long she stood there she didn’t know, but when she felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders and Blaine’s voice in her ear murmuring, ‘There’s not a more beautiful sight, is there?’ she knew she’d been expecting he would return. ‘Mr Rossellini is full of admiration for your ability,’ he continued, ‘as am I. You were so calm and capable.’
He wouldn’t think she was calm if he knew how her heart was beating like a tom-tom against her ribs. ‘It’s my job.’ She tried to ignore the tingles radiating down from her shoulders. ‘It’s what I’ve been trained for.’
‘Still …’ He turned her round, tilting her chin. ‘You were perfect. You are perfect.’
If she had just ducked away at that point, made some excuse, anything, she might still have been all right. As it was, she waited for his kiss and when it came she kissed him back. There were a hundred reasons not to and she didn’t care about any of them.
They stood locked together, swaying slightly, and as she felt the heady rush of sensation sending needles of pleasure into every nerve and sinew, she wondered what he had that made him so darn good at this. But it didn’t matter what it was; it was enough that he was kissing her.
Blaine was breathing hard as his mouth continued to move on hers, tasting her, fuelling and feeding on the reaction he was causing. His hands moved up and down her body and she trembled at his touch, shifting in his arms so that she could lift her hands to his shoulders and press more closely against the long hard length of him.
She could feel his heart pounding against his chest like a sledgehammer and it was incredibly exhilarating to know she could arouse such desire in him. His thighs were hard against hers as he moved her against the stable wall, his kiss deepening into what was almost a consummation in itself as his tongue took vanquished territory.
It was Liliana’s voice that broke into the madness which had taken hold, but even as it registered and she felt him stiffen it was still another sweet moment or two before he raised his head and drew away. She felt his going in every nerve in her body. ‘Liliana,’ he muttered hoarsely. ‘She’s fixing sandwiches and a hot drink.’
‘Right.’ She knew her voice was as bemused as his. ‘We’d better go then.’
‘Maisie …’ Her name was a caress on his tongue. ‘You are driving me mad. I sit at my desk and I see you in front of me, I talk to my staff and your face is there. What have you done to me?’
‘I don’t know.’ She shivered, under such a strong spell of sensual desire all self-protection had broken down. ‘But, whatever it is, I feel the same.’
The last was almost in the form of a plaintive protest and whether it was that which gave him the strength to straighten and put a few inches between them she didn’t know. He stared at her, his eyes glittering and almost opaque in the strong lights in the stable as he said, ‘This is wrong. I am taking advantage of you when you are at your most vulnerable. This man, your fiancé, has hurt you and taken away your self-esteem. You need to prove to yourself that you are still desirable.’
No, no that wasn’t it. Jeff was such a wash-out, so unimportant right at this moment that he didn’t even begin to come into the equation. She wondered how she could say that without sounding as if she was begging him to make love to her.
‘Blaine—’
‘I am not the man you think I am, mia piccola. You are looking for a white knight and I am not he. I cannot give you what you want.’
‘You can.’ Oh, he could, he could. And who needed a white knight anyway?
‘Maisie—’ he took a step backwards away from her as Liliana’s voice called again and, much as Maisie liked the little housekeeper, she could have throttled her right at this moment ‘—believe me. This will only end badly.’
She didn’t care. She really, really didn’t care. ‘It won’t.’
‘There are things you don’t know.’
‘So tell me.’ She faced him, hands on hips, and Iola snorted from her box as though to say she was with her, body and soul. Women together and all that. ‘Tell me what I don’t know.’
Liliana’s voice was closer this time and then the housekeeper was at the stable doors. ‘How is the horse?’ Liliana cast a wary eye at Iola. ‘There are no problems?’
‘No, everything’s fine.’ Maisie spoke into the void when it appeared Blaine wasn’t going to. ‘I was just settling her down, that’s all.’
Liliana smiled. ‘This will be a nice homecoming gift, sì? Jennifer and Guiseppe will be pleased. New life is a good omen.’
Maisie smiled, but she looked straight at Blaine as she said, ‘I agree, Liliana. New life is a very good omen. A reminder that the past is gone and the future is bright.’
‘The animal is all right to be left, sì?’ Again Liliana cast a wary glance at Iola. Her affinity with the horses was so nonexistent it was clear she was worried that Iola could suddenly barge out of the loose box and go berserk. When Maisie nodded she added, ‘Come and have a hot drink now. You must be exhausted.’
‘Exhilarated, actually,’ Maisie said as she followed Liliana out into the warm night. She was aware of Blaine at the side of her with every fibre of her being although she didn’t glance at him as they walked back to the house, but her lips were aching and full as a result of his kisses and her body was burning.
Had he said what he’d said purely because he was worried this was all happening too fast for her after Jeff? Somehow she didn’t think so. There was more, much more. That bit about not being a white knight, for example. Something had happened to him with this Francesca and, frankly, after what had transpired tonight between them, she felt she deserved an explanation. Her chin lifted. However difficult it might be for him. Everyone had broken love affairs, didn’t they? Everyone got let down at some time in their lives. If ever anyone had the T-shirt for that, she had. Two, in fact.
They drank the coffee and ate the sandwiches sitting in the kitchen and for once Liliana didn’t protest but chatted away nineteen to the dozen, clearly on a high after her visit to see Guiseppe and Jenny. Maisie was glad of the diversion. Now the initial furore following Blaine’s love-making had died down, she was facing the grim reality that she was no further forward than she had been at the beginning of the evening. He was making polite conversation and injecting the odd comment to keep Liliana going but he obviously wanted to be anywhere but here with her. How could he blow so hot and cold? It wasn’t fair.
As soon as he had eaten his sandwiches he rose to his feet, his voice pleasant but cool as he said, ‘Mother will be thrilled about the foal, Maisie. Thank you again for all you did. I’ve got a series of meetings over the next few days, so I guess I might not be calling in.’
This last was directed to Liliana but Maisie knew it was meant for her. For a moment her newly found determination faltered and all her self-doubts poured in. Then she mentally slapped herself. She was not going to let this … thing between them fizzle and go out like a damp squib without at least demanding some sort of justification for his actions. OK, so her legs didn’t go up to her eyeballs and she didn’t have a figure to die for, but he couldn’t have made love to her like that unless he fancied her. And he had instigated it, not her. And, she thought grimly, his body had stated he wanted her, regardless of what he had said afterwards.
With
