Untamed Bachelors. Susan Stephens

low-throated murmurs and clever hands. Not the blazing brush fire this time, but a hot steady burn, no less powerful in its intensity.

      When he lifted his head and looked straight and clear into her eyes, she found herself clinging to his sweatshirt for support. Her head was spinning, her heart trying to catch up.

      ‘It was good between us last night,’ he murmured. ‘I want to pursue it. So do you.’

      She closed her eyes, denying it, denying him. Denying herself. ‘No.’

      ‘Look me dead in the eye and tell me you don’t want to continue what we started.’

      He cupped her jaw, thumbs whisking over her lips, and her brain shut down. ‘I don’t want you to—’ one hand skimmed down the centre of her body from neck to navel, down ‘—to…stop,’ she finished on a moan. She tried to move away again, but the table prevented her and it seemed her body had a will of its own. ‘I can’t think when you do that…’

      ‘Then look at me, be honest and tell me you don’t want me.’ The trace of his lips over her chin and down the side of her neck had her arching backwards over the table, his hand warm against her lower belly. Her feminine places swelled and throbbed. One touch and she was melting…

      Her eyes drifted open. ‘This is crazy.’

      ‘I agree.’

      He lifted his head, watched her with a grin that promised everything she wanted if only she had the courage to take it for however long it lasted.

      He wiggled his brows. ‘Why don’t we get crazy together?’

      She felt her own lips kick up at the corners. ‘You think it’d help? I mean…help with getting it out of our systems. Like you said.’ Sometime. She waved a vague hand; she couldn’t remember when he’d said it, only that he had. Which meant he wanted to get naked with her to scratch that pesky clichéd itch. Temporary diversion. Lust.

      ‘We could give it another try right now…’ He shifted closer, easing himself between her thighs.

      ‘Uh-uh. Not until we make a few things clear.’ Pushing him away, she straightened, her mind awhirl. Did she dare to risk setting herself up for the fall which would inevitably occur? For starters, ‘If I change my mind, you respect that, no questions asked.’

      He nodded. ‘You got it.’

      ‘And while we’re being crazy together, you’re not being crazy with anyone else.’

      ‘Ellie, I—’

      She shook her head. ‘Never. Ever. I won’t tolerate it.’ She could feel herself shaking, her voice catching, remembering Heath’s betrayal. While he’d made merry with her, he’d had a fiancée he’d forgotten to tell her about. ‘I’ll not—’

      ‘Ellie, calm down. I’m not asking for undying love and commitment. All I’m asking is a few days of mutual enjoyment. Just you and me.’

      ‘A few days.’ She stared up at him, unable to believe he’d ask it, unable to believe she’d even consider it, let alone agree to it.

      ‘It’ll be okay, Ellie.’ He searched her gaze for the longest time, then touched her cheek with a light finger. It was almost as if he knew she’d been hurt before, and his perception and understanding did strange things to her insides, quieting the shrill questions and fears, beckoning to her like a warm quilt on a cold night.

      Still, she rubbed the tiny shiver from her arms that his touch invoked. ‘I know it will.’ She’d make sure of it.

      He nodded, taking her reply as acceptance. ‘I need to return to Sydney for work for a couple of days. Come with me.’

      She felt her jaw drop. ‘To Sydney? What about Belle?’

      He smiled. ‘I happen to know she’d approve.’

      ‘I don’t know that she would—what about her kitchen garden? Thanks to the weather, it’s behind schedule. She’s trusting me to get on with the job in her absence.’

      ‘You’re not due to work again until next week. I’ve organised the company jet to be ready at three-thirty and booked a table for dinner tonight at the Sydney Tower Restaurant.’

      Company jet. Dinner in Sydney.

      And his undivided attention.

      An incredulous laugh bubbled up. She was standing here in her dim, decrepit one-room apartment, being propositioned by an irresistible millionaire who’d already planned the entire thing. It was all moving so fast she felt as if she was being whisked up to the top of that tower already. ‘Mr Super Confident,’ she murmured.

      ‘The only way to make things happen.’

      How was she going to keep up with him? ‘I don’t have anything suitable to wear to such an up-market restaurant, and didn’t you say you had to work?’

      ‘Not till tomorrow. And you’ll look gorgeous, whatever you wear.’

      Oh, yeah? He hadn’t seen her wardrobe. ‘You work on a Sunday?’

      ‘It’s urgent and the only day everyone involved can fit it in. You can sightsee, shop or spend the time at the apartment, if you prefer. There’s a spa with a great view over the city and plenty of bubbles.’

      ‘Soap or champagne?’ ‘Both, if you so desire.’

      And, oh, she did…She bit back a sigh. Her own Pretty Woman vision without the shopping spree.

      Unlike the crowds and delays of commercial travel, they departed on time and with no fuss, leaving the dull grey Melbourne skyline behind.

      Soon after take-off Matt fixed them drinks and nibbles, then excused himself to catch up on some work on his laptop, leaving Ellie to lie back on the wide leather seat and enjoy the comfort of the tiny private jet.

      She watched the ice-cream clouds below them for a time, then flicked through a couple of architectural magazines. McGregor Architectural Designs featured on the cover of the previous month’s issue. Matt was standing at the base of some steps, jacket slung over his shoulder, a glimmer of that sexy-as-all-get-out grin on his face. A needle-thin glass-and-steel pyramid vaulted into the sky behind him. She recognised it as one of the city’s prominent buildings, but hadn’t realised it was one of Matt’s designs and the home of his business empire. The whole concept that she was in his jet, flying off to spend the weekend with him, blew her away.

      In just over an hour they were descending over the Harbour Bridge, the water reflecting the deepening orange and indigo sky. Lights were coming on all over the city like thousands of twinkling fireflies.

      A limousine picked them up and whisked them to the city centre. They stopped in front of a tall round building and stepped out onto George Street, thronged with tourists out on a Saturday night. The lobby sparkled with lights and black granite. Ellie had worked in Sydney but she’d stayed in cheap accommodation, not in…this. ‘You own an apartment in this building too?’ she asked as they stepped into the elevator.

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘How many places does one guy need?’

      He grinned as they shot skyward. ‘I look at them as investments and it beats impersonal and unfamiliar hotel rooms.’

      The elevator doors slid open to reveal a small lobby. Matt opened a wide-panelled door and the stunning harbour view greeted them through floor-to-ceiling windows. As she followed him through the spacious apartment she noticed vibrant autumn colours of amber and taupe. A tall arrangement of black lacquered twigs in a vermilion pot stood in one corner. Comfortable couches, the latest in electronic entertainment.

      He stopped at a bedroom, setting their bags just inside the door. Her pulse stepped up at the sight of the king-size bed with its dark-chocolate quilt and apricot pillows.

      The reason she was here.

      The air