Blackmailed Into His Arms. Margaret Mayo

her a glance filled with sultry and seductive meaning. “That is, if you’d like to stay the night.”

      Ten

      Elena inhaled deeply and stretched, her toes curling into the soft Egyptian cotton sheets, her arms reaching over her head until her fingers bumped the mahogany headboard.

      She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well. Of course, she and Chase had worn themselves out pretty well before finally drifting off sometime after midnight.

      At the sound of movement in the room, she opened her eyes and sat up, clutching the covers to her chest. Chase wasn’t beside her in the gigantic four poster bed, but already up and dressed. With a tray in his hands, he crossed the carpeted floor in bare feet, well-worn jeans and a casual white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

      The tray held a plate piled high with what looked like French toast and scrambled eggs, two glasses of orange juice and a tall, narrow vase with a single bright purple tulip in full bloom.

      “Good morning,” he said, his low drawl dripping down her spine like warm honey.

      “Good morning,” she returned as he rounded the bed and crawled onto the mattress from his side, setting the tray carefully between them. It looked and smelled delicious.

      “What time is it?” she asked, turning her head toward the clock on the bedside table.

      Before she could see for herself, he said, “A little after nine.”

      “Nine?” Shock and fear rolled through her as she realized she was late for work. She was never late for work.

      She threw back the covers, ready to jump out of bed and dress as quickly as possible. If she hurried, maybe she could get to the office before her boss realized she was late, even if it meant showing up in the same outfit two days in a row.

      She would rather put up with gossip about her personal life than gain the reputation of shirking her duties. And if she called Alandra from her cell phone on the way, she might even be able to get her sister to meet her there with a change of clothes.

      “Relax,” Chase told her, reaching out to grab her wrist before she’d leapt completely off the mattress. “I phoned your sister and asked her to call you in sick from work.”

      For a moment, Elena wasn’t sure she understood what he was telling her. Then, as it began to sink in, she raised a curious brow.

      “Although, if you’d like to leave the covers off and eat in the buff,” he added with a devilish wink, “I’m all for it.”

      She looked down and saw that she was, indeed, naked, the sheet tossed off to her ankles. With a gasp, she grabbed the sheet and yanked it back up to her chin.

      He chuckled at the blush that filled her cheeks. “Do you really think there’s any part of you I haven’t already seen?” he asked, and then added, “And explored quite thoroughly?”

      It was true. He was a very thorough man.

      “I don’t make a habit of sitting around, eating breakfast in the nude,” she replied primly, turning her nose up just a little.

      Which only earned her another deep laugh.

      “And what do you mean you asked my sister to call me in sick to work?” she demanded, pretending to be more annoyed than she really was.

      In all honestly, she was relieved. Yes, it was highhanded of him, but then, this was Chase. Chase was nothing if not forceful and commanding.

      He shrugged one broad shoulder. “I kept you up pretty late last night, so I figured you’d appreciate a morning to sleep in. I also thought we could spend the day together, since I called and let my secretary know I wouldn’t be in, either.”

      Now, that surprised her. She didn’t think Chase Ramsey ever took a day off work, or would know what to do with himself if he did.

      Since it seemed like a moot point now, she gave up on worrying about her job and reached for a fork and the plate of French toast.

      “What did you have in mind?” she asked.

      “Hey, that’s for both of us,” he complained when she dug in.

      “I’ll let you have whatever I can’t finish,” she shot back with a wicked tip to her lips.

      He snorted, but let her go. Then he said, “We can do anything you like. Sit by the pool sipping umbrella drinks, or on the back patio doing the same. We can even pack a picnic lunch and go over to my brother’s to see if he’ll let us take a couple of his horses out for a few hours.”

      For a man who professed to need her only as his mistress, he seemed awfully accommodating all of a sudden. A picnic lunch? Sipping umbrella drinks by the pool?

      She took a bite of French toast and chewed slowly, then washed it down with a sip of juice.

      As much as she enjoyed horseback riding, the thought of staying here and spending the day only with Chase held much more appeal. After all, she didn’t know how much longer they would have together before he decided he didn’t need a mistress anymore … or at least didn’t need her as his mistress.

      “A dip in the pool sounds like fun,” she said slowly. “I don’t have a suit, though.”

      “That’s all right.” He reached out and snagged a slice of French toast from the plate she was holding and lifted it directly to his mouth. “You don’t need one.”

      “You expect me to swim naked?” she asked, somewhat startled.

      “Why not?” He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. “I’ll be naked, too, and even if you did wear a suit, I’d have you out of it in no time, anyway.”

      She paused with the fork almost to her mouth, her throat closing suddenly as a jolt of arousal flushed through her system. Lowering her hand, she replaced the fork on the plate and set it all aside. Chase didn’t miss a beat in picking it up himself and digging in.

      “What do you say?” he asked, mouth half-full of food. “Do you still want to swim?”

      The vision of frolicking in the water with him, making love with him there, flashed through her head, and the muscles in her body went lax. She swallowed hard, licked her dry lips and barely managed a breathless, “Okay.”

      Hours later, Elena was glad she hadn’t had to go to work that day. She wasn’t sure she’d have the energy to even go in tomorrow.

      Chase was stretched out on a lounge chair a few feet from the pool, eyes closed, chest rising and falling with his breathing. She was draped along his side, her head on his shoulder, her palm resting on the flat of his abdomen. And they were both entirely, blissfully naked.

      Two colorful drinks, complete with the umbrellas he’d promised, sat on a small glass table beside the chair, practically untouched, and soft music played over the sound system that was piped through the entire house.

      “I’ve got a party to attend tomorrow night,” he said, startling her out of her drowsy reverie.

      Rolling her head back slightly, she realized his eyes were still closed, but he obviously wasn’t asleep as she’d first thought.

      “You wanna go with me?”

      “Do I have a choice?” she asked, shifting slightly to redistribute her weight along his chest and thigh.

      “You always have a choice. We all do,” he replied calmly. Lifting his arm, he thread his fingers through the damp hair at her temple. “But I’m asking you. It’s a business gathering, but you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I can make it through one black-tie party on my own, I think,” he added with a chuckle.

      She felt his laughter vibrate through his body, and nearly sighed at the tender, relaxing sensation he was creating along her scalp.

      “I’d