aching with an almost unholy need to do just that. The mere idea of having an opportunity to touch her soft skin and silky hair, to feel her mouth tremble beneath his with what he secretly hoped might be an inflammatory need similar to his own, was almost too powerful to ignore.
But, seeing they were nearing the site he’d proposed they visit together, all he did was say thoughtfully, ‘I’m sorry you miss them so badly, but life goes on, doesn’t it? We have to try and make the best of things. When bad things happen you can either wallow in the idea that you’ve been dealt a bad hand or you can be determined to rise above it. Personally speaking, I was never going to stay around here and regard myself as some kind of victim—no matter how difficult or challenging it was to rise above my circumstances.’
He drove into the large denuded area that had already been cleared in preparation for building and pulled up beside one of the several works vans belonging to the contractor he’d hired. A few feet away scaffolding waiting to be erected lay in precisely organised piles on the cold hard ground.
‘We’re here.’ Silencing the engine, he turned to study his passenger. ‘I know the weather’s not great, but I’d still like to show you the site and tell you what we’ve got planned. Are you still up for a look round with me?’
‘Of course.’ Peering out of the windscreen, she let a fond smile touch her lips. ‘There used to be a great playground here when I was a kid. My brother and I sometimes walked all the way from our house to get to it. My dad was inevitably working, so during the school holidays after Mum was gone we were more or less left to our own devices. We used to think it was a bit of an adventure to go to the playground on our own, to tell you the truth. Do you remember it, Drake?’
‘I do.’
His own memories of the playground that had once stood on the site were definitely not as fond as Layla’s, he mused. He too had visited it on his own, but he hadn’t made any friends when he was there. The other kids had probably been warned by their parents to stay away from the boy whose mother had left him and who had a father notorious for being bad-tempered and more often than not drunk.
Bringing his focus firmly back to the present, Drake returned his pretty companion’s smile. ‘By the way, you’ll have to wear a hard hat … Health and Safety demands it, I’m afraid. I’ve got a spare in the boot.’
The word cold didn’t come anywhere near to describing the effect of the slashing raw wind that cut into Layla’s face as soon as she stepped out of the car onto the flattened muddied ground. Shivering hard, and reflecting on the vehemence in Drake’s tone when he’d talked about rising above his circumstances after the devastating events of his childhood, she suddenly understood why his success must mean so much to him. From this rundown suburban no-man’s land to Mayfair was no small achievement. In fact, thinking about the deprivation in the area—both socially and educationally—his accomplishment was nothing less than remarkable. Wrapping her arms round the insubstantial padded jacket she wore with her jeans, she shivered again, fervently wishing she’d had the foresight to wear something much warmer.
‘Let’s walk. Some exercise will help warm you up. Here, you’d better put this on first.’
As he came to stand in front of her she saw the glint of concern that mingled with wry amusement in his mercurial grey eyes and her blood started to pump hard even before she started to walk round the site. She was so disconcerted by the reaction that as she moved forward to take the spare headgear he was holding out she immediately tripped over a stone and almost fell. The only reason she didn’t was because Drake’s hands caught hold of her arms just in time to steady her. In the process he grabbed the hard hat she was carrying and threw it to the ground, along with his own, so that he could properly support her.
During those volatile few seconds time slowed to a terrifying immediacy that ripped away all possibility of thought. Instead Layla was aware only of the acutely erotic heat that poured into the air between them. It was a formidable force that was impossible to ignore.
When her shocked gaze fell onto Drake’s, only to see the candid hunger that was laid bare in his eyes, she knew with a jolt that they were reflecting the same shocking, raw need that she was experiencing. His steel-like grip on her upper arms didn’t lessen as his warm breath hit the icy air with visible little clouds of steam. She yearned to say something … anything to restore the situation to some semblance of recognisable normality before it was too late … before she succumbed to something she might live to regret. But the idea abruptly melted away when in that very same instant he took his hands away from her arms to cup them either side of her jaw. The surprising sensation of a couple of rough-edged calluses and warm smooth skin pressed against her cold face was a sensual revelation.
With a harsh breath that was a precursor to the inevitability of his next action, Drake crushed her mouth savagely beneath his.
The combined taste of his lips and tongue was immediately sexy and addictive. Like a heady smooth cognac that she couldn’t stop herself craving even when she knew drinking it would likely get her into trouble.
Layla found herself in the midst of a sensually battering storm that threatened to rip her from her moorings for ever, and her ears were filled with the sound of her own breathless gasps as her hands curled possessively into Drake’s cashmere coat in a desperate bid to bring his strong hard body even closer to hers. What she wouldn’t give to be skin to skin with him right then, instead of wearing restrictive clothing that prevented them from touching each other as passionately as they craved. Even in the teeth of the cutting wind that blew around them the fire they’d lit between them surely blazed hot enough to keep even the most arctic temperatures at bay?
The clawing sexual need that suddenly consumed her rocked her with its force. With an indisputable sense of urgency Drake hurriedly unzipped her jacket and roughly palmed her breast. Even through her clothing his touch was like a lick of raw flame scorching her. With a rough groan he broke off the avaricious kiss that was threatening to get out of control. His mouth’s desertion left Layla helplessly pining for more. But she didn’t feel abandoned for long, because straight away he pushed her jacket collar aside and pressed his mouth to the juncture between her neck and shoulder.
His heat all but undid her there and then. At the same time as his lips moved seductively over that highly sensitive region he sank his teeth into her skin and bit her. If it hadn’t been for the fact that both his hands were holding her fast by her hips she was sure she would have fainted from the sheer scorching pleasure of it. Yet a kernel of common sense somehow engineered its way into the dangerous fog of desire, and with her heart racing she freed herself from the circle of his arms and stepped away. As she moved back her hand gingerly touched the tender place where he’d bitten, feeling the sting that undoubtedly meant he’d left his mark. Her face flooded with violent heat.
‘We shouldn’t be doing this. We can’t do this. You were—you were going to show me round the site and tell me about what’s planned here. Perhaps we should concentrate on doing that instead of—instead of …’
‘Wanting to rip each other’s clothes off?’
Drake’s throaty intonation and teasing smile came dangerously close to making Layla hungrily return to his arms. To prevent such an occurrence she made herself recall how devastated she’d been when her ex-boss had mercilessly persuaded her to invest her life savings in the financial scheme that had turned out to be totally crooked. The humiliating and hurtful memory reminded her of her vow to steer clear of wealthy charming men for as long as she lived. Better she fell for a factory worker or a postman so long as he was honest and true.
She’d already been burned by someone whose raison d’être was money and success, and she was in no hurry
