Tall, Dark & Rich: His Christmas Virgin / Married by Christmas / A Yuletide Seduction. Carole Mortimer

you think that’s what I want, too?’ Jonas asked.

      Mac looked a little confused. ‘I’m not really sure what you want from me.’

      ‘Then that makes two of us,’ Jonas told her with a sigh. ‘For some inexplicable reason you have a strange effect on me, Mary “Mac” McGuire.’ His gaze held hers as he reached out and took the wine glass from her slightly trembling fingers, placing it on the table beside his own before grasping Mac’s arms to pull her slowly to her feet so that she stood only inches away from him.

      Jonas looked down at her searchingly, noting the almost feverish glitter in those smoky grey eyes, the flush to her cheeks, and the unevenness of her breathing through slightly parted lips. Parted lips that were begging to be kissed.

      His expression was grim as he resisted that dangerous temptation. ‘I’m going through to my bedroom now to change out of my suit. If you decide you don’t want to stay and help me cook dinner then I suggest you leave before I get back.’ He released her abruptly before turning on his heel and going out of the room in the direction of his bedroom further down the hallway.

      Mac was still trembling somewhat as she stood alone in the kitchen. She should do as Jonas suggested and leave before he came back. She knew that she should. Yet she didn’t want to. What she wanted to do was stay right here and spend the evening cooking dinner with him before they sat down together to eat it in this warm and comfortable kitchen…

      Except she knew that Jonas wasn’t suggesting they just cook and eat dinner together. Her remaining here would mean she was also agreeable to repeating their earlier shared kisses.

      Mac sat down abruptly, totally undecided about what to do. She should go. But she didn’t want to. She knew she shouldn’t allow that explosive passion with Jonas at the restaurant to happen again. But she wanted to!

      She was still sitting there pondering her dilemma when Jonas came back into the kitchen, her breath catching in her throat as she saw him casually dressed for the first time. The thin black cashmere sweater was moulded to wide shoulders and the flatness of his chest and stomach, jeans that were faded from age and wear rather than designer-styled to be that way sat low down on his hips and emphasised the muscled length of his legs, and his feet were as bare as her own had been earlier when Bob Jenkins had arrived at the warehouse to replace her broken window. They were long and somehow graceful feet, their very bareness seeming to increase the intimacy of the situation.

      Jonas looked everything that was tall, dark, and most definitely dangerous!

      Mac raised startled eyes. ‘I decided to stay long enough to help you cook dinner at least.’

      Jonas’s enigmatic expression, as he stood in the doorway, gave away none of his thoughts. ‘Did you?’

      She stood up quickly, already regretting that decision as she felt the rising sexual tension in the room, her pulse actually racing.

      Even breathing was becoming difficult. ‘Would you like me to help prepare the vegetables or something?’ she offered lamely.

      Jonas very much doubted that Mac wanted to hear what he would have liked to ask her to do at this particular moment. He had never before even thought about sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs with a woman’s naked thighs straddled either side of him as he surged up into the heat of her, but the idea certainly had appeal right now. Making love to Mac anywhere appealed to him right now!

      ‘Or something,’ he murmured self-derisively as he made himself walk across to the refrigerator and open the door to look inside at the contents. ‘I have the makings of a vegetable and chicken stir-fry if that appeals?’ He looked at her enquiringly.

      ‘That sounds fine.’

      Jonas was frowning slightly as he straightened. ‘Wouldn’t you be more comfortable out of those leathers? Unless of course you aren’t wearing anything underneath?’ he added mockingly. ‘In which case, neither of us is going to be comfortable once you’ve taken them off!’

      It was time to put a stop to this right now, Mac decided. They hadn’t even got as far as cooking dinner yet and already Jonas was talking about taking her clothes off!

      ‘Of course I’m wearing something underneath,’ she said, scowling at Jonas’s deliberate teasing, sitting down to remove her boots before unzipping the leathers and taking them off to reveal she was wearing a long-sleeved white t-shirt and snug-fitting jeans above black socks. ‘Satisfied?’ she challenged as she stood up to lay her leathers over one of the kitchen chairs and place her heavy boots beside it.

      ‘Not hardly,’ Jonas murmured.

      ‘Jonas!’

      ‘Mac?’ He raised innocent brows.

      She drew in a deep, controlling breath. ‘Just tell me what vegetables you want me to wash and cut up,’ she muttered bad-temperedly.

      ‘Yes, ma’am!’ he shot back.

      To Mac’s surprise they worked quite harmoniously together as they prepared and then cooked the food, sitting down at the table to eat it not half an hour later. ‘You said you’ll be moving from here soon?’ she reminded Jonas curiously as she looked across the table at him.

      He nodded as he put his fork down on his plate and drank some of his wine before answering her. ‘By this time next year we should be neighbours.’

      Mac’s eyes widened. ‘You’re moving into the apartment complex next to me once it’s finished being built?’

      Jonas didn’t think she could have sounded any more horrified if he had said he was actually moving in with her. ‘That’s the plan, yes,’ he confirmed dryly. ‘Unless, of course, you decide to sell and move out, after all.’

      Her mouth firmed. ‘No, I can safely assure you that I have no intention of ever doing that.’

      Jonas frowned. ‘Why the hell not?’

      ‘It’s difficult to explain.’

      ‘Try,’ he invited grimly.

      Mac frowned. ‘The warehouse belonged to my great-grandfather originally, then to my grandfather. Years ago my great-grandfather owned a small fleet of boats, for delivering cargos to other parts of England. Obviously long before we had the huge container trucks that clog up the roads nowadays.’ She chewed distractedly on her bottom lip.

      Jonas’s gaze was riveted on those tiny white teeth nibbling on the fullness of her bottom lip, that ache returning to his thighs as he easily imagined being the one doing the biting…

      For the moment Mac seemed unaware of the heated intensity of his gaze. ‘I spent a lot of time there with my grandfather when I was a child, and when he died he left it to me,’ she finished with a shrug.

      Jonas forced himself to drag his gaze from the sensual fullness of her lips. ‘So you’re saying you want to keep it because it has sentimental value?’

      ‘Something like that, yes.’

      ‘Your grandfather didn’t want to leave the property to your parents?’

      It really was difficult for Mac to explain the affinity that had existed between her grandfather and herself. How he had understood the love and affection she felt for the rambling warehouse beside the river. How living and working there now made Mac feel that she still had that connection to her grandfather. ‘My parents had already moved out of London to live in Devon when my grandfather died, and so didn’t want or need it.’

      ‘No siblings for you to share with?’

      ‘No. You?’ Mac asked with interest, deciding she had probably talked about herself enough for one evening.

      Jonas’s mouth thinned. ‘I believe my parents considered that one mistake was enough.’

      Mac gasped, not quite sure what to say in answer to a statement like that. ‘I’m sure they didn’t think of you as a mistake—’