of hours before—’
‘Yeah, I’m going for a lie down.’ She walked, quickly. ‘Alone.’
* * *
Two hours later she was running late, having spent too long messing around with all the luxury bathing products in the bathroom and thinking up movie-tour spiels. Wrapped in one of the luxurious robes supplied in the wardrobe, she raced to the kitchen to hunt out a snack. Munching a cracker, she caught him in the corridor on her way back to her bedroom.
She stopped, spilling crumbs as she unconsciously clenched her fist and crushed the cracker. How could any woman think ‘friends only’ when he looked as sex-in-a-suit as that?
He grinned as if he could read her thoughts. ‘You like it?’
Oh, yeah, her like was all over her face. Way too late she pulled her jaw from the floor and got her tongue back behind her teeth. ‘You’re not playing fair.’
‘I just thought it might be good to lift the challenge for you. Make you think about what you’re giving up.’
As if she needed to think about that any more than she was already.
‘You were wrong once—isn’t there the possibility you might be wrong twice?’ he asked slyly.
‘What was I wrong about?’
‘That it was fantasy sex that couldn’t be repeated. But that kiss in the spa was way better than any fantasy. Just imagine what a whole night together would be like.’
‘This is you meeting the friendship challenge, is it?’ she asked.
He shrugged negligently. ‘Oh, I can meet that challenge. But if you wanted to change your mind at any time, all you have to do is ask.’
And he’d do her? She merely smiled and went to set a challenge of her own. Twenty minutes later she walked into the lounge and waited for his response.
He stared—up and down, up and down, paused just north of her centre, and then up and down again. ‘That was really in that tiny overnight bag?’
She twirled. ‘It’s a tiny dress.’
It was and all Ruben wanted to do was peel it off her. It was black and sleek—like cobwebbing over her breasts and an equally clinging skirt. Her legs were lightly tanned and framed with a pair of barely there sandals on her feet—only a strip of black sequins across her toes and a heel that gave her a slight chance of levelly meeting his gaze.
He managed to haul a couple of words together. ‘We’d better go.’
There would have been a couple of hundred people there. The place glittered—diamonds adorned ears, necks, wrists and fingers everywhere. He glanced at Ellie’s beautiful skin; diamonds would look good on her. Or sapphires to match her eyes. Although no gem, no matter how precious, could sparkle the way her eyes were now.
She was laughing at how he’d just waylaid a waitress and hoovered too many of her canapés before she’d been able to offer them to anyone else. But honestly, he’d not eaten for ages. The two hours Ellie had had her lie-down, he’d been working.
‘You really don’t give a damn about what these people think of you, do you?’ Ellie teased.
‘Why should I? It doesn’t matter to me what anyone thinks.’
‘But what about your business?’
‘It speaks for itself. Each hotel or lodge is its own advertisement. I create them and then disappear into the background. It’s not about me. Never about me. People don’t go to a luxury retreat to hang out with the owner. They go for space, rest, privacy.’ He shrugged.
He watched her talk with one woman about the scenery. Snowboarding. Turned out Ellie had never been snowboarding herself, but she got that other woman talking about it for the best part of twenty minutes. She really was interested in what the other was saying. Asked intelligent, thoughtful questions. She was so good at listening and paying attention to other people. At seeming to care. Watching her in action, he realised it was the skill set she’d learned as a lonely kid. By giving others attention, she got attention. It made her included.
He watched her show all through dinner. For the most part he just enjoyed her enthusiasm—as did those at their table. But she was interested in being friends with him because she didn’t have to maintain that vivacious front the entire time with him. She could be ribald. She could be outrageous. She could be tired and grumpy. She could be selfish and take what she wanted. Hell, he wanted her to take what she wanted from him again. His body ached for her to.
Fortunately the band started up. While dancing was a very, very risky idea, it was also irresistible.
‘Friends kiss each other, don’t they?’ he asked idly as they barely moved, swaying in the small, heated dance space.
‘Oh, you’re bad.’ Glittering blue eyes sliced through him.
‘We’re also in a public place, so it’s not like we can go overboard. Just a little, friendly kiss.’
‘How friendly?’
‘Well, given our history, I’d say we’re very close friends.’
He stole a kiss and felt the fire both sharpen his need and melt his soul. This was what he wanted. Her giving in to him. Wanting him. Hot and sweet and soft. He pulled her closer, ached to have her lush body blanket his. Her warm lips welcomed. Oh, it was good. Blood fired—revitalised—around his body. He actually relaxed, the pressure in his head easing.
But she broke free. ‘That was almost overboard,’ she muttered, not looking at him.
He nodded but refused to let her out of his hold. Thank heavens for a crowded dance floor.
Ellie was almost out on her feet. No way could she handle more of this dancing and certainly not another ‘friendly’ kiss. She insisted on heading back to the bar where she stood alongside him and watched him attract people like the Pied Piper summoned every child in his town. He talked with men about farming, sport, politics, building developments. With the women it was more about the hotel business, the restaurants, the local events. Utterly sociable, he was the kind of person hosts loved at a party because he could carry conversation so well.
But it was all safe conversation. She noticed he never talked about himself—all topics were out in the public domain. While she made conversation by talking about the other person, he made conversation by talking about things or events or policies. He never broached the personal with any of them, but was utterly charming. And as the evening wore on it dawned on her that they were at a charity dinner for a hospice and he’d never once mentioned it in any of his conversations here. So that was too personal—she’d suspected so.
But his roguish smile and occasional outrageous joke had so many women giving him that look. And giving Ellie that look of envy.
She fell asleep on the drive home. Ruben pulled into the entranceway and quietly went round the car and opened her door. He scooped her up and carried her inside to the big sofa in the lounge. He didn’t want the night to end just yet—not with them going to separate bedrooms.
So much for phases two and three being
