He wondered, with some irony, whether this was what happened when the guy who could have it all was denied the one thing he found he wanted.
The sooner this charade came to an end, the better. Not least because his mother appeared to have fallen in love with the woman and that had not been on the agenda. But they were going out tonight, just the two of them, and he wouldn’t mince his words.
The time for pulling the plug had come.
He was sick of waging war with his libido. He had to return to the land of the living, his offices in London. His mother was getting far too involved in their pretend love affair for his liking. And, anyway, who knew whether Milly was getting a little too accustomed to the good life? That was a consideration that had to be taken into account. Surely. Wasn’t it?
‘How long have you been lurking by the door?’ Milly said accusingly and Lucas strolled into the room to take up position by the window, perching against the broad window sill with his arms folded.
Here comes Adonis again, Milly thought absently, and shouldn’t I have become accustomed to this by now? She could see him a million times and still be startled by his dark, stunning beauty.
‘I don’t lurk...’ His features were perfectly controlled, as was the tenor of his voice, but he had to steer firmly away from the soft swell of her breasts jutting against the soft fabric of a flimsy, strappy dress. Hell, she wasn’t even wearing a bra! It bordered on indecent, even though the style was modest enough.
There was something about the shimmering colours, though...blues and creams that made the fall of her curly red hair even more vibrant...and she was wearing make-up. Just a bit. Just sufficient gloss on her full lips to tease any red-blooded man to distraction.
He felt himself harden and he looked away from her momentarily, gathering himself, before indulging in his usual light-hearted banter with his mother. The fiercer his desire grew, the more distance he had to try and put between them. Those brief touches were like matches flung onto dry tinder.
‘Now, make sure you use Carlos...’ his mother was telling him as he walked towards Milly, who was rising to her feet, as graceful as a ballet dancer in some strappy little sandals that showed off newly painted toenails.
‘Is this the drink-driving lecture?’ Lucas slipped his arm around Milly’s waist and felt her soft body against his, which was a predictable challenge to his self-control. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be using Carlos. If I remember correctly, he has a fondness for that little wine bar not a million miles away from the restaurant. He can enjoy himself with a plate of pasta and a big bottle of mineral water.’ Her breasts were just above where his hand curved on her ribcage.
As soon as they were through the front door, he dropped his hand and moved away from her.
Talk about being obvious, Milly thought, stung because he was so clearly turned off by her. She slid into the back seat through the door that Carlos held open for her and didn’t glance in Lucas’s direction as he levered himself in and sat next to her.
He hadn’t even commented on her dress. Her normally bubbly nature was flattened by that and she was cool as they drove towards the town, choosing to stare through the window at the scenery and replying to his attempts at conversation in stiff monosyllables.
‘Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?’ Lucas drawled once they were out of the car and in the restaurant, which was a cosy Italian that obviously appealed to the beautiful and the wealthy.
‘Nothing’s wrong.’ Milly reluctantly looked at him and her heart picked up pace. He was staring at her, his dark eyes lazy and unfathomable. Was he comparing her to the sort of women his mother disliked but he didn’t?
‘Spit it out.’
‘Okay—what’s wrong is that you’re not making any attempt to sort this business out. We’ve been here nearly two weeks.’
‘I didn’t think you were in any rush to get back,’ Lucas said mildly.
‘That’s not the point. The point is that I don’t like lying to your mother. I feel we’re getting close to one another...’
‘Then make sure you pull back, Milly. She’s not a substitute mother because you lost yours.’
‘That’s a rotten thing to say!’
Lucas sighed and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. ‘It is and for that I apologise. In actual fact, I have been thinking the same as you. It’s time to start letting my mother know that this situation between us isn’t going to work. For one thing, I’m sick to death of sleeping on that sofa. I’m a big man. Far too big for a sofa. I never even did that in my teenage years.’
‘You never slept rough?’
‘Never. But we’re getting off topic here. We will have to be a bit more proactive. I admit, I’ve been at fault here...’ Yes, he had. He had preferred to enjoy the atmosphere in the house, his mother’s delight with his latest conquest, so different from her reactions to the few women she had met over the years. Lazy. He had been lazy. ‘Tomorrow, we stage an argument. It shouldn’t be too difficult. We have precious little in common.’ He shrugged with the usual graceful nonchalance that Milly found so seductive.
Milly drank some of the white wine that had found itself into the oversized glass in front of her. She had hardly been aware of a waiter pouring from a bottle.
‘If we have so little in common,’ she mocked, ‘then how is it that we haven’t been at each other’s throats by now?’
Lucas flushed. It was a good question. ‘It’s called the route of least resistance. When my mother has been around, it has been all too easy to let her see what she has wanted to see, but I have a life to get on with. I can’t afford to spend much more time here. Naturally, I will commute on weekends, but I need to be back in the saddle. I need to return to London. As do you. So that you can make good on the bargain you struck with me. Have you told your landlord that you will no longer be needing his flat? Or house? Or wherever it is you live?’
‘House. I’ve already told you that.’
‘My short-term memory can be occasionally short.’ The house she had shared with her so-called good friend. Of course he remembered! He remembered everything, every little detail. Too much.
‘And, no, I haven’t told my landlord yet. I can email him in the morning but you have to give me your word that you won’t renege on our agreement. I don’t want to find myself without a roof over my head.’
‘You did as you were asked. Naturally I will keep my end of the bargain.’
He was barely aware of ordering another bottle and, by the time they had finished eating, they were two bottles down and were making inroads into a third.
‘And what do you think our staged argument should be about?’ After a brief lull in hostilities, Milly picked up the thread of what they had been discussing earlier. The meal was finished, the bill paid; when she stood up, she had to focus, really focus, to stop herself from teetering on her unfamiliar heels.
He reached out to steady her and his hand remained there at her waist.
‘You’ve had too much to drink,’ Lucas
