Presents, Passion and Proposals. Кэрол Мортимер

single evening spent in Nick Steele’s company was enough to tell her that she didn’t want to repeat the experience. That she wasn’t comfortable with the way she felt in his company. That she didn’t like the way he made her so totally aware of her own femininity. That she would much rather have continued to remain in ignorance of that body-tingling awareness, too…!

      She and Ben had loved each other, had enjoyed making love together and been totally comfortable with each other physically.

      Nick Steele’s innate and nerve-tingling sensuality continued to unnerve her!

      As if aware of that discomfort, Nick drawled. ‘Come back to the house for coffee and a chat, and I can drive you home later.’

      ‘No!’ Beth’s heart had jolted in her chest. ‘I mean…’ She gave a slightly flustered shake of her head as she saw the unmistakable laughter in the depths of those silver-grey eyes. ‘I couldn’t possibly allow you to leave Bekka alone in the house while you drive me home.’

      ‘I wouldn’t be leaving Bekka on her own. I have a live-in housekeeper, Beth,’ he explained mildly.

      A mildness completely at odds with the challenging gleam in his eyes.

      ‘Even so…’

      ‘It’s civilised to sit and drink coffee together after a meal, Beth.’ Nick signalled to the waiter to bring him the bill.

      ‘It also keeps me awake if I drink it late at night.’

      ‘Really?’ Nick arched a mocking brow. ‘I’ll make sure I remember that…’ he murmured throatily—and had the satisfaction of seeing the blush that instantly brightened Beth’s creamy cheeks before he had to turn his attention to paying the bill.

      Nick couldn’t deny that he found Beth intriguing. She could only be in her mid-twenties, but in those few short years she had been married and widowed. Which meant she had to be physically experienced. And yet she blushed at even a hint of flirtation from him…

      What had her husband been like? Nick wondered as he escorted Beth and Bekka from the restaurant. Young, presumably. Perhaps her first love? And no doubt the man she had assumed she would spend the rest of her life with, only to have him cruelly taken from her?

      Nick couldn’t help wondering how many lovers Beth had had since her husband’s death…

      Beth was too nervous, as she waited for Nick Steele to come back down the stairs after putting Bekka to bed, to sit down on the gold brocade sofa in the elegantly furnished sitting room of the three-storey London townhouse. A room dominated by a lavishly decorated Christmas tree with dozens of foil-wrapped parcels beneath that made her own meagre pile beneath the small tree in her apartment look slightly ridiculous.

      As ridiculous as the idea of her spending Christmas Day here!

      As ridiculous as her being here now.

      Not that Nick had given Beth any choice in the matter; he had just driven straight here, Beth’s earlier refusal obviously completely forgotten. Or just ignored.

      Most likely the latter, Beth accepted irritably. As she already knew, this man was a law unto himself—a man who refused to take no for an answer. Arrogance personified, in fact.

      Well, Beth didn’t appreciate being manipulated in this way, and she would tell Nick so as soon as he returned from putting Bekka to bed.

      In the meantime, Beth couldn’t resist walking over to look at the numerous photographs that adorned the top of the shiny black piano standing in the bay window that looked out onto the now moonlit garden. Dozens of photographs. All of them featuring Bekka. From babyhood to now.

      Nick was easily recognisable in a lot of the photographs. His hair had been slightly longer when Bekka was a baby, his expression more relaxed then too, not as hard and cynical as it was now.

      Several of the photographs also showed a tall and beautiful blonde-haired woman. Obviously Bekka’s mother, Janet Steele—short blonde hair surrounding a face dominated by pale blue eyes, a short, perfect nose, and full and pouting lips above a slightly rounded jaw.

      ‘I see you’ve discovered the rogues’ gallery,’ Nick rasped behind her.

      Beth gave a guilty start as she turned to face him, frowning slightly as she saw the laden silver tray he carried. ‘I told you I don’t drink coffee this late at night.’

      ‘Which is why I made you tea,’ Nick said as he placed the tray down on a low coffee table in front of the sofa before straightening.

      He had removed his jacket and tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, the open neckline revealing the start of the dark hair growing on his chest, Beth noted with some alarm. Just as she noticed the way the pale blue silk shirt was fitted to the muscled width of his shoulders and the flatness of his abdomen and tapered waist.

      Dear Lord, this man was gorgeous!

      Nick’s dark brows quirked as he saw Beth Morgan’s obvious discomfort. ‘Would you like to be mother…?’

      She swallowed hard. ‘I—yes. Just one cup, and then I really have to go,’ she muttered awkwardly. As she moved to sit on the sofa to pour coffee and tea, a beautiful marmalade-coloured cat curled up on the cushion beside her.

      ‘No cream or sugar for me, thanks,’ Nick dismissed as he eased another cat aside, so that he could drop down into one of the armchairs to study Beth from a distance. ‘And are you? A mother?’ he enquired as she pushed back that silky curtain of auburn hair to look across at him questioningly.

      ‘I—no.’ She turned away. ‘Ben and I had decided to wait for a while before starting a family, and—No,’ she repeated abruptly as she crossed the room to hand him the cup of coffee.

      Nick took the cup. ‘Ben was your husband…?’

      ‘Yes.’ Her face was slightly pale as she moved to sit back on the sofa, absently stroking the marmalade-coloured cat as it stretched lazily beside her.

      ‘Just push him away if he’s being a nuisance.’

      She looked startled. ‘What…?’

      ‘The cat,’ Nick replied. ‘Bekka has collected a menagerie of pets in the last ten months. The insane dog is shut in the kitchen.’

      Beth shrugged narrow shoulders as she continued to stroke the purring cat. ‘I like animals.’

      ‘You must have been very young when you married…?’

      She frowned as Nick reverted to the previous subject. ‘Twenty-one,’ she acknowledged stiffly.

      ‘Were you married for long…?’

      ‘Three years.’

      ‘When did your husband die?’

      ‘Two years ago,’ she answered tersely. ‘Look, Mr Steele—’

      ‘Did you still love him when he died?’

      Beth stood up abruptly. ‘What sort of question is that?’

      ‘A valid one.’ Nick Steele shrugged those broad shoulders. ‘Janet and I were married for seven years—by the end of it we could barely stand the sight of each other!’

      ‘Oh.’ Beth wasn’t quite sure what to say in response to that remark. ‘Bekka seems to have adjusted well since her mother died…’

      ‘She has, yes,’ Nick acknowledged indulgently. ‘I, on the other hand, am still floundering around in the dark, trying to be both mother and father to her,’ he acknowledged ruefully.

      ‘Then maybe you should stop trying…?’

      ‘Sorry?’ Nick gave a perplexed frown.

      ‘Maybe I’m interfering, but—’

      ‘Oh, by all means interfere, Beth,’ Nick invited.

      She