Millionaire Under The Mistletoe. Janice Maynard

what they want to hear if that gets the job done.’

      ‘Lying, you mean.’

      Reece winced. ‘I wouldn’t have put it that way.’

      ‘That I never doubted!’

      Despite the fact she wasn’t making any allowances for his delicate condition, his long long legs seemed to be having no problem keeping up with the cracking pace she was setting—pity!

      ‘I’m not exactly thrilled to find myself obliged to beg a lift either,’ he rasped huskily.

      Of all the ungrateful rats! Darcy came to an abrupt halt and turned her wrathful gaze upon the tall figure who had almost collided with her.

      ‘That makes two of us!’ she retorted sharply.

      Their eyes met.

      It was at that moment Darcy felt it—it was a tense excitement so thick the air quivered with it, so thick her limbs were all but immobilised by it.

      It didn’t seem to be a one-sided situation. His burning eyes kept moving back to her parted lips as though they were being dragged there against his will. She felt as if she was being drawn in by that raw expression in his hungry eyes. The tightness in her chest finally found release in a fractured sigh.

      The compulsion to reach up and press her lips to his was so strong her head spun. Would they be cold, warm…firm…? Wondering sent delicious little shivers skating along her spine.

      She wouldn’t do it, of course, because she wasn’t the sort of girl who gave in to lustful base instincts…all the same, thinking about it—and she discovered her embarrassingly lurid imagination had a mind of its own—made her body temperature soar despite the sub-zero temperature around them. Her dry-throated excitement mounted with dizzying rapidity as her knees began to literally shake.

      Seconds probably carried on ticking relentlessly away in the few moments after speculative green eyes had met startled blue—but Darcy was unaware of the passing time as they stood stock-still in a silence broken only by the distant wail of an ambulance.

      No good will come of this, a sensible voice, to which she paid no heed, forecast in her head.

      Reece felt his breath perceptibly quicken. Her mouth was just sensationally lush. The uneven sound of her breath catching in the back of her throat was driving him slightly crazy. He watched as her clenched fingers unfurled and she began to reach out…he thought about them touching his face…his hair…his…!

      With a mumbled expletive he took a step backwards. ‘Darcy…!’

      It was a verbal warning, the sort an adult gave a reckless child about to indulge in dangerous exploration.

      Mortified, Darcy let her extended hand fall away, and she stood there feeling stupid and confused by what had just occurred—whatever that was… He had wanted to kiss her too—hadn’t he…? It hadn’t been a figment of her over-heated imagination, had it?

      The uncertainty only lasted a split-second; she hadn’t imagined anything—it had been real. She thrust her softly rounded chin forward defiantly. As unlikely as it seemed, Reece Erskine had wanted to kiss her just as much as she’d wanted to kiss him! She raised her eyes stubbornly to his stony face and her heart sank—only he didn’t now!

      So he had gone off the idea; she was damned if she was going to let him make her feel ashamed!

      ‘Darcy what?’ She sniffed angrily. ‘Darcy, don’t kiss me…?’ she suggested shrilly.

      She watched his eyes widen as she gave an appalled gasp—I can’t believe I said that!

      ‘Were you going to?’

      I asked for that, didn’t I? What was she supposed to say…? Given a little bit of encouragement, probably…?

      Darcy served up a withering look. ‘What a tactless thing to ask,’ she observed, resorting to disgust to disguise the extent of her dismay.

      Spontaneous and asking for trouble would have been closer to the mark in his estimation. No wonder the brother wanted to keep her at home—if she was his sister he’d never let her out of his sight!

      For the first time Darcy noticed the lines of strain around his sensual mouth—as if not kissing her hadn’t been the easy option…then why…? A horrifying possibility occurred to her. ‘Are you married?’

      Unprepared for the tense, accusing query, Reece blinked, his jaw tightening. ‘That’s not relevant.’

      Her mouth hardened with contempt; that meant he was. Not again! She didn’t know who she despised the most at that moment—him or herself. ‘To me it is!’ she choked bitterly.

      Reece gave an exasperated sigh; he could cope with a lot of things but he discovered—rather to his surprise—that being looked at as if he was some sort of moral derelict by those big blue eyes was not one of them.

      ‘If it matters so much to you, I was, but I’m not now.’ He saw her slender hunched-up shoulders slump in relief. ‘Though why it should be so important to you I don’t understand…’

      And Darcy wasn’t about to explain. Having an affair with a married man—even if she hadn’t known he was at the time—was not the sort of thing she felt like sharing.

      ‘I’d introduce the subject of morals if I thought you’d understand.’

      ‘I don’t see where morals come into it,’ he drawled. ‘You didn’t do anything…’

      ‘If I had…would you have…?’ Cheeks flaming, she struck her forehead with the palm of her hand. ‘Oh, God!’ she wailed. ‘Me and my mouth…!’ How to take an embarrassing situation and make it ten times worse in one easy-to-follow lesson!

      His eyes automatically moved to the object of her contempt. The muscles in his strong throat worked overtime.

      ‘Yes, I’d have kissed you back,’ he admitted throatily. The words seemed drawn from him against his will.

      Her eyes widened. ‘You would…?’ She saw his lips twitch at the incredulity in her voice. ‘I knew that.’ A puzzled frown crinkled her smooth brow. ‘Then why didn’t you…?’

      Reece’s bark of rueful laughter brought her back to her senses—and not before time. He stared at her flushed face for a couple of moments before replying.

      ‘You don’t kiss married men; I don’t kiss girls young enough to be my…kid sister.’

      It was the very last explanation Darcy had expected to hear. ‘How quaint that you’ve got principles.’

      ‘It comes as as much of a shock to me as it does to you,’ he assured her drily. ‘It’s getting cold out here.’ He spoke abruptly now, as if the humour of the situation was wearing thin. ‘If you really can’t stomach the idea of giving me a lift back I should be able to make alternative arrangements.’

      Darcy touched his arm; he didn’t flinch but his rigidity didn’t suggest relaxed and carefree—was it possible he was not entirely immune to the contact? This not unflattering possibility was heady stuff.

      ‘How old exactly do you think I am?’ Repressing a smug smile, she worked her way towards her grand finale.

      Whilst it might have been wiser to leave him in ignorance, given the dangerous sexual chemistry in the air, she wanted the satisfaction of establishing herself as a mature woman of the world in his eyes. Perhaps for once in her life she wanted danger…? Her eyes slid over his tall, rangy frame before coming to rest on his face, and she gulped; he registered high enough on the danger scale to satisfy the most reckless risk-taker, she conceded.

      ‘Nineteen…twenty maybe.’

      ‘I’m twenty-seven.’

      His chin came up and the dark veil of lashes lifted from his high, chiselled cheekbones. His narrowed eyes raked her face.