The Abby Green Modern Collection. ABBY GREEN

a friend from the village checking in every day, she knew she’d get a call immediately if anything was wrong.

      The phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts. Warily she picked it up.

      ‘Maggie…’A pulse between her legs throbbed just at the sound of his voice; why did it have to come down the line like a caress? She pressed her legs together fiercely.

      ‘Caleb. I was just hoping you weren’t in a hospital somewhere.’

      She could have sworn she almost heard a chuckle, disconcerting her for a moment. ‘I just bet you were. I meant to ring earlier but I’ve been held up waiting for a call from Los Angeles. With the time difference, I won’t get in till after midnight. You should go to bed.’

      She remembered how late it had been last night when he’d left the office and bizarrely couldn’t stop a rush of concern, which she rapidly dampened. She was disconcerted and flummoxed by his having the courtesy to call.

      ‘I’ll go ahead and eat, then.’ The minute the words were out, she cursed silently. The last thing she wanted was to appear in any way concerned. Or that she’d been waiting for him.

      ‘Don’t tell me you cooked us a romantic meal?’

      ‘No such luck,’ she said sweetly, mentally crossing her fingers for the white lie. ‘I’ve been known to burn water.’ She had actually prepared a simple casserole, but wasn’t going to tell him that.

      ‘I assume you’ve settled in.’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Good. I’ll try not to wake you when I get in…or you could always wait up…?’

      Maggie faked a yawn, her stomach cramping with panic. ‘Much as I’d love to, I can’t stay awake. All the excitement…Goodbye, then.’

      She was about to put the phone down when she heard her name; she lifted it back up. His voice was low and lethally silky in her ear. ‘If you’re not in my bed when I get in, Maggie…you will be by morning.’

      The phone clicked down. Maggie thought of the furthest guest room she’d already picked in some futile attempt to deny what was expected of her. She knew he would do exactly as he said. He would carry her bodily out of that bed, into his own.

      Knowing she had no choice, she packed away her comfy nightshirt and closed the door on that room. She went into the dressing room, where she’d laid out all the new clothes. She’d placed the underwear and negligées in a drawer. They’d not been her choice to buy, but the shop assistant who’d helped her had been so enthusiastic she hadn’t had the heart to curtail her, or deny her the commission. And she thought of a couple of dresses that the girl had picked out. Dresses Maggie would never normally choose…but, she’d guessed at the time, they were dresses that would be suitable for Caleb’s mistress to wear. So she had taken them also.

      And, if she was honest, a part of her had thought, Hang Caleb, he can pay for all this ten times over, and more. She resolutely refused to look too deeply into the possibility that she had in fact bought them because she wanted to…for him. She had to remember she was playing a part. And what he would expect was a mistress, dressed suitably, in his bed. That thought made her shiver as she prepared.

      Later, while waiting for sleep to claim her, as she lay on the very edge of the huge bed, Maggie reflected uncomfortably that their phone conversation earlier had been almost…too easy, with a hint of warmth even. And that was dangerous. Because it reminded her of the heady days when she’d first got to know him in London, when she’d seen that other side to him. She turned over and rested her head on her hand. If he was to turn on the charm she’d be lost, for certain. She knew because she’d been lost before. Despite everything that had transpired, she was very much afraid that she was still lost.

      The drama of the last few days caught up with her finally, the sleepless nights. She gave in to a deep dreamless sleep.

      

      Caleb woke early. He was aware of the heat of another body close to his. Turning so that he was on one side, he looked to see Maggie nestling close, curled towards him. Vibrant red hair fanned out around her head. He’d been dimly aware of her shape on the far side of the bed the previous night and had been too exhausted to investigate further. But they’d obviously gravitated towards each other during the night.

      Now, however, he could study her at leisure. She looked younger, innocent…oddly vulnerable. His face took on a hardness as he dismissed the notion, his eyes travelling down. With the cover drawn back, she was revealed in a creamy negligée, the delicate lace just disguising the mounds of her breasts, which rose and fell with even breaths. Caleb felt his body respond forcefully. He shifted uncomfortably and Maggie shifted too, as if they were linked by an invisible thread. He stilled.

      In repose, her lips went into what looked almost like a petulant moue. He wanted to bend his head and kiss her soft mouth. He wanted to have her wake and look at him with sleepy eyes, smile and turn into him, giving herself to him. But he didn’t. Because he knew that if he was to wake her with a kiss, she’d look at him first with surprise, but then with censure…and, without wanting to question why, he knew he didn’t want that. When he made love to her he wanted her eyes to be open, aware of every moment and darkened with passion—when he took her for the first time.

      In a split second she had shifted and moved even closer, a hand reaching out, finding his chest and resting there. As if to test him. Small and pale against the darkness of his skin. Fingers curling softly. His jaw clenched with the effort not to give in to temptation and very gently and slowly he extricated himself and went to take a shower. A cold one. On the bed behind him Maggie stirred but did not wake.

       CHAPTER FOUR

      WHEN Maggie did wake it took a minute to figure out where she was. She felt completely refreshed, as though she’d had the most restorative sleep in her life. Stretching under the covers, she smiled to herself and then stopped. The feel of the slinky silk material on her body was all too alien.

      She remembered exactly where she was.

      Sitting up slightly, she realised that she was practically on the other side of the bed to the one she’d taken last night and the evidence of a head imprint very close to hers told her that Caleb had joined her at some stage, but he was gone now. From where she was, she must have been on top of him…or maybe he had pulled her over? No, she would have woken. And how had she had such a good sleep with him in the bed beside her? She was a finicky sleeper at the best of times and yet, her first night in a new place, sharing her bed with the most disturbing person she’d ever met, she’d slept like a baby for the first time in years.

      The door opened to reveal a clean-shaven, impeccably dressed Caleb. Maggie sank back down and pulled the covers to her chin, unbelievably relieved to see him fully clothed.

      ‘Morning.’ He put a cup of coffee on the bedside table. She looked at him very warily.

      ‘You know you’re quite the wriggler when you’re asleep. All over me when I woke up. You’d think a king-size bed would be big enough…’

      Just after the way her own thoughts had been going, it was too much. She would not let him goad her and stifled a defensive retort, but then had to say something.

      ‘Well, maybe this has been a mistake after all, if I slept through the magnitude of sharing your bed without my clothes inadvertently dropping off…’

      He came down on the bed beside her and suddenly she couldn’t breathe, the air trapped in her throat. Two strong, sinewy arms came either side of her. The sheet slipped down to reveal her upper body, hardly concealed by the lace and satin. His eyes made a leisurely inspection from her face downwards, until his eyes rested on her breasts. Just under his look, she could feel them swell, her nipples tightening into small hard peaks, pouting flagrantly forward, as if begging for his touch. Almost carelessly, he lifted the back of his hand and