time before?
If he had, he knew for certain he would have remembered it. Taking a woman’s virginity wasn’t something a man was likely to forget.
Glancing at Haley sleeping so peacefully next to him, several questions kept running through his mind. Why had she waited so long to be with a man? If she’d been holding out for the permanence of marriage before taking that step, why had she agreed to birth his heir when she knew their arrangement would eventually end? And how had she managed to save herself from players like Chet Parker, who were out there just looking for the right opportunity to swoop in and seduce a woman as beautiful and innocent as Haley?
When Haley moved closer to him in her sleep, he tightened his arms around her and kissed her soft cheek. He didn’t want to analyze his uncharacteristic protectiveness toward her or the unfamiliar need to possess her. They’d reached an agreement and she was his for now—the woman he’d chosen to be the mother of his child. As far as he was concerned, that was reason enough.
Oh, he still wanted answers to his questions regarding her lack of sexual experience and an explanation of her motives for agreeing to have his child. But he wasn’t overly concerned about getting them right away. As he got to know her better, he’d learn her secrets and reach a satisfactory conclusion to the mystery of Haley Rollins.
In the meantime, he had every intention of enjoying the pleasure of making love to her every night and reaching his goal of soon having an heir to inherit the vast holdings of Garnier Construction.
Slowly opening her eyes, Haley found herself alone in the big log bed and wondered if she’d been dreaming. After all this time imagining what it would be like, had she really slept with Luke?
As she stretched to loosen the kinks of sleep from her limbs, the feel of the sheet sliding over her bare skin and the interesting little aches in her lower body quickly told her that they had indeed consummated their marriage. Her cheeks heated as the memory of what they’d shared in the early predawn light came flooding back.
Luke had seen her as no other man had and made her feel things she would have never thought possible. But once he’d learned she was a virgin, his incredible patience and the extra care he took to reduce any discomfort she might have had touched her deeply. He’d seen to it that her first experience making love was pleasurable and even though their marriage was destined to end one day, she’d never be sorry that she’d waited for her husband.
“I see you finally woke up, sleepyhead,” Luke greeted her cheerfully, shouldering the door open. He carried a breakfast tray with two plates of delicious-looking food, glasses of orange juice and a single rose in a glass bud vase. “Time to rise and shine.”
His thoughtfulness was unexpected and quite touching. “I haven’t had breakfast in bed since I was child,” she reminisced, holding the sheet to cover her breasts as she sat up. “And I was too sick to care about eating anything then.”
“Well, I hope you have a hearty appetite now, because Mrs. Beck outdid herself,” he noted, referring to the housekeeper. “I think she cooked every breakfast food known to man.”
“Could you get my overnight case, please?” Haley requested, wanting to retrieve the new bathrobe she’d purchased for the trip.
“Uh-oh.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “When I got up and went to shower and change, I moved it to my room.”
“What am I going to put on?” she asked, looking around for something—anything—to wear.
“I really like what you’re wearing now,” he observed, setting the tray on top of the dresser.
“I’m naked under here.”
“Bingo.”
Her cheeks heated at his lascivious grin. “Seriously, what am I going to wear?”
“I think you wear nothing very well,” he commented, rocking back on his heels. “It really looks good on you.”
“Will you be serious?” she pleaded, feeling a little desperate. “I can’t even go downstairs to get my clothes without something to cover up with. Poor Mrs. Beck would probably have a massive coronary.”
He looked thoughtful. “I guess you might have a point.”
“I do have a point.” She shook her head. “And unless you intend for me to stay in this bed the rest of the day, I need something to put on.”
“Staying in bed presents some very interesting possibilities,” he responded, his grin widening. When she tugged the sheet free from the end of the mattress, he pulled the tail of his shirt from his jeans. “If you’re that adamant about it, I’ll have to make the sacrifice.”
She stared shamelessly as Luke unbuttoned the garment and revealed his wide chest. Earlier when they’d made love, she’d been too nervous and preoccupied with the newness of it all to pay a lot of attention to his physique. But as he shrugged out of the shirt, her breath caught and her heart did a funny little thump against her rib cage.
His body was absolutely perfect. Every muscle from his shoulders all the way to the waistband of his low-slung jeans was well-defined and he was most definitely the type of man dreams were made of. At least, her dreams.
When he handed her the shirt, then stood there expectantly, she forced her thoughts back to the matter at hand and shook her head. “Turn around.”
His smile sent a wave of sizzling warmth shimmering over her skin. “Sweetheart, I saw your body when we made love and believe me, you have no reason to be self-conscious. You’re beautiful.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that,” she remarked, refusing to give too much weight to his appreciation of her body. “But it’s extremely difficult to throw caution to the wind after twenty-eight years of keeping myself covered up.”
Apparently deciding she meant business, he finally blew out an exaggerated breath, shook his head and turned his back to her. “We’ve already made love once and I anticipate doing so again quite frequently. It won’t take long before I know your body as well as I know mine.”
“In less than a week, we’ve gone from nothing more than boss and employee to sleeping together,” she tried to explain, pulling on his shirt. The delicious masculine scent surrounding her as she buttoned the garment caused Haley to feel warm all over. “We only went on one date—if you want to call it that—and that was the night before we got married.”
When he picked up the breakfast tray from the dresser and turned to face her, his expression was thoughtful. “So what you’re saying is, you don’t switch gears quite that fast.”
“Something like that.” Maybe he was beginning to understand how she felt.
“I guess that makes sense,” he said absently as he set the tray over her lap, then lowered himself to sit on the mattress beside her. He looked pensive for a moment. “Since we’re discussing your inhibitions, were they the reason you were still a virgin?”
She knew he’d be curious and ask about it. “It’s quite simple, really. I went to a very strict, private high school for girls. In our Freshman year, we were encouraged to take a pledge to stay pure until we married. I promised that I would.” Reaching for a slice of crispy bacon, she shrugged. “Besides, I never met a man that I cared enough about to be intimate
