on the stairs? You may find it uncomfortable to eat your lunch, but it’s your choice.’
It wasn’t only the challenge she presented, or the mouth-watering smell of lunch cooking coming from inside the apartment, that caused Darius to abruptly hand her the bottle of wine as he stepped inside, but also the curiosity he felt to see Miranda’s space. She’d insisted he left her at the door last night and now he wanted to see for himself what type of home she had made for herself.
The interior was a complete open loft space the same floor size as the ballet school below, the walls were of exposed brickwork and dark wooden beams bisected the ceiling above. The space itself was divided into zones, with a rustic kitchen in one corner, a table and chairs already set for eating on the other side of the island unit. The sofa and chairs beside the fireplace were comfortable rather than modern, and the floor was covered in colourful rugs. The colours were all earth tones: terracotta, yellows, greens, with touches of russet.
There were several Degas ballet prints hanging on the exposed brickwork, with that open fireplace at one end of the massive room, and half a dozen steps led up to a smaller mezzanine level, which, Darius presumed, encompassed the sleeping area and bathroom.
It was the complete opposite to the ultra-modern apartments he owned, in several capitals of the world, including London. His places had all been furnished and decorated by fashionably exclusive interior designers.
In contrast to their cool sterility, Miranda’s apartment was warmly comfortable, and extremely welcoming.
It was just the sort of space, a place of calm and tranquillity, where it would be possible to totally relax, away from the rush and bustle of the world beyond these four walls.
Andy had absolutely no idea what thoughts were going through Darius’s mind as he looked about her apartment, his expression non-committal.
She only hoped that her own expression was just as unreadable to him!
Her fantasy of a dressed-down Darius didn’t do justice to the man now standing before her. His faded jeans showed off the perfection of his taut backside and the long lean length of his legs. A black short-sleeved T-shirt revealed the muscled length of his arms, and stretched over wide shoulders, muscled chest and flat stomach. The darkness of his overlong hair was deliciously tousled, as if he might have showered and washed it just before leaving home, leaving it to dry naturally on the drive over here.
He looked completely male and completely gorgeous.
Breathtakingly so.
Knee-tremblingly so.
Andy had spent several hours debating what she should wear today, almost every item of clothing she possessed having ended up discarded on the bed as she vetoed one outfit after another. She had finally settled on her usual Sunday clothes, of comfortable jeans and an over-large T-shirt, hoping the familiarity would help her to get through the next few hours in Darius’s company.
Although, from the way Darius had looked at her when he’d arrived, she had been wasting her time, and comfort was the last thing he saw when he looked at her.
‘Would you like to open the bottle of wine and let it breathe for a few minutes while I put the finishing touches to lunch?’ Andy’s gaze was lowered as she placed the bottle and opener on top of the breakfast bar before turning her back as she diligently stirred the gravy in a saucepan on top of the hob.
This had been a bad idea, she chastised herself for what had to be the hundredth time since making the invitation the previous evening. She was totally aware of Darius standing a short distance away as he, no doubt deftly, took the cork from the bottle of wine.
She had gone out shopping for food as soon as the shops had opened this morning, half hoping Darius would have left a message on the answer-machine when she got back, cancelling joining her for lunch. No such luck, and when it had reached midday, with still no word from him, Andy had decided to accept the inevitable: she would have to get through several hours of having Darius in her apartment today, while the two of them ate lunch together.
But that was all they were going to do. There would be no lounging around together afterwards, no sitting cosily on the sofa and watching a film on the television, or any of that other relaxing—but with Darius, dangerous—Sunday stuff.
‘This is nice.’
Andy’s hand shook slightly as she stirred the gravy, with Darius standing so close to her the warmth of his breath brushed against the back of her neck. ‘It’s home,’ she dismissed without turning.
‘I wasn’t referring to your apartment,’ he said softly.
Oh, heavens.
This really had been a bad idea.
Probably the worst idea she had ever had in her life.
Andy drew in a sharp breath before turning to face him, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked up and found herself instantly captivated by his eyes. As the cologne he wore—that smell of lemons with an underlying spice—wound itself insidiously about her senses.
She swallowed before speaking, so aware that time seemed to have stopped. One of them had to break the tension of the moment. ‘Would you like to carve the beef at the table or shall I do it now and put it on the plates?’ She tried to sound normal, but her voice sounded unusually husky in the tense silence wrapping itself tightly about the two of them.
Darius watched Miranda’s mouth as she spoke, once again mesmerised by the fullness of her lips. They were beautifully curved, completely bare of lip gloss, and he ached to kiss them until they were a full and swollen pout.
Next he wanted to remove her T-shirt and bra and taste her breasts again...
Before unfastening and then peeling her figure-hugging jeans down the long length of her legs. Then he longed to remove her panties so that he could kiss and taste the lushness between her thighs. More than anything else he wanted to finish what they had started the evening before, to kiss Miranda, caress and stroke her with his hands, lips and tongue, and refuse to release her until she cried out her pleasure.
None of which fell in with the plan Darius had had when he’d arrived, which was to eat lunch, thank Miranda very politely, before getting the hell out of here.
What was it about this woman, in particular, that totally robbed him of the reserve and control that had never once been shaken before?
She wasn’t even his type, and she was definitely too innocent and inexperienced for him. Miranda would probably run away screaming if she knew some of the things he had imagined doing to and with her as he lay awake in bed last night, unable to sleep!
‘Darius?’
He gave a slightly dazed shake of his head as he stepped abruptly back and away from her. ‘I’m fine leaving you to carve the meat.’
Andy gave a shrug as Darius turned and walked away; her father had always carved the meat at the table, and Colin now carried on that tradition, but it was probably a little too domesticated for the sophisticated billionaire Darius Sterne.
Probably?
This man was about as domesticated as a jungle cat—and just as lethal!
He moved like one too, Andy noted a little breathlessly
