[Truyện tiếng anh] The Playboy Boss's Chosen Bride

The Playboy Boss's Chosen Bride
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‘I’m not sure I believe it would be anything special to you, Jake,’ she said on a doubtful sigh. ‘Perhaps you think you can seduce me back to work with you.’

He said nothing.

Which, to Merlina’s mind, meant she’d hit the nail on the head. Except he threw her into emotional confusion again when he did reply.

‘Seduction is not my scene. I’ve only ever been with women who’ve wanted to be with me. I hope you will choose to be my partner at work again because we make a great team. And I don’t think anyone can fill your shoes, Merlina.’

Those all too seductive words completely destroyed the cynicism she had struggled to maintain. She wanted to be his partner—his partner in everything. They did make a great team. And she knew in her bones that no one was going to fill his shoes, either.

The need to be with him dragged at her heart. She closed her eyes, wishing it was possible to forget everything else and just let it happen. She could give it three months, couldn’t she? If it didn’t look like leading where she wanted it to go, break it off then and walk away. But having got in so deep, would she want to?

The choices one made directed one’s life, but how many choices were driven by emotion? Had she really chosen to carve out a career for herself, or was it simply a rebellion against the constrictions innate in living up to the Italian way, as dictated by her father. Had she chosen to cut her hair and re-image herself to get the job at Signature Sounds or had that motivation been pushed by the desire to make Jake Devila sit up and take notice of her—man/woman notice?

As for playing the get-Jake game with Byron, she’d been indulging a vengeful streak that had completely overwhelmed common sense. Vengeance and hope—a ****tail for chaos, not a recipe for forging a good future.

Her resignation from the job had been an attempt to take real control of where she was going in her life, yet even that had been a reaction to intolerable circumstances, and this move from Jake tonight was spinning her right out of control again. Her head was aching from the stress of trying to choose the right direction. Her heart kept thumping its own message—let it happen. You want it to.

Jake was acutely conscious of her silence. Had he said enough to break the barriers she was trying to keep between them? She wasn’t arguing and Mel—Merlina—was rarely lost for words when she had a point to push. He had to stop thinking Mel. If he slipped up on her name again, she’d probably kick him out of her life.

A quick glance told him she’d closed her eyes, retreating into her own inner world, shutting him out. That was a bad sign. Her mind was probably working against him, thinking of Vanessa and the other women who’d traipsed through his life and bed since she’d been his personal assistant. He couldn’t blame her for not believing she held a uniquely special place in his mind. But she did. He’d just wanted to keep her separate from the party scene—all to himself at work.

No choice now.

He had to do whatever had to be done not to lose her.

They were crossing the harbour bridge. Only fifteen more minutes to her apartment in Chatswood. He knew where it was, had dropped her there a few times after meetings with business associates had run late. She’d never invited him in and he’d never pushed to go in, knowing it would be a dangerous place to be. Too intimate. Too tempting.

But that didn’t matter any more. His whole body was yearning to have her in his arms again, firing up the passion that had flared between them. Just kissing her had been pure dynamite. And she had certainly felt it as strongly as he had. She couldn’t turn her back on it. No one in their right mind would.

A red traffic light forced a stop at the Artarmon turn-off. It gave him time to take more than a glance at her. She was a study in stillness, as though she was holding herself tightly together. Her eyes were still closed. There was a sad, defeated air about her expressionless face. It suggested she had given up on fighting him but wasn’t happy about it.

He wanted to lean over and kiss her, bring her back to vibrant life again. The car behind his honked an impatient warning that the line of traffic in front of him was moving. Jake switched his attention to the road ahead and drove on, telling himself he’d make everything right for Merlina when the trip to Chatswood was over.

The car came to a halt and the engine was switched off. Time up, Merlina thought. No escape from facing up to the situation now. With a resigned sigh, she opened her eyes and saw they were parked directly in front of her apartment. Jake had brought her home as promised.

It was an old-fashioned block of only four apartments and she lived on left-hand side ground floor. She had her own entrance via a front porch which caught the sun in winter. Apart from this pleasant feature, the apartment was fairly basic: a living room which was separated from the kitchen by a breakfast bar, a bathroom/laundry and two bedrooms at the back.

Jake had never been inside. Nor had she ever been inside his penthouse at Milson’s Point where he had undoubtedly entertained many women. A convulsive little shiver of revulsion accompanied that thought. Merlina silently vowed she would never go there. If she was going to have *** with him it would take place in her bed where no other intimacy had ever occurred.

Her heart fluttered wildly as Jake alighted from the car and headed for the passenger side. Any second now she would be stepping out beside him and what would happen after that? He opened the door. Merlina was momentarily paralysed with fear, unable to make herself move.

‘We’re here,’ he said, prompting action.

‘Right!’ she forced herself to say, and somehow managed to swing her legs out of the car.

Jake grasped her arm, assisting in getting her upright from the low-slung seat. It brought her very close to him and when he took hold of her other arm, turning her to face him, every nerve in her body zinged as though hit by an electric charge. Was he about to kiss her? She looked up in helpless agitation. For several fraught moments, his eyes searched hers, and the tension emanating him held her more captive than his hands. What was he looking for? What did he want to find?

He didn’t kiss her.

‘Go and open up,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ll get your bags out of the trunk and bring them inside.’

Her arms were released. He turned away. Free to move, Merlina recollected herself and headed for her front door. I’m his puppet again, she thought, acting to his dictation. She didn’t even realise she had no handbag with her until she reached the porch. It was probably in the trunk, too. Rather than turn back, she took the emergency key from the little magnetic box attached to the pot stand under the pink geranium, used it to unlock the door, then returned it to its hiding place.

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The trunk slammed shut, which meant Jake was on his way. She entered her living room, leaving the door opened wide for him to carry in the bags of clothes, including the red rose St Valentine’s Day bikini, which she’d designed with malice aforethought. Going out with a big bang had probably not been a good idea. Another decision driven by emotion.

Everything was tidy, as she’d left it on Saturday morning. There weren’t any red roses in a vase. Jake hadn’t sent her any on St Valentine’s day. No token of love from him. Only…unfinished business!

‘Where do you want these?’ he asked as he came in.

She couldn’t bring herself to direct him to her bedroom. ‘Just drop them on the floor, thanks, Jake.’

He pushed the door shut before unloading himself. Merlina didn’t have to be Einstein to know he didn’t intend to leave in a hurry. Having set down her bags as directed, he straightened up, his presence more dominating than ever now that he was within the four walls of her home.

The tension swirling between them choked her into silence. All she could do was stare at him—this man whom she had craved for so long. Not for just a ***ual experience. She desperately wanted him to make love to her—real love—and for it to be so wonderful he’d never want any other woman. A team for life, not limited to work. He’d used the M word…

‘Why are you frightened of me?’ he asked, frowning in concern, his hands lifting, palms open in an appeal for belief that he meant her no harm.

‘Because…’ It was a croak. She swallowed hard. ‘Because…’ Again she stopped, her head whirling with reasons, but voicing them would sound like begging for more than he was ever likely to give and that would leave her totally defenceless.

‘You didn’t really answer me before,’ he said, his eyes demanding the truth now, though his voice held a caring gentleness as he repeated the question. ‘Are you a virgin, Merlina?’

‘No. But…it’s been a while…’ Like years. Her mind suddenly seized on a reason that any woman with any sense should be thinking of in this situation. ‘And I’m not protected.’

The words were no sooner out than she realised they implied she was not against having *** with him, only that she wasn’t prepared for it tonight.

He smiled in relief as he assured her, ‘I’ll take care of it.’

Of course, she thought caustically. He was probably in the habit of carrying a pocketful of condoms. Who knew when lust would jump up and bite you, and it would be highly inconvenient if he got a woman pregnant. She was crazy to be dallying with a playboy.

‘Don’t worry about anything,’ he soothed as he moved forward, his natural confidence restored, flashing his dimples in distracting fashion while she stood like a dummy, letting him come to her.

He slid one arm around her waist and lifted his other hand to her face, his fingers grazing softly down her cheek, tracing her lips with tantalising tenderness. Again all Merlina could do was stare at him. His eyes were promising her pleasure she had never known before, and there was no longer any question of whether or not *****rrender to temptation.

The promise was too close, beaming into her tormented soul, tugging her irresistibly into abandoning her fears and following his lead…the light of her life.

CHAPTER NINE

THE swell of caring Jake felt was completely new to him. None of the women he had ever been with had shown any inhibitions about having *** with him. The poignant vulnerability in Merlina’s eyes was so suggestive of innocence, he was certain her ***ual experience had been very limited, and probably not pleasurable enough to seek repetition. She wasn’t even on the Pill. That alone spoke volumes.

It made him acutely conscious that this was not a casual tumble into bed. Not for her. Not for him, either. It was make or break time. If he didn’t get it right for her, didn’t make her feel good about giving herself to him, she might wipe him off as a big mistake. Might even go back to his grandfather.

Her lips quivered under his feather-light finger touch, parting slightly as she sucked in a deep breath. There were no sparks of fiery amber in her eyes. The brown had darkened into pools of dark chocolate—huge eyes swimming with unbridled emotion that tugged at his heart, asking silent questions which he knew he had to answer. Somehow.

Her hands had lifted to his chest, not to push him away, but resting there tentatively, not quite prepared to actively encourage more physical intimacy, yet he could feel the taut waiting in her body, the wanting for him to take the initiative, to make it happen.

The moment he kissed her he knew they would slide up around his neck, holding him tight as she had in his grandfather’s home. But there was no longer any need to prove the existence of the ***ual chemistry between them and he didn’t want to move fast this time.

He wanted to explore every facet of Merlina Rossi, know all that she was, far beyond what she’d shown him at work. Her smooth olive skin had made him wonder how it would feel. His finger pads revelled in its satin softness as he slid them across her cheek and into her hair, so thick and glossy, like massed strands of silk, not the often dry texture of dyed blond hair.

What was it about blondes that had attracted him? Maybe it was a come-hither attitude embodied in their wish to be more attractive to men. Whereas Merlina…This is me, she had cried when he had accused her of adopting a different image to the one he had insisted upon for her job as his P.A. If he had not demanded the change, if her hair had remained long, how gloriously sensual it would be to lie on it, to have it brushing over his body!

‘I shouldn’t have told you to have it cut,’ he said regretfully.

Her head leaned into the cup of his hand, rubbing it like a cat that loved being stroked. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said huskily. ‘I can grow it again now.’

Be herself…away from him.

The intolerable thought spurred the need to draw her into a closeness she wouldn’t want to break. His mouth sought the response from hers she had given before, using all its erotic skill to excite her out of the passive stance she’d been holding. Her arms instantly flew up to wind around his neck. Her tongue danced a wild tango with his. The voluptuous swell of her breasts pressed against his chest, their hard peaks imprinting proof of her arousal.

He gathered her closer and her wonderfully soft and curvaceous femininity was an intoxicating pleasure. Skinny was great for wearing designer clothes. Feeling pelvic bones and ribs was not so ***y. Merlina’s body was sensually perfect and his hands revelled in moulding it to his.

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He was on fire for her, desire roaring through him, tightening his muscles, making his erection shriek now, now, now! He barely leashed the urge to race her off to bed. Fast was wrong. She’d think he only cared about getting ***ual relief, using her to do it. If she’d only had selfish lovers, adding himself to that list wouldn’t win him any stay of judgement on her leaving him to his own life. He had to ease back, slow down, stay in control.

Merlina was so caught up in the throes of passion, a guttural little moan of protest scraped from her throat when he withdrew his mouth from hers, bringing a halt to the intense flow of excitement.

‘It’s all right,’ he soothed, whispering the words in her ear, making it tingle as he tucked her head into the curve of his neck and shoulder, then rubbed his cheek softly over her hair. ‘You’ll have me exploding if I don’t take a breather.’

A gurgle of laughter bubbled out, erupting from the relief of having him dismiss the nervous fear that she was an inadequate kisser compared to the more experienced women he’d been with.

‘You think it’s funny?’ he queried in a wry tone.

‘No…no…’ She scooped in a quick breath and planted a happy kiss on his throat. ‘I think it’s great,’ she murmured with a rush of heartfelt pleasure at having him find her so desirable.

‘Oh, you like having that kind of power over me, do you?’ he said teasingly.

A wild recklessness seized her. Suddenly freed from the dreadful bank of inhibitions that had previously almost paralysed her, she lifted her head back and grinned at him. ‘Yes, I do.’

He laughed as though he loved the unexpected burst of honesty from her. His eyes sparkled with wicked mischief. ‘You’re challenging me to drive you into the same state of urgency.’

‘You’ve done a fair job so far,’ she said archly, entering into his playboy game. It was who Jake was, and nothing was going to change him, so why not let herself enjoy it for once?

‘Fair…’ he repeated assessingly, his eyes gathering dangerous glints of ***ual intent. ‘An escalation is definitely needed here. I think I’ll start by getting rid of this belt which has been sticking into me.’

He swiftly dropped his embrace, his hands deftly undoing the plaited rosette which fastened the soft leather tie around her waist. Her stomach contracted as the belt loosened and dropped to the floor. This was the first stage of undressing. Don’t think ahead, she fiercely told herself. Just let it happen.

But as he disconnected the hook and eye which kept the wrap-around silk dress in place, she desperately wished she was wearing a ***y suspender belt and stockings instead of plain, comfortable pantihose. The creamy silk bra and knickers were okay, not exactly alluring but she liked them and if Jake was used to more exotic female underwear, well…tough luck! Surely getting down to basics was the aim, anyway, and she wasn’t ashamed of her body.

‘Mmm…silk hair, silk dress, silk bra,’ he purred approvingly, his hand shifting the dress aside enough to slide under the fabric and close around the fullness of one achingly sensitive breast. His mouth curved into a very sensual smile, his eyes simmering with ***y appreciation. ‘What does that tell me about you, Merlina?’

She wanted to close her own eyes and just feel him feeling her, focus inwardly on the gently kneading fingers, the tantalising sweep of his thumb over her extremely erect nipple, the intense pleasure flooding from his touch. Yet if she did so, wouldn’t it tell him how deeply he was affecting her? Better to keep the banter going, treat everything lightly.

‘That I’m a silk worm and you should feed me mulberry leaves?’ she tossed out.

He laughed, delight dancing over his face, dimples flashing, and the hand caressing her breast forgot its seductive intent and squeezed in avid possession as he sobered and said, ‘I’d rather feed you me.’

Her heart slammed around her chest at the suggestive imagery of those words. Somehow her mind was still alert enough to zap out a snappy reply. ‘Careful, Jake! I might chew you into little bits.’

‘Well, you’d only do that if you found me tasty.’

‘Or too difficult to swallow.’

‘Guess we have to test that out.’

A joyous confidence glowed from him. His hands started sliding around her back and Merlina knew her bra was about to be slipped from its moorings. Attacked by another panicky wave of vulnerability, she wildly seized on a bold move of her own.

‘You’re wearing too many clothes for tasting,’ she pointed out, hoping to put him on the naked spot first.

He grinned. ‘Did I ever tell you I love the way your mind works?’

Love? That one word rattled all the skeletons in Merlina’s emotional closet. She barely caught breath enough to say, ‘No, you never did.’

‘Always put me on my mettle. Thrust, parry, thrust…exciting stuff.’

Not exciting enough to want to be with me all the time, she thought rebelliously, telling herself not to get sucked into the love pit. That was too dangerous with Jake. Besides, her defensive tactic had worked. Instead of undoing her bra, his hands had whipped down to the bottom of his shirt, which he was gathering up for lift-off. She quickly removed her arm-lock on his head and stood looking on in awed fascination as he not only stripped off his shirt but all his other clothes, as well.

Her stomach felt weirdly hollow as her eyes skated down his magnificent, male physique and fastened on the ***ual equipment which was certainly primed for action. With her this time. Forget the women he’d had in the past, she fiercely told herself. She had put him in this high state of arousal and despite common sense cautioning her to keep everything light, a primitive sense of possessiveness was clawing through her, wanting to take and hold and forge an inseparable connection with Jake Devila.

Her man.

For tonight, anyway.

Though maybe it would stretch into months.

And what then?

Stop thinking about that.

Just take what you can…what’s on offer right now…reach out and take it…

‘Merlina…?’

He was asking her to. She could hear it in his voice, asking why she wasn’t touching, wasn’t tasting. But she couldn’t make herself do it. Her hands were clenching and unclenching at her sides instead of moving forward. It wasn’t a game. Not for her, it wasn’t. She couldn’t play it as though it was.

‘Don’t be frightened of me.’

His voice was soft, serious, tapping at the truth. Before she could find wits enough to answer, to brush the idea of fear aside, he moved, sliding her dress from her shoulders. It slithered down her arms and dropped to the floor, pooling around her feet. Then his arms were around her again, drawing her into a terribly intimate embrace and she knew she’d gone past the point of no return, and everything within her quivered an acceptance of it.

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He rested his forehead against hers and gruffly murmured, ‘It will be all right. I promise you.’

Then her bra was gone and her bare breasts were making contact with his naked chest—a smooth hairless chest that heaved with a swift intake of air, making her acutely aware of its muscled strength and the enticing heat of his taut flesh. He tilted her head back and kissed her slowly, sensuously, not so much seeking to excite but transmitting an assurance that he could and would go gently with her.

The caring implicit in the kiss sent a rush of soothing warmth to her torn heart. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing closer, revelling in the wildly erotic freedom of feeling of her skin against his, the exhilarating vibrancy that shot through her whole body in anticipation of feeling more and more.

His hands glided down the curve of her back and under her pantihose and knickers, his thumbs hooking over their waist-bands, smoothly drawing the flimsy garments past her hips, lower, lower, his fingers curling under her bottom, lifting her into a more flagrant, ***ually charged fit with him.

Chaotic excitement broke loose. Her mouth sucked his tongue in hard, instinctively pursuing the blind need to have him deep inside her. He instantly reciprocated, propelling a driving urgency that he suddenly cut off, retreating to tantalising nibbles on her lips.

‘Not yet, not yet,’ he breathed raggedly. ‘Let’s get these off.’

He bent quickly, peeling the last of her clothes down her quivering thighs. His head dropped through the loop of her arms, leaving her hands grabbing onto his shoulders, needing the support as he lifted her feet, one after another, removing her shoes, stripping her completely naked like him. Her body shivered at the sudden loss of his heat. She was light-headed, dizzy.

It was sheer blissful relief when he simply picked her up, cradling her tightly against his chest as he straightened to his full height again, one arm hooked around her thighs, the other supporting her back. Her head nestled happily on his shoulder while he trailed soft kisses over her hair, his mouth moving down to her ear, blowing an erotic waft of warm air into it, making her heart leap and race with excitement.

‘Your bedroom, Merlina…where is it?’ he murmured.

‘Last door at the end of the hall,’ she answered without the slightest hesitation, wanting him to take her there, wanting everything to happen with this man.

Her hands glided over his strongly muscled back as he carried her down the hall. He was so gorgeously male—all of him—and somehow that made her feel more intensely female, stirring the primal instincts no amount of civilisation could retrain. They had broken loose and were zinging through her, exulting in the promise of what was to come.

He opened the door to her bedroom, switched on the light. Yes, she thought wildly, let there be light. She wanted the visual pleasure of seeing him, watching him—Jake Devila, pumped up with desire for her and acting on it, intent on sweeping her along with him.

He laid her on the scarlet silk doona she had brought back from China—a tourist trip she had taken after leaving her last job. Buying the doona had been total self-indulgence but she’d loved it on sight, the brilliant scarlet printed so exotically with graceful sprays of flowers and pagodas and Chinese ladies in tra***ional dress, carrying pretty shade umbrellas and walking over curved bridges which invariably featured in the Chinese gardens the tour group had visited. She’d bought the matching pillow slips, as well, unable to resist the complete set.

Having it—using it—had been a private pleasure, yet now as Jake stood back, his gaze travelling slowly over the vision she made with the scarlet silk spread underneath her, she was glad to have surprised him with something extraordinary, elated that he looked at her as though she was the perfect centrepiece for such sensuous splendour. But she didn’t want him standing apart from her.

Acting instinctively to draw him to her, she slithered her body over the silk, stretching out invitingly, seductively, taking a feline satisfaction in feeling it against her skin, though it was Jake’s skin she wanted to feel most, moving against hers. Her eyes passionately burned their own message at him—Come to me…me…

Jake was momentarily stunned. The sight of a woman on a bed had never before checked the need which was still rampaging through him, but Merlina…the glorious beauty of her had made him pause. The soft, voluptuous curves were all woman. As a woman was meant to be, he thought, the images of art masterpieces running through his mind, wonderful nudes posed in opulent settings. Her lovely smooth skin gleamed like satin. Satin against silk. Red silk. So incredibly ***y. Like a fantasy. Though the marvellous female mystique would have been heightened if only…

‘Mad…stupid…’ he muttered, shaking his head over the blind error in judgement he’d made. ‘Why didn’t I see?’

The compulsive yearning in Merlina’s heart skipped into panicky bewilderment. ‘See what?’ spilled straight off her tongue, the need to know how he was thinking jerking through her mind.

‘I was so wrong. Long hair was right for you. It should be cascading all over these pillows.’ He stretched out on the bed beside her, propping himself up on one elbow as he softly raked the shorter spill of her layered hair back behind her ear. ‘Forgive me for being an arrogant fool.’

A tidal wave of relief.

Plus the unexpected burst of humility from Jake shook the playboy wall she had built around him. It made him more human, more accessible as a person. ‘You didn’t know me, Jake,’ she said, hoping, fiercely willing him to take that step, making her different—uniquely different—to all the other women he’d taken to bed. She so desperately wanted to be the special one…the one he’d love…the one he’d marry…

His eyes searched hers with deeply probing intensity, feeding the hope, making it swell until it bubbled through her mind like champagne. ‘Who is this woman I see now?’ he murmured, his voice gruff with emotions he wasn’t expressing but they certainly suggested more than a passing lust for her. ‘What else have you kept hidden from me, Merlina?’

Happiness gushed through her like a fountain bursting into brilliant play. She lifted one arm up around his neck and ran her hand into his hair, revelling in touching him, feeling him, wanting to wind her fingers through the thick waves and into his mind, touch him there, as well, touch him deeply.

‘Nothing that wasn’t there for you to find if you’d been truly interested in looking,’ she said softly, her eyes—the windows to her soul—wide-open to him. ‘You put the image you wanted between us, Jake.’

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‘I don’t want that image back,’ he declared emphatically. ‘I want the real you.’

Did he see the joy erupting in her soul—the joy she couldn’t contain? ‘I’m here,’ she said simply, offering herself up to be loved.

A smile of sheer devilment broke across his face and his eyes were suddenly steaming with plans he intended to execute with maximum impact in mind. ‘Yes,’ he said with relish. ‘Here with me. Let’s make that in every sense there is.’

Did he really mean every sense or was he only talking in the ***ual sense? For a moment Merlina felt a little flicker of disappointment. She’d opened a door to him and it seemed he was side-stepping, but she had no time to think about it. He kissed her, instantly drawing her back into a world of vibrant sensation, bombarding her with such intense excitement it was impossible not to give herself up to it.

He kissed the pulse at the base of her throat, heating her entire bloodstream. He kissed her breasts, his tongue swirling around her nipples, lashing them into peaks of hard need, then sucking them into his mouth, making a wildly erotic feast of taste and titillation that drove her into offering them up for more of it, her own hands sliding under and lifting the soft flesh, wantonly aiding and abetting the exquisite ravishment, totally enthralled by it.

But he didn’t stay there. He moved lower, sweeping kisses over her stomach, teasing her navel with his tongue, grazing his mouth over the erogenous zones under her hipbones, causing her skin to twitch with pleasure, his hands caressing her legs apart, long, shiver-inducing, purposeful caresses on her inner thighs, and the tension of becoming more and more intimately exposed to him had every nerve and muscle in her body poised on a very fine edge in anticipation of being touched there, and taken to even more extremes of feeling.

Her stomach was contracting. Her heart was drumming in her ears. Her breathing was reduced to quick panting, her mind seized with the waiting, the knowing it would come, focussed totally on how it would be, her eyes shut tight, instinctively closing out everything else so that her entire being was tuned to this inner world of Jake’s making.

She felt his fingers slide slowly between the folds of her ***, seeking the source of the moist heat that surely told him how wildly aroused she was. They circled the highly sensitive opening while his thumb laid bare her clitoris, caressing it into a stiff pulsing peak, which he then covered with his mouth, licking, sucking, making her body arch with almost torturous tension.

She couldn’t bear it. Couldn’t…

Her hands scrambled into his hair, tugging, begging an end to it. Her inner muscles were convulsing, her nerves screaming, yet she cried out at the loss of the strangely sweet torment as he released her from it, lifting himself up to position himself for the plunge into ultimate intimacy.

Her hands kneaded his back muscles in desperate wanting. Her legs curled around his taut buttocks, her feet urging him to a fast entry. The need was so compelling, nothing else existed for her. She hated the enforced pause for him to slide on a condom, savagely wished there’d been no need for it. But it was sheer bliss when he came into her, filling the aching void. The relief of it sent ripples of pleasure through her entire body. She felt herself pulsing around him, melting, and the glorious heavenliness of it put an ecstatic smile on her face.

‘Don’t hide from me, Merlina. Open your eyes.’

He was deep inside her, beautifully wonderfully deep. It was difficult to tear her concentration away from how it felt, yet Jake was giving her this pleasure. It wasn’t fair to keep it to herself. She opened her eyes, not even thinking of what she might see in his.

‘You’re smiling,’ he said, smiling right back at her, happy that she was happy with him.

‘Feels good,’ she said, only just stopping herself from blurting out that she loved the sense of having him like this.

‘Only good?’ he quizzed, his smile tilting into a teasing quirk.

‘Great?’ she offered, wishing he wasn’t asking for a rating of his performance. It smacked of playboy games and this was no game to her. She wanted to think this was more than just *** for him—an important connection that was being heightened, deepened by the physical union.

‘Great is good but—’ the joyous twinkles in his eyes fused into a look of burning purpose ‘—I aim to improve on that.’

His mouth claimed hers in a kiss of driving passion, his tongue invading strongly, then matching the plunging rhythm of his body, reinforcing his possession, doubling the intense intimacy. Merlina was swamped with wave after wave of incredible sensation, taking her to the crest of climax and spilling her into it, over and over again.

Her arms and legs were suffused with a weird weakness. She couldn’t hold on. Jake slid an arm under her to keep her with him, keep the momentum going. It was awesome, fantastic, the constant chaotic roll to pinnacles of creamy pleasure. If this was just *** she didn’t care. She’d take this blissful ride with Jake wherever it went.

She couldn’t imagine anything more exciting, but there was. His body tension seemed to explode into a much faster pumping, and she knew his control had been stretched to the limit. Somehow the sense that he was losing it—in her—was wildly exhilarating, and when she felt the spasms of his release, a huge swell of satisfaction triggered a very primal possessiveness. Jake…hers…and her own inner muscles suddenly leapt into squeezing tightly, holding him there.

He carried her with him as he rolled onto his side, still maintaining their union with a gentle rocking, one of her legs lying between his, the other loosely hooked over his thigh. Breath whooshed out of his lungs and he scooped in more before moving his mouth over hers in sensual little kisses.

‘Tell me it was right for you,’ he murmured against her lips.

Right? The question rolled around her dazed mind. It didn’t matter any more whether it was right or not. ‘Yes,’ she said on a contented sigh. It was the truth, no problem at all for her to say it and if Jake wanted to hear it…right at this moment she wanted whatever Jake wanted.

He moved his head back onto the pillow and smiled at her, his dimples deepening, warm pleasure dancing in his eyes. ‘You see? You had to be with me, Merlina.’

‘Yes,’ she said, not even caring if this was only about winning for Jake.

‘Stay right here!’ He dropped a kiss on her forehead as he slowly disentangled himself. ‘Got to go to the bathroom. Where is it?’

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‘First door along the hall.’

‘Be back in a minute.’

Getting rid of the condom. He’d kept his promise about protection. Even so, she would feel safer taking a contraceptive pill if they were to have an ongoing relationship.

The back view of Jake as he strode away was just as awesome as the rest of him—a perfectly proportioned male physique. Surely every woman he’d ever been with had wanted to hold on to him. She was no different. She could only hope she was different in Jake’s mind—a woman he wanted to hold on to.

He moved into the hall, out of sight. She heard the bathroom door being opened. A few moments later the sound of another door being opened made her wonder why he was checking out the guest bedroom.

‘Merlina?’

She jack-knifed up from the pillows, shock pumping through her heart.

That was not Jake’s voice calling out her name.

It was her father’s!

CHAPTER TEN

MERLINA bolted out of bed. She was stark naked. And so was Jake in the bathroom! Their clothes were on the living-room floor. Any second now her father would see them and…a string of loud Italian curses told her he had.

‘Merlina, get out here this minute!’ came the thunderous command.

‘Coming, Papa!’ she yelled back, frantically hoping Jake would hear and understand the warning to stay in the bathroom and let her handle her father.

Almost sick with panic, she raced to her clothes cupboard, grabbed her silk dressing-gown off its hanger and put it on as fast as she could. Her hairbrush was in one of the bags Jake had carried in so the best she could do was a finger-comb. It was impossible to make herself look respectable, anyway. Her father was probably still staring at the evidence that she wasn’t.

Why, oh, why hadn’t he rung the doorbell instead of appropriating the spare key and letting himself in? She would have had time to hide the discarded clothes, time to…but there was no time!

On the dubious principle that attack was the best form of defence, she fronted up to him in the living-room and asked, ‘What are you doing here, Papa?’

‘What am I doing here?’ he repeated incredulously. He threw his hands up in the air in his usual histrionic fashion. His thick, wavy, grey hair was tossed back. The black eyebrows rose, mocking the question. His hawkish nose sniffed the air in battle-readiness. His barrel chest was all puffed out and his teeth—very white against a face darkly weathered by working outside in the vineyard—gnashed before biting out the words again. ‘What am I doing here?’

He was starting to sound like a Greek chorus but Merlina knew this was venting in the Italian style, building up to the storm where hail stones would rain on her head.

‘You don’t usually drop in without warning,’ she slid in quickly.

‘How can I warn you when you do not answer your telephone?’ His dark eyes flashed furious accusation as he wildly gesticulated to punctuate every point he made. ‘Not on Saturday. Not on Sunday. Not today. And when we ring your workplace we are told you are not employed there any more. Told by a stranger. No news of this from our daughter.’

‘I would have got around to telling you,’ she excused, shrugging off the necessity for instant communication about everything—her family’s favourite pastime. ‘Why were you calling me? Is something wrong at home?’

‘And look where this precious independence of yours has got you!’ he lashed out with a sweeping gesture of disgust at the clothes on the floor.

Merlina unclenched her jaw, took a deep breath and persisted with her question. ‘What’s happened? What’s brought you here? Is Mamma okay?’

‘No, your mother is not okay,’ he retorted fiercely. ‘She is worried sick about you. All day she is saying, something bad has happened to Merlina. I feel it here.’ He slammed his hand over his heart, play-acting her mother’s distress. ‘I cannot bear it, Angelo, she says. You must fly to Sydney, find her. And what do I find? What do I find?’ His arms flew up in outrage again. ‘My daughter—’ his eyes raked down her red silk dressing-gown ‘—a scarlet woman!’

Merlina couldn’t help rolling her eyes. He’d have her painted as a prostitute next. Banned from his household forever. The modern world and her father had no meeting ground. The big problem was…she didn’t want to lose her family. Somehow she had to fight this, but how?

‘You’ve got that wrong, Mr Rossi,’ came the calm statement from behind her.

Jake!

She spun around.

He was coming down the hall, a white bath-towel tucked around his waist, but the rest of him still flagrantly naked. Didn’t he realise that his appearance would enflame her father’s rage? Her heart pitter-pattered in a frenzy of fear over what might happen next.

‘So! You’ve come out of hiding,’ her father jeered contemptuously, drawing himself up to match Jake’s height and look down his Roman nose at him.

‘I wasn’t hiding,’ Jake corrected him. ‘I’d gone to the bathroom and I couldn’t help overhearing what was going on out here. Seemed to me I should step in.’ He curved his arm around her shoulders in a protective hug. ‘I won’t have Merlina abused, Mr Rossi.’

Her father glared at him. ‘It is you who has abused my daughter, stripping her of her virtue.’

‘Papa, please—’

Her plea for some temperance was cut off, her attempt only serving to bring her father’s wrath down on her again. ‘Who is this man? Did I not teach you to save your virginity for your husband?’

‘My name is Jake Devila…’

‘Devila?’ Enlightenment struck. ‘Is that not the name of your employer, Merlina?’

‘I don’t work for him any more, Papa.’

‘What? He sacked you from your job because you let him seduce you into going to bed with him?’

‘No, Papa…’

He ignored her denial, attacking Jake again. ‘You are a man without honour. Using your position of power over my daughter to turn her mind.’

‘He didn’t,’ Merlina cried. She’d simply given her mind a rest and followed her heart for once.

Her father’s finger went up in victorious argument. ‘He forced you to have your hair cut. And Sylvana told us he insisted you wear immodest clothes to work.’

‘There were good reasons for that,’ Merlina almost shouted in her urgent need to be heard. Sylvana’s big mouth should have been zippered at birth!

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‘No. Your father is right,’ Jake chimed in. ‘I was flexing my power.’

Merlina closed her eyes in despair. What was Jake playing at now? He had no idea what her father was like and he was ruining any chance of smoothing over the situation. If, indeed, there was any chance.

‘At that point in time, I didn’t appreciate that Merlina was perfect the way she was,’ he ran on in a quietly diplomatic tone. ‘I wanted to fit her into an image that suited my business. I’m sorry that you found my influence so offensive. It wasn’t meant to be.’

‘You’re sorry?’ her father squawked. ‘Does that give me back the daughter you have ruined for any good husband?’

The arm around her shoulders tightened its hug as Jake picked up her left hand and startled her by holding it out for her father to see the ring that Byron had put on her third finger and which was still there, sparkling its solitaire diamond brilliance. She’d forgotten about it. Byron had dropped right out of her mind. And for Jake to bring up her engagement to his grandfather now seemed utter madness.

‘I was hoping you would accept me as her husband, Mr Rossi.’

What?

Merlina’s body froze in*****spended animation while her mind spun in wild circles. She feverishly wished Jake had just spoken the truth. But he might not mean it. He was trying to get her out of trouble. Trouble that he’d made for her. Though not entirely. She had been a willing party. But if he hadn’t come after her, brought her home, she’d still be the good girl her father wished her to be, and which she had been on the whole, within her own sense of right and wrong.

No doubt Jake was thinking they could break the pseudo-engagement at a later date. It was Byron’s ring, not his, but her father didn’t know that. His eyes were goggling at the diamond. Hopefully its magnificence was blinding him to her fall from grace.

‘You are engaged to be married?’ His wrath had been considerably appeased by the ring but a frown of disapproval was still aimed at Merlina. ‘Why did you not tell him he should ask me for your hand first? Why have you not brought him to meet the family?’

Her mind boggled over the thought of Jake with her family. They’d eat him alive. He could put on a fine act for her father tonight but her family en masse was another kettle of fish. ‘I, er, this has all been very sudden, Papa.’

‘Please accept my apology, Mr Rossi,’ Jake smoothly appealed. ‘With my own parents divorced when I was a child, I didn’t appreciate that tra***ional courtesies would be expected. I surprised Merlina with the ring tonight. We hadn’t talked about marriage before. Of course, we know each other very well from having worked closely together for almost two years, but it was only after Merlina resigned, that I’ve pursued her in a personal sense.’

Oh, wow! He was covering all bases with that little speech. Ironically, all of it was the truth this time, except he was making himself out to be gentleman Jake for her father, not one hint of playboy Jake!

‘You did not take advantage of her at work?’ her father asked suspiciously.

‘I give you my word that nothing untoward happened between us during her employment with me. Completely professional,’ came the firm assurance.

Another truth.

Her father gave the situation some hard pondering before finally conceding, ‘Then I accept that you are a man of honour.’

‘Thank you,’ Jake replied respectfully.

‘If you are marrying Merlina, you must come and meet the family.’

‘Whenever that can be arranged,’ Jake replied.

Evasive tactics coming in, Merlina thought. For a moment there he had sounded so sincere, the hope that he might truly mean to marry her had fluttered through her heart. However, the far more credible truth was Jake coming to her rescue, being gallant as a good playboy should when caught out.

‘Tomorrow would be very suitable,’ her father announced in a challenging tone.

‘Tomorrow!’ Merlina cried, alarmed at how quickly her father was putting Jake to the test. She desperately wanted to hold onto him, not have him driven away. ‘Jake has a business to run, Papa. Tomorrow is a workday.’

‘What is more important than family at a time like this?’ was hurled back at her. ‘Mario’s wife has given birth to her baby. Which your mother wished to tell you.’

The telephone calls that she hadn’t been here to answer!

But the birth had not been expected for another month. ‘That’s way too early,’ she protested anxiously. ‘Is the baby all right? Is Gina all right?’

Her burst of caring seemed to give her father a strong measure of satisfaction. For the first time tonight he spoke to her in a reasonably calm tone. ‘Gina is fine. The baby is a little small but he is perfectly healthy.’

‘He…a boy this time.’ She relaxed into a smile. ‘Mario must be pleased.’

‘Yes. Three daughters are enough.’ Her father glowered pointedly at her. ‘Especially when they do not behave as they should.’

‘Sorry I was away, Papa…’

‘Merlina was with my family, meeting my mother and grandfather,’ Jake declared, stepping in to give her absence respectability, having already lifted her up from being a fallen woman.

She heaved a sigh at how adept he was at making their relationship sound official. In fact, he was every bit as good as his grandfather at deception. Unfortunately that was not a happy thought. Deception could achieve a short-term effect, but what would happen when this engagement fell through?

On the family front, she’d probably get sympathy, with Jake cast as a villain for taking her virtue, which she’d supposedly given up in good faith. But what might her brothers do to the absconding husband-to-be? Jake had no idea what he’d just set in motion. Maybe she should spill the real truth, save him from the consequences of his well-meant lies. On the other hand, if there was a possibility…

Hope was a terrible thing.

It held her tongue.

Her father addressed Jake. ‘Mario is bringing his wife and baby home tomorrow. We will be holding a family barbecue in the evening. I am inviting you to attend with Merlina.’

Throwing him to the wolves.

Panic drove her to attempt a rescue. ‘Papa, I’ve already explained about work.’

‘He’s the boss, isn’t he? The call is his,’ her father insisted aggressively. ‘You have met his family. He should meet yours.’

Italian pride!

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There was no way to fight it. Jake’s respectable scenario was reaping what it had sown.

‘We’ll be there,’ he said.

She turned on him in exasperation for jumping straight into the hole she’d been trying to dig him out of. ‘It’s in Griffith, Jake. That’s a six hour drive from Sydney.’

‘You can both catch a plane like I did for you, Merlina,’ her father persisted.

She swung back to him, frightened of the dilemma he was posing. ‘It wasn’t for me. It was because Mamma nagged you into it.’

‘So? We do these things for our women, do we not?’ He tossed this at Jake, testing how deep the devotion was to his daughter.

‘Yes, we do,’ Jake cheerfully agreed. ‘We’ll catch a plane to Griffith tomorrow afternoon.’

She could have choked him.

He was escalating something that shouldn’t be escalated. Not unless it was real and she didn’t think it was. Jake was so far into game-playing, he was losing his judgement on where the line was crossed. It was wrong to deceive her family. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Especially up close and personal with the whole lot of them!

‘Good! Merlina can call her mother and let her know the time of the flight and I’ll have one of her brothers meet you at Griffith airport,’ her father offered, nailing down the arrangement.

One of her brothers! They’d all be eyeing Jake over—the outsider fiancé, a city man who wasn’t even Italian.

‘That’s very kind. Thank you,’ Jake said, pouring on the charm.

‘Well, I’ll leave you two alone then,’ her father granted gruffly, not liking the idea at all. ‘I did not think you were home, Merlina. You did not answer the telephone. I have arranged to stay with my brother, Georgio, at Glebe.’

‘I’ll call a taxi for you,’ Merlina said, intensely relieved that her father was prepared to leave her and Jake together instead of taking up residence to enforce his moral standards. She’d slid out of Jake’s hug and was heading for the telephone in the kitchen when Jake dropped another bombshell, halting her in her tracks.

‘My car is out the front, Mr Rossi. If you’ll give me a few minutes—’ his clothes were still on the floor! ‘—I’ll drive you to Glebe myself. It will give us a chance to get to know one another.’

Merlina’s stomach curdled at the thought. Had Jake suffered some mad rush of blood to the head?

‘Your car…would that be the red Ferrari?’ her father inquired.

‘Yes, it is,’ Jake answered matter-of-factly.

‘You have good taste in cars.’ A stamp of approval. ‘Nothing outclasses the Italians. I have always driven an Alfa, myself. A family sedan these days, but when I was a young man…’ He actually smiled at Jake. ‘I shall enjoy riding in your Ferrari. Thank you.’

‘My pleasure,’ Jake rolled out and scooped up his clothes. ‘Please excuse me. I won’t be long.’

‘Take your time,’ her father said graciously. After all, he not only had his son-in-law-to-be coming to his party and dancing to his tune, Jake was even providing the Italian music!

Merlina was so stunned by this last development, she was completely robbed of speech as Jake headed for the hall, grinning at her and dropping a kiss on her forehead as he passed her by.

He was having fun.

It was a game to him and he was revelling in carrying the ball right into her father’s court. He didn’t realise that the Rossi playground was hemmed in by rules which had to be respected. Flout them and…panic swirled up again. Her family took some things very, very seriously, and Jake was diving into the deep end without knowing what he was getting into.

Action had to be taken!

She gestured to the sofa as she forced her legs forward, wanting to pick up her own clothes and follow Jake to the bedroom. ‘Sit down, Papa. I need to go and have a word with Jake before you leave.’

‘Fine-looking man,’ he commented, nodding his understanding of the attraction as he settled himself on the sofa to wait. Then he shook a stern finger at her. ‘After we go you must call your mother, Merlina. She will not sleep until she knows all is well with you.’

‘I promise I’ll do that, Papa.’ She’d swept up the offensive clothes. ‘If you’ll excuse me…’

‘Go, go.’ He waved her off, adding as she went, ‘A fine engagement ring, too. Your mother will be impressed.’

Merlina’s heart dropped like a stone. Byron’s ring! This was all such a mess! Her head was whirling with frantic thoughts as she hurried to her bedroom. Jake was already dressed, sitting on the bed to pull on his socks and shoes. He glanced up as she backed against the door, pushing it shut behind her to ensure some privacy.

‘Are you mad?’ she shot at him, trying not to get distracted by the rumpled silk doona, though she was instantly hit by the memory of her writhing in wild abandonment to the intense pleasure he’d given her.

‘I thought I was doing really well out there,’ he chided, his mouth twitching in amusement.

‘You’re carrying it too far, Jake,’ she cried, lifting her hands in anxious appeal. ‘I tried to stop you…’

‘I didn’t want to be stopped, Merlina.’ He bent to tie his shoelaces.

‘You don’t understand. You’re playing with my family. They’re not sophisticated city people who’ll shrug this off. They’ll…’

‘I’m not playing.’

‘Yes, you are,’ she protested fiercely, frustrated by his careless manner.

‘No, I’m not.’ He stood up, a devil-may-care smile on his face, eyes twinkling wicked pleasure at her as he strode over to slide his arms around her waist and draw her stiffly resistant body against his, re-awakening the carnal desires she had absolutely no control over. ‘I’ve decided to marry you, Merlina Rossi,’ he said, cutting through any further protest on her part.

Her heart stopped.

He stroked her cheek, still smiling as she struggled with disbelief. ‘Nothing to say?’ he teased.

His overbearing confidence, and the angst he had just put her through, sparked a perverse flash of anger. ‘I haven’t said yes, Jake Devila.’

‘You will. I’ve got you boxed in.’

Then he kissed her, robbing her of any negative response to his triumphant entrapment of her, firing up the passion that made her forget everything else. A savage possessiveness seized her again. She wanted this man. Take him, it commanded. Just take him and don’t quibble about the how and the why and what grief the future might bring.

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‘Can’t keep your father waiting, my little tiger,’ he murmured, easing back with far too much control for Merlina’s liking.

‘Have you stopped to think you’re boxing yourself in with this tiger?’ she retorted, unable to blindly follow what instinct dictated. Marriage meant too much to her.

‘We can always get divorced.’

Shock ripped through the irrepressible hope that had been burgeoning from his impulsive decision to marry her. The painful realisation hit that marriage was not a lasting thing to him. His parents were divorced. His grandfather’s divorces were legion. It was just a contract he could break when it no longer suited either party. For Jake that would probably be when someone more exciting came along.

That was how he would think. And she hated it. Hated it! If it was only lust and the desire to win this game, revelling in the challenges facing him, enjoying the fun of coming out on top against all opposition, what chance did this marriage have? She shouldn’t enter into it. She shouldn’t go along with him. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to say a flat no.

She said another truth instead.

‘Divorce is not done in the Rossi family, Jake.’

It was a warning that she needed him to take to heart.

But he didn’t.

‘Let’s see how it goes,’ he said blithely. ‘I’ll pick you up at nine in the morning. We’ll go shopping for a ring.’

‘You’ve already showed my father Byron’s ring,’ she reminded him tersely, frustrated by his carefree attitude.

‘Take it off. We’ll choose one together.’

‘Jake…’ It was a cry of torment over the situation he’d manipulated.

‘Trust me.’ He kissed her again to soothe her distress, then patted her cheek in a tender last salute. ‘I’ll have your father won over before we get to Glebe.’

‘That’s not the point,’ she cried, desperate for him to understand, take heed.

There was no pause for second thoughts. He was brimming over with unshakeable confidence in himself. ‘We’re good together. We’re great together. Think about it.’ He moved her aside, opened the door, and shot her a last happy grin. ‘See you in the morning.’

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BOXED in… Merlina was haunted by those words all night, tossing and turning in between snatches of sleep, which were broken by dreams of being helplessly trapped. This was the punishment for deception, she thought. Jake would never have thought of marriage except for her fake engagement to his grandfather. But what could she do about it?

Her father had been halfway to giving his approval of Jake as a son-in-law before they’d even left together, and no doubt he’d been charmed into proudly accepting him as family by the time they’d reached Uncle Georgio’s home in Glebe, probably asking him in for a celebratory drink to round off the evening and brag to his brother about Merlina’s fiancé.

The call she’d made to her mother had spilled into explanations for her absence—explanations that she knew her father would give, fed to him by Jake. They weren’t exactly lies, she’d told herself, though her mother’s happy relief that Merlina was finally off the shelf and getting married, and her delight over the family visit tomorrow, had been stomach-churning.

Expectations had been raised.

Expectations had to be met.

Boxed in.

The only person she could talk it over with was Byron—her partner in crime. He was an early riser in the morning so Merlina had time to discuss the situation with him well before Jake arrived at nine o’clock. She telephoned him at seven o’clock, feeling extremely tense and needing support.

Naturally the butler answered her call, immediately expressing concern. ‘Is everything all right, Ms Rossi? I did feel that Mr Jake was steamrolling you last night, taking matters into his own hands.’

‘He certainly did that, Harold,’ she replied with feeling. Amazing really, how comfortable she was with Byron’s household. She’d been treated so nicely there, everyone caring about her needs.

‘A very compelling young man,’ Harold remarked sympathetically.

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘And I have to talk to Byron about it, Harold. Is he available?’

‘I’m sure Mr Byron will be pleased to hear from you. Just a moment, Ms Rossi. I’ll transfer this call to him.’

‘Thank you.’

She took a few deep breaths as she waited, trying to reduce her stress level. It was instant balm to her jumpy nerves when she heard the rolling lilt of Byron’s charming voice. He would understand. He’d understood everything.

‘My dear Merlina, have we been successful in corralling the wild one?’

A hysterical little laugh bubbled out. ‘If you mean marriage, Jake corralled himself in front of my father last night.’

‘Your father?’ Said with fascinated interest.

Merlina needed no further prompting to pour out the whole sequence of events, which had led to her current position as Jake’s fiancée in her family’s eyes.

‘Ah, knight to the rescue,’ Byron remarked with relish. ‘Good boy! Shows he has inherited my gentlemanly instincts.’

‘I don’t want Jake to be a gentleman,’ she wailed. ‘I want him to mean it. Really mean it. And after he involved himself with my family, which believe me, won’t take this as a game, he mentioned divorce as a way out in the future. I know that’s fairly common in your family, Byron, but it isn’t in mine. They’re very Italian. Seriously Italian.’

‘Hmm…’ came the sound of serious pondering.

‘Take today, for instance,’ Merlina ran on, anxiety overflowing. ‘He’s going to land right in it at the family barbecue—all my married brothers and sisters and their children, not to mention uncles and aunts and grandparents and the new baby—the whole tribe hugging and kissing him in welcome, then cross-examining him about his life.’ She heaved a worried sigh.

‘None of them divorced, huh?’ Byron queried.

‘Nor ever likely to be,’ rolled emphatically off her tongue.

‘You know, Jake might like that. The sense of solid family. Never had it himself. It could rope him right in, Merlina.’

‘Or make him run a million miles.’

‘No…no…he won’t do that. He’ll view it as a challenge. Winning them over.’

‘A game,’ she said despairingly.

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‘Not necessarily. You’re worrying too much, my dear. Jake would not have brought up marriage if it wasn’t on his mind.’

‘Because you—we—put it there, Byron.’

‘A seed doesn’t grow if it hasn’t been planted in ground that suits it. You and he suit each other very well. That is very, very obvious to me.’

We’re good together. We’re great together.

Her heart thumped with unquenchable hope as she remembered Jake’s words.

‘Give it a chance,’ Byron advised. ‘See how it goes.’

Precisely what Jake had said.

Was she worrying too much?

‘You want this, Merlina,’ Byron reminded her. ‘You wouldn’t have played the game with me if you hadn’t wanted to bring Jake to heel. He’s there now because he wants to be there. Let him be embraced by your family. Go with the flow. Be happy, my dear. A man likes his woman to be happy.’

Difficult to be happy when she felt so agitated, yet Byron was right. She had wanted this outcome, except it had happened upon her so fast, she couldn’t bring herself to trust it, especially when divorce had been mentioned in virtually the same breath as marriage.

‘Okay, I’ll go with the flow today and see how it pans out,’ she said, screwing herself to the sticking point.

‘Good girl! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Got to be in there playing the game,’ Byron cheerfully chanted.

Which brought home to her how very alike grandfather and grandson were. She was probably off her head to be asking advice from Byron. On the other hand, he had given her an insight into where Jake was coming from. People from broken homes didn’t believe in lasting promises. That didn’t mean they didn’t want a commitment to stay solid. Maybe—just maybe—she could work it so the game with Jake never ended.

‘Thank you, Byron,’ she said gratefully. ‘You’ve just bolstered me up for the next round.’

‘Bravo! And the best of luck to you, my dear.’

‘I’ll keep your diamond ring safe until I see you again,’ she promised.

‘Wear Jake’s with pride, Merlina. He’d like that.’

‘Will do. ‘Bye for now.’

‘Happy days!’

She was smiling as she put the telephone receiver down. Happy days…probably a fool’s paradise but why not enjoy what Jake gave her while she could, anyway? Her body clenched at the memory of last night’s ***ual pleasure. He was such a great lover and it had felt like being loved—beautifully, wonderfully loved. If he wanted their relationship to last, she had to give it a chance!

There was a happy spring in her step as she raced off to her bedroom to decide on what to wear this morning. Definitely classy elegance for the kind of jewellery shop Jake would take her to if he was intent on putting just as flashy a ring as his grandfather’s on her finger.

She chose one of her new purchases; a form-fitting red dress, printed with abstract splashes of black and white, featuring a wide square neckline, little cap sleeves and a wide woven belt in white. It was simple but quite striking, especially teamed with high-heeled white sandals and a white clutch bag. Class, she had worked out, could be achieved by meticulous attention to detail.

On this principle, she applied a matching red varnish to her toenails and fingernails, took immense care with her make-up, and as a final touch, attached long dangly vintage gold earrings to her lobes. To her mind, these went with the vintage style gold watch—a twenty-first birthday gift from her grandmother—which was the only other jewellery she wore, having hidden Byron’s ring at the bottom of an open bag of peas in the freezer.

The doorbell rang at five minutes to nine. No nervous waiting around for Jake to come, for which she was intensely grateful. Her heart was fluttering wildly enough as it was. She opened the door to find him superbly dressed in a pin-striped grey suit, white shirt, gold silk tie, and looking more dashingly handsome than ever, especially when he smiled at her, his dark eyes dancing with pleasure in her appearance.

‘Wow! When you make up your mind to sock it to me, Merlina, you sure sock it to me. Red is definitely your colour.’

She was instantly reminded of the red rose bikini. Boldness had served her well as the blonde bimbo from the birthday cake, so she impulsively struck a flaunting pose, jutting out one hip and planting her hands on her tightly belted waist. ‘Thought I’d better wear it since you’re into rescuing scarlet women from damnation,’ she flipped at him, lowering her eyelashes for a sizzling veiled look.

He laughed, and with a bold move of his own, scooped her back into the hall, closed the door behind them and wrapped her in a very possessive embrace. ‘So, the real Merlina emerges in a full frontal assault,’ he purred like a big cat presented with a delicious dinner. He grinned from ear to ear as he teasingly added, ‘Am I man enough for her?’

She arched an eyebrow. ‘Depends on whether you got through last night unscathed by my father.’

‘Passed with flying colours,’ he declared with relish. ‘Bring on any challenge you like. I’m up for it.’

‘Mmm…’ In sheer giddy delight at feeling his erection against her stomach, knowing that seeing her had aroused it and madly wanting to stoke his desire for her even further, she brazenly rubbed her lower body against his, smiling as she said, ‘Up for something else, too.’

His answering smile was positively wicked. ‘The only question is…are you? Right this minute!’

He started walking her backwards, his thighs pushing hers, steering her across the living room towards the dining table, which was set beside the window. ‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, startled by the instant reaction she’d triggered and barely finding breath enough to speak. Her pulse was galloping. Excitement was rushing through her like a freight train.

‘I’d take you anywhere, Merlina Rossi,’ he answered, his eyes smouldering with ***ual intent as he propped her against the edge of the table and started gathering up her skirt.

‘Not tonight in my parents’ home, you won’t,’ she flashed at him, momentarily panicking at the thought. ‘We’ll be given separate bedrooms. And you have to respect that, Jake.’

‘Okay. How about now?’

His thumbs were already hooked on the waistband of her panties, ready to pull them down, but he paused teasingly, confident of her consent but also wanting to make her say it out loud.