, searching out the first-aid kit. ‘I may even have earned a few badges.’ He reappeared with a small tin and knelt at her feet. ‘If you ever need a tent erecting, or a fire to be lit using only two pieces of wood, then I’m your man. Tsk, tsk—do you see those bruises on your knees? If you hadn’t been rushing off like a bat out of hell this would never have happened.’

Jamie clamped her teeth together and refrained from telling him that if he hadn’t appeared in front of her, broken her phone and then insisted on having a long, personal conversation
with her she wouldn’t have felt inclined to rush off and wouldn’t be sitting here now in his bedroom while he …

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, intending to block out the image of his down-bent head as he tended to her bruises, applying alcohol wipes to the surfaces, then antiseptic cream which he gently rubbed into her skin.

‘No good applying any plasters,’ he informed her. ‘You want the sun to dry out these cuts and scratches.’

‘Yep, okay. Thank you. I’ll leave now, if you don’t mind.’

‘Shall I carry you?’

Her eyes flew open and she saw that he was grinning at her.

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

‘And to continue our conversation …’

‘To continue our conversation about
what
?’

‘About tomorrow, of course.’

She caught his eyes. He looked as innocent as the pure driven snow.

‘What about tomorrow?’ she stammered, walking towards the door.

‘Well, you were telling me about what you wanted to do. Work wise.’

Had she? She couldn’t think. Every nerve ending in her body was on fire. She was tingling all over and it was ludicrous. Having an insane crush on Greg had been bad enough but at least she could see the sense there. With Ryan Sheppard? She didn’t even respect the sort of guy who dated a string of models, who never seemed to see beyond the long legs and the perfect figure! Ergo, she couldn’t possibly have a crush on him. The soaring tropical heat was getting to her. She wasn’t used to it.

‘Yes!’ The place was going to be empty, aside from his mother. Suddenly, the thought of even a tiny window when they would be together without the possibility of interruption
was scary beyond belief. ‘There are still loads of things to do and I have lots of ideas about your presentations—like, you really need to give a strong argument for implementing your system in their cars. New technology can do so much for the environment.’

She had reached the door without even realizing. Now her back was against the door frame and he was looking at her with his head to one side, the picture-perfect image of someone one-hundred-percent interested in what she had to say.

So why the heck was she feeling so nervous?

She quailed when he took a few steps towards her.

‘Are you entirely sure that you’re all right?’

He loomed over her, a darkly, wickedly sexy guy who was sending her mind into crazy disarray.

‘Because you’ve gone pale.’ He leant against the door frame and looked at her with concern. ‘Nothing broken, but you could still be in a bit of shock at losing your footing like that. Happens, you know—you have a minor accident and you think you’re fine but really …’

‘I don’t
think
I’m fine. I
am
fine.’

‘I think we can afford to give work a miss tomorrow. Those harridans known as my sisters will be leaving, and as soon as they’ve gone the house is going to feel very empty. It might be an idea to do something with my mother, occupy her …’

‘I’m more than happy to do that.’

‘I think I might like to be included in the exercise,’ Ryan murmured drily, looking down at her. She noticed the fine lines around his eyes that spoke of a man who lived life to the full, the thick sweep of his dark lashes, the deep bitter-chocolate of his irises flecked with tinges of gold. He was beautiful but not in a detached, frozen way. He was beautiful
in a devastatingly sexy way and her pulses raced in easy, treacherous recognition of that.

‘Of course! Actually, I think it might be a good idea if you and your mother had some, um, time together. You’ve hardly had a one to one with her since we got here.’

‘Oh, there’s no need for a one to one. Can I let you in on a little secret?’ he murmured huskily, leaning towards her.

Jamie nodded because quite honestly she didn’t trust herself to speak. She didn’t think her voice would sound normal because her tongue appeared to be glued to the roof of her mouth.

‘One to ones with my mother can sometimes be a little dangerous.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Locked into this intimate atmosphere, she found it impossible to tear herself away from his mesmeric dark gaze.

‘She’s developed an unnerving habit of cornering me about my private life.’ In actual fact, Ryan hadn’t meant to mention this at all. Underneath the confident, self-assured charm he was a lot more watchful and contained than people suspected, but he wanted to get under her skin. With each passing day, the desire had grown more urgent. He was frustrated by the way she blocked him, and frustrated with himself for a curiosity he couldn’t understand. On a basic level, he realised that the confidences she had shared with him—which would hardly be termed earth shattering by most people’s standards—were hugely significant for her. Possibly she regretted them. Scratch that—she
did
regret them but she was now unable to retreat.

However, that didn’t mean that she was now on a new, no-holds-barred, sharing level with him. And he wanted her there. He actively wanted her to invite him into her thoughts—which would entail some confidence sharing of his own.

So, when she looked at him in silent curiosity, he heard himself say with utmost seriousness, ‘I’m not sure that my mother is a firm believer in the virtues of playing the field. Nor, for that matter, are the harridans.’

‘I don’t think that there’s any mother who would be thrilled to have a son who takes the fastest exit the second there’s the threat of commitment with a woman.’

‘Is that what you think I do?’

‘Isn’t it?’ The silence that greeted her question was thick and heavy with a peculiar, thrilling undercurrent. Jamie desperately wanted to repeat her mantra about going to bed, but a weird and powerful sense of anticipation held her to the spot. When after a few seconds he didn’t answer, she shrugged lightly and began turning away.

‘Well, it’s none of my business anyway. Although I resent the fact that you feel it permissible to ask whatever questions you like about my private life, even though you know that I don’t want to answer them, and yet you can’t be bothered to answer any that are directed at you. Not,’ she added for good measure, her hand on the door frame, ‘that I care one way or another.’

‘I could be hurt by that,’ Ryan murmured softly. ‘You’re my irreplaceable secretary. You’re supposed to care.’ It wasn’t his imagination; when it came to women, he had the instincts of a born predator. He knew when they were reacting to him and Jamie was reacting to him right now. It was there in the slight flare of her nostrils, the faint flush that spread across her cheeks and the way her pupils dilated. Her mouth was half-open, as though she was on the verge of saying something, and her full, parted lips allowed a glimpse of her pearl-white teeth.

The urge to press her against the door frame and kiss her senseless was as overpowering as a blow to the stomach. He wanted to slide his hand underneath that tiny vest
of hers and feel the weight of her breast against the palm of his hand. He wanted to taste her, right here, right now on his bed.

Interest and curiosity were one thing, being torn apart by inexplicable sexual desire was another. Jamie Powell might have suddenly become dangerously intriguing but it would be lunacy to follow it through simply to see where it led. For a start, she was the best secretary he had ever had. For another, she was no bimbo ready and willing for a romp in the hay, no strings attached.

‘You’re right. It’s none of your business.’

‘Good night, Ryan. Thanks for taking care of my cuts and bruises.’

He reached out and his long fingers circled her arm. ‘My father took his eye off the ball,’ Ryan told her softly. ‘He got married, had four children … Like I said, he took his eye off the ball. While he was busy being domesticated, his finance director was helping himself to company funds. By the time my father noticed, the company was virtually on its knees. In my view, he worked himself into an early grave trying to get it back in order but by then it was too late. I inherited a mess, and I got it where it should be, and I have no intention of taking my own eye off the ball. Thanks to my efforts, my mother has the lifestyle she deserves and my sisters have the financial security they deserve. So, you see, I have no time for the demands of a committed relationship. I don’t need the distraction.’