Modern Romance March 2015 Collection 2. Jane Porter

youth, when he had been gunning for the wrong woman, he had let sex do the talking.

      ‘Don’t start thinking of yourself as a knight in shining armour,’ Milly jumped in to correct him and he raised his eyebrows in an expression that was lazy and amused.

      ‘Ah. Still annoyed. Where has Little Miss Sunshine gone?’

      In a flash, Milly had insight into what he thought of her. While she had been shooting her mouth off, confiding, losing herself in the thrill of being in the company of a guy who was actually listening to her...not to mention thrilling her with those dark, saturnine good looks...he had not been similarly entranced. The opposite. She had been a spot of comic relief with her ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ personality.

      She turned away, hurt.

      ‘I apologise if you were embarrassed,’ he said gruffly. ‘I realise that, along with arrogant, I can be prone to occasionally lapsing into caveman tactics.’ When she didn’t say anything, he reached forward and, finger on her chin, turned her gently to face him.

      Milly’s eyes widened and her body was suddenly, horrifyingly, excitingly, in meltdown. She could barely breathe. Her mouth parted. Her nipples stiffened, poking against her bra, sensitive as they scraped against the cotton. Between her legs, she was dampening.

      ‘Hell, you should be careful when you look at a man like that,’ Lucas said roughly. But he didn’t remove his finger. His libido had been in retreat for a while. Dealing with his ex had left a sour taste in his mouth and he had submerged himself in work because it was, frankly, blessed relief from the whining demands of a woman who didn’t want to go away.

      Milly, with her disingenuous ignorance of who he really was, with her open, confiding nature and her easy laughter—despite having come through circumstances that would have knocked back anyone else—had stirred his interest.

      ‘Forget it. Not interested.’ She pulled away and stood up. ‘Just out of curiosity, when were you thinking of leaving?’

      Lucas felt the reassuring buzz of his mobile as the outside world was once more connected. Normality could be restored within twenty-four hours. This unusual interlude could be left where it was and he could return to his formidably controlled and predictable life. Since when had he ever been a fan of surprises anyway? Since when had he ever been interested in exploring anything that came in an unpredictable package? Hadn’t he already been there? Done that? Got burned?

      ‘I’m considering my options.’

      ‘That being the case, I suggest we do our own thing. If I decide to go out skiing, then I don’t expect you to instigate a search party if I happen to be a couple of hours late.’

      Lucas shook his head and briefly closed his eyes. ‘Demanding,’ he drawled. ‘And bloody stubborn.’

      ‘Would that be because I disapproved of you making an idiot out of me in a public place?’ She opened her mouth to fume a little bit more but his phone beeped with a series of incoming text messages, voicemails and emails.

      Exasperated, she walked off towards the window where the furious snowfall was already showing signs of abating. Blue sky was doing its best to break through. By tomorrow, if not later in the day, the skiing would be good.

      And who knew? Lucas might be gone.

      She told herself that that would be the best possible outcome. She needed her time out, undiluted time to mourn the passing of a significant relationship. Under normal circumstances, if the Ramos family had showed up, she would have been busy but her busyness would not have distracted her from her thoughts. Lucas distracted her from her thoughts. Robbie had barely registered on her radar! In fact, when she tried to think of him, a darker, leaner image instantly superimposed itself.

      Behind her, she was aware of Lucas talking rapidly on his phone. He seemed to be very well known in these parts. A man with connections. He was probably doing all sorts of networking right now, getting things lined up now that his stint here had fallen through.

      ‘You were asking me,’ a dark, sexy drawl said from behind her, ‘how long I intended staying here and I told you that I was keeping my options open...’

      Milly spun around, tensing up. ‘I’m fine to stay here by myself,’ she told him without hesitation.

      ‘But would that require you to curb your keen sense of adventure?’ Lucas couldn’t help asking. He thought of her here, on her own, deciding to explore the slopes at midnight just for the fun of it. ‘Tell me what your plans are when you leave this place. Do you intend to stay here for the full fortnight? Or will you return to London and start looking for another flatmate? What happens if you don’t find one? ‘

      Milly frowned, taken aback at his change of subject. ‘I’m keeping my options open,’ she mimicked, and Lucas smiled.

      ‘Come and sit down. I want to have a talk with you.’

      ‘What about?’

      Lucas didn’t answer. Instead, he strolled towards the sofa, his face revealing nothing of what was going through his head.

      Was there anything more annoying than an actively functioning grapevine? He had been in the town no longer than an hour and the world at large seemed to know.

      His window of freedom appeared to have shut and now he had a problem on his hands.

      Of course, there was no problem that did not carry a solution, but he could definitely have done without this particular thorn in his side. His mouth tightened as he thought of the series of texts he had received, texts that had been in a toxic holding bay until service resumed and he could pick them up.

      ‘What are the chances of you finding a job the second you return to London?’ he asked, relaxing back on the sofa, his face revealing nothing of what was going through his head or of the vague plan slowly beginning to cohere into shape. ‘In the catering arena? I’m guessing that there are a lot of jobs to work at burger joints but I’m also guessing that those jobs won’t be top of your list.’

      ‘I honestly don’t see what my future job hunting has to do with you!’

      ‘And then there’s the little technicality of paying rent when you don’t have a job. Difficult. Unless you have a stash of money saved...’ He steamrollered over her interruption as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘Have you a stash of money saved?’

      ‘That’s none of your—’

      ‘Business. Is that what you’re about to say?’

      ‘Where are you going with this, Lucas? Okay, so I may not have much money saved, but...I’ll have what I’ve earned for this fortnight.’ She frowned and wondered how long that would last. Why did he have to throw reality in her face? Had he no heart at all?

      ‘“Water through fingers” is the thought that springs to mind,’ Lucas said with what she thought was a callous lack of empathy. ‘The cost of living is astronomical in London.’

      ‘How would you know?’ Milly muttered and again Lucas opted to ignore her interruption.

      ‘I guess, in all events, you could always return to your grandmother’s place in Scotland. Ah. I can see from the you way you blanched just then that that option lacks appeal.’

      ‘Why are you doing this?’

      ‘Doing what?’ Lucas asked with a show of innocence that set her teeth on edge because it was so clearly false.

      ‘Ramming all my problems down my throat. I wish I’d never confided in you.’

      ‘I wasn’t ramming your problems down your throat.’

      ‘I didn’t come here to...to...’

      ‘Confront that awkward little thing known as reality?’

      ‘You can be really horrible.’ Okay, so obviously she would have to address the pressing issue of how she was going to survive