The Mills & Boon Stars Collection. Cathy Williams

and turned her tummy over, so she refused to think about it. Sex was a rite of passage, she told herself impatiently. She was no different from any other woman and would soon become accustomed to it. No doubt practise had made Bastien most proficient in that department, and it was probably safe to assume that she wouldn’t find sharing a bed with him too unpleasant. Of course she wasn’t going to enjoy any of it either. Sex shorn of any finer feelings was a physical rather than mental exercise and she would detach herself from the whole experience, she told herself soothingly.

      Detachment, after all, would hardly be a challenge when she hated Bastien with every fibre of her being. His options had taught her to hate him. Before yesterday he had simply been the womaniser who had once bruised her tender heart and whom she couldn’t ever have. Now he was the ruthless lowlife forcing her to seal a bargain with her body as if she was a whore.

      A little shudder racked her at that view and she breathed in slow and deep, strengthening herself for what lay ahead. She was about to make a devil’s bargain, but she was darned if she would show an ounce of weakness in front of Bastien.

      When she walked into the office, Julie gave her a curious appraisal. ‘Mr Zikos has phoned down to ask for you already. I explained that you’re never in before nine because you leave your kid brother at nursery on the way.’

      ‘Thanks,’ Lilah breathed, hanging up her coat with a nervous hand.

      Bastien had said ten o’clock, but he was clearly jumping the gun. Of course he had no patience whatsoever, she reflected ruefully. He tapped his feet and drummed his fingers when forced to be inactive for any length of time. He was edgy, bursting with frenetic energy, always in need of occupation.

      She smoothed her skirt down over her hips as she mounted the stairs. Her hands weren’t quite steady and she studied them in dismay. Why was she getting herself into a state? Hadn’t she already decided that sex would be no big deal and not worth making a silly fuss over? It wasn’t as though Bastien was going to spread her across the office desk and have his wicked way with her this very day...was it?

      Her face burned, her stomach performing a somersault at that X-rated image. She wanted Bastien to do the deed in pitch-darkness and complete silence. She didn’t want to have to look at him or speak to him. She wished there was some way of having sex remotely, without any need for physical contact, and it was on that crazy thought that she entered what had once been her father’s office.

      With a single gesture Bastien dismissed the team hovering attentively round him and set down the tablet he had been studying.

      ‘You’ve asked for me but it’s not ten yet,’ Lilah pointed out thinly. ‘It’s only ten minutes past nine.’

      Bastien straightened, brilliant dark golden eyes lancing into hers in direct challenge. ‘My internal clock says it’s ten,’ he contradicted without hesitation.

      ‘Your clock’s wrong.’

      ‘I’m never wrong, Delilah,’ Bastien traded thickly, his long-lashed gaze roaming over her as intently as a physical caress. ‘Lesson one on how to be a mistress: I keep you around to stroke my ego, not dent it.’

      Lilah froze where she stood, wide sapphire eyes travelling over him with a hunger she couldn’t control. She scanned the exquisitely tailored designer suit that delineated every muscular line of Bastien’s broad-shouldered, lean-hipped frame as he stood there facing her, with his long, powerful legs braced. Something clenched low in her body when she clashed with his gaze and her legs felt strangely hollow.

      Her attention welded to his darkly handsome face, she stopped breathing, reacting with dismay to the treacherous stirrings of her own body. Her breasts swelled, constrained by the confines of her bra, while the sensation at her feminine core made her press her thighs together hard.

      ‘I’m no good at stroking egos, Bastien,’ she warned him.

      Bastien dealt her an unholy grin. ‘I’ve got enough ego to survive a few dents,’ he asserted. ‘Where do you think your true talents will lie?’

      ‘You’ve taken my answer for granted, haven’t you?’ Lilah exclaimed. ‘I haven’t said yes yet, but you’re convinced I will.’

      ‘And am I wrong?’ Bastien traded.

      Her teeth gritted together. ‘No, you’re not.’

      ‘So, are you going for option two or option three?’ Bastien enquired lazily, leaning back against his desk in an attitude of relaxation that infuriated her.

      * * *

      Option three, option three, Bastien willed Delilah to tell him. That would be the most profitable option for him. He would sell the current site, relocate the factory to the outskirts of town and in doing so take advantage of several lucrative government grants aimed at persuading companies to open up in areas of high unemployment. For him it would be a win-win situation, because he would gain Lilah, an immediate profit to cover all outlay and a cost-efficient business.

      ‘You have no shame, have you?’ Lilah hissed, like oil bubbling on too high a heat.

      ‘Not when it comes to you,’ Bastien agreed. ‘It’s the only way I’m ever going to get you, because you’re stubborn and contrary and you have a very closed little mind.’

      ‘I am none of those things,’ Lilah rebutted angrily.

      ‘Stubborn because the minute we saw each other we were destined to be together but you immediately fought it. Contrary because you feel the same way about me as I do about you—instantaneous lust—but you deny it. And a closed mind because you believe a life of self-denial is innately superior to mine.’ A wolfish smile slashed Bastien’s lean strong face. ‘I can’t wait for the moment when you realise that you can’t keep your hands off me.’

      Lilah gave him a look of withering scorn. ‘You’ll get old waiting for that.’

      Straightening up to his full commanding height, Bastien strolled forward, fluid as a predator tracking prey. ‘Don’t keep me in suspense. Option two? Or option three?’

      ‘Three... Although I should warn you, you’ve picked the wrong woman.’

      ‘Three...’ Bastien’s accent made a three-course meal of the word as he savoured it with immense satisfaction. ‘In what way are you the wrong woman?’

      Lilah shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. ‘I haven’t got the experience you’ll probably expect,’ she told him stiffly, deeply disturbed by his increasing closeness and fighting the revealing urge to step back out of reach.

      ‘I’ve got enough experience for both of us,’ Bastien purred, dark eyes flashing gold as he stared down at her. ‘Are you trying to tell me that you haven’t indulged that side of your nature very often?’

      ‘Haven’t indulged it at all,’ she countered curtly, lifting her chin, standing her ground, refusing to feel embarrassed. ‘I’m a virgin.’

      Bastien actually backed away a couple of feet, his lean chiselled features setting into rigid angles of shock while his eyes flared more golden than ever below the thick canopy of his black lashes. ‘Is that a tease?’

      Lilah gave him a grim glance. ‘No, it’s not. I just thought I should warn you in case it’s a deal-breaker.’

      ‘Are you telling me the truth?’ Bastien prompted in a roughened undertone, prowling closer again and circling her like a stalking panther. ‘You’re a virgin?’

      Colour ran up below her pale cheeks but she held his fierce gaze. ‘Yes.’

      ‘If you’re telling me the truth it’s not a deal-breaker—it’s the biggest turn-on I’ve ever had,’ Bastien confessed, thoroughly shocking her with that assurance.

      Bastien was disturbingly conscious that for once he was not uttering a mere soundbite for effect. He had never been with a virgin. When he was a teenager his partners had all been older, and