Claudia Carroll 3 Book Bundle. Claudia Carroll

that no one ever tells you. I’ve always thought that you don’t get complimented enough, all you ever seem to get is bucketloads of shite thrown all over you. So take it from me, tonight you’re any man’s fantasy come true, just a pity that the only person who can’t see it is you. And to me, you’re the sexiest, loveliest, most gorgeous woman here.’

      I’m flushing right to the back of my molars now and suddenly after all of our messing and chat and banter, there’s an awkward silence, where we both look at each other, sensing that our friendship is about to cross a major line here.

      But onto what?

      There’s a silence now, all our easy chitchat has suddenly stopped. And now it’s like even the air in the room isn’t moving.

      ‘Your dress is unzipped,’ he eventually murmurs, pointing to the back of it.

      ‘Oh rats, yeah, I couldn’t reach,’ I mumble, staring at him stupidly.

      ‘Come here. Allow me.’

      ‘Oh, emmm, thanks.’

      I go over to where he’s sitting up against the pillows and sit down gingerly on the edge of the bed, with my back to him. Next thing, I feel his warm hands lightly lifting my hair off the back of my neck as he zips the dress all the way up. For just a millisecond longer than necessary, his hands linger on my bare shoulders and now there’s a tingling thrill shooting down my arms, bringing my whole body out in goose pimples.

      Hadn’t counted on this … Hadn’t even considered the deep, swell that starts inside my chest then slowly starts to spread over my whole body, until my fingers tingle, and each and every one of my nerve endings feels like it’s physically starting to ache.

      Christ, I think randomly, have I really been withering for the want of a human touch this badly? And for this long?

      His giant hands linger on the nape of my neck, then gently start to play with a loose strand of my hair as my stomach contracts with longing … Whatever else happens, I don’t want him to stop …

      Okay, I’m starting to feel dizzy now, loose and watery and find my head slowly turning round to face him as he cups my face in his huge hand, massaging it with his long, slow fingers.

      ‘This alright?’ he whispers so softly, I can barely hear him.

      The rational part of my mind says, stop this lunacy right now, get up while I still can, say something smart and get back downstairs to the party proper. Because the thing is, I like being Jake’s friend. Surely the superior and permanent position of friends is a pretty good place to be. Isn’t it? Not to mention the bombshell I’ll be landing on him tomorrow … So why am I in danger of blowing everything right now by turning back to him, mumbling ‘Mmmmm,’ softly under my breath, wanting nothing more now than for him to hold me, to lie down beside him, to feel his lips on mine … He must be able to hear my heart hammering, I think, he must …

      ‘You’re amazing, you know that?’ he murmurs into my hair, and now I can feel his tongue lightly grazing off my ear. Oh God, he smells so delicious too, musky and gorgeous. And suddenly it’s like a furnace in here and even just looking at him is making me break out in a clammy sweat.

      ‘Most incredible person I think I’ve ever met.’

      Another flush from me and now he’s smiling down at me.

      ‘I love watching you blush. It’s so against your nature and you’re so pretty when you do.’

      I inch back a tiny bit, to look him full in the face.

      ‘Jake …’

      ‘Mmmmm …’ he says, pulling me back towards him, his grip like iron now.

      ‘What are we doing here? Are we both sure about this?’

      ‘Never been surer of anything in my life.’

      ‘But what about your woman? The Girl from Ipanema, sorry, I mean, what’s her name, Monique?’

      ‘Nothing.’ He just smiles that wry crooked smile I love and looks at me the way he always does whenever he thinks I’m acting like a complete mental case. ‘No story whatsoever. We’re friends, that’s all. Went to a movie together once and that was it. I already told you that.’

      ‘Yeah, but, I just wondered …’

      ‘Come on love,’ he smiles, lazily tracing a line of light kisses along the path of my collarbone, ‘the only reason I even mentioned her was because you seemed so edgy with me when we were out to dinner last week. I honestly thought you were about to tell me you were married or in a long-term relationship or something. So I just thought it might put your mind at rest a bit, take some pressure off you if I told you about Monique, that’s all. If you’ll remember though, I did make it clear to you we were only going out as friends …’

      Now. This is it. The perfect moment.

      ‘Jake … there was something I wanted to tell you that night, but I never got a chance …’

      ‘Shhh, can’t you see I’m trying to kiss you here?’

      With that, he grabs me by the waist and pulls me towards him so that now we’re face to face, inches from each other and all I can do is forget what I was about to say and look deep into his beautiful, wide blue eyes, just wishing he’d lean down and kiss me properly … And when he eventually does, it’s an endless kiss, strong and deep and so, so sexy and I can’t help myself from moaning softly as he strokes down the whole length of my body … it’s hot and getting hotter and I don’t want him to stop, don’t want this moment to be over, want nothing more then to commit this to memory, so I can relive it later …

      It takes every gram of strength I have to pull away, but somehow I manage to.

      ‘No, please Jake, not until I’ve talked to you …’

      ‘What’s up love?’

      Next thing, the bedroom phone rings.

      And now I’m startled, almost shocked back to sobriety.

      ‘Let it ring and tell me what’s bothering you,’ he says thickly, arms clamped tight around me.

      But I can’t, in case it’s Helen or Lily or some problem at home. I detangle myself, slide away from him towards the bedside table and pick it up.

      ‘Hello?’

      ‘Eloise, where in the name of god are you?’

      Ruth O’Connell, sounding even tipsier than I feel right now.

      ‘Hi Ruth, you OK?’

      ‘Come on, the party’s started and you’re late! We’re all down here waiting for you, so hurry up! And get that gorgeous slab of a man of yours down here too! Steve from accounts is making serious moves on me again and I need to talk boys with you!’

      I smile, hang up, then turn back to Jake.

      ‘Party’s started,’ I tell him. ‘Time for us to go.’

      Can’t tell him now. But for the first time all week, I think maybe, just maybe, everything will be fine when I do.

      ‘Party hasn’t even begun to start,’ he grins broadly. ‘You just wait till I get you back up here later on. Now that’ll be the real party.’

      Five minutes later and arm in arm together we both trip down the massive stone staircase into the large, looming and slightly terrifying library, where aperitifs are being served before dinner. Jake holds open the door for me, winks at me, then brushes his hand lightly up and down my bare back as I waft past him. And it’s thrilling and sexy all at once and as I smile coyly up at him all I can think is – later.

      Just wait until later. That’s all we have to do. In a few hours, all this work malarkey will be done and dusted and then it’ll just me and him … alone. And I’ll come clean to him and with luck we’ll just pick up exactly where we left