She nodded, gathering more bubbles with her hands on the surface and bringing them towards her chest. Damn, what he’d give for a fan now.
‘Uh-huh. I didn’t like how things ended before. Why don’t you let me finish up in here and we can talk?’
Talk? She wanted to talk?
With that small smile curving her lips, droplets clinging to her eyelashes and her hair falling in tendrils around her face—he wasn’t even going near those damn bubbles—talk was the furthest thing from his mind.
The corners of her mouth twitched as if she knew exactly what he was thinking and he quickly thrust his hands in his pockets and back-pedalled a few steps.
‘Fine.’
‘Give me five minutes and I’ll be out.’
Her smile could’ve fogged up the mirror a lot more than the fragrant steam rising from the water and he managed a terse nod before backing out and closing the door.
Damn it, why hadn’t she closed the door in the first place? Didn’t she know the effect she had on him?
Of course she did. Then why the nasty thought that suddenly insinuated its way into his lust-hazed brain, making him see sense in her behaviour.
Since she’d arrived, she hadn’t shown much interest in him as a man. Sure, she’d teased him, but that was nothing new, she’d always done that. The teasing often included flirting but that came naturally too.
He’d been the one to kiss her when she’d first arrived home.
He’d wanted to kiss her after dinner at his place and she’d pulled away.
He’d wanted to share a room tonight; by her reaction earlier it was pretty obvious she didn’t.
Sure, she’d responded to his kisses, but maybe that had been for old times’ sake? Giving in to him not to antagonise him, not to jeopardise their deal and her precious promotion? Made sense.
In reality, how far did he want to take this?
She’d be gone once her business here was finished, back to her high life in London, and he’d be left behind again, pretending he had a modern marriage where two busy business people lived on opposite sides of the planet.
He’d let her walk away last time, didn’t tell her the truth; what would be different now?
Shaking his head, he took off his tux, pulled a T-shirt over his head, stepped into jeans, ran a comb through his hair and added a splash of aftershave. He would’ve loved a shower but the thought of using the bathroom so soon after Britt had vacated it, her scent lingering everywhere, evidence of her presence all over, would be too much.
She wanted to talk.
That was a sure-fire libido-killer. In his experience, when women wanted to ‘talk’ they wanted to lay down the law.
Well, whatever she had to say, he’d deal with it. Just as he’d deal with this crazy, one-sided obsession to make their marriage real.
After brushing her teeth, Brittany took a final look in the mirror: without make-up, the freckles on her nose stood out like sprinkles on a cupcake, her loose hair had turned frizzy courtesy of the humidity and her plain cotton PJs wouldn’t win any Victoria’s Secret competitions.
Just the look she’d aimed for…before she’d taken a bath and had that little revelation to make the most of the next two months with the sexiest guy to walk the planet.
Her bad boy.
Who was doing his best to appear good but she knew better, knew the underlying rebellious streak that lent him a dangerous edge she found infinitely appealing.
Most girls went through a bad-boy phase, lusting after guys they shouldn’t and couldn’t have, guys with attitude, guys you wouldn’t dare bring home to meet the folks.
Nick had been her James Dean, Marlon Brando and Sean Penn all rolled into one and, while the designer suits and air of success had softened the edges, she just knew he was the same sexy rebel underneath.
But it was more than that, so much more, and the fact her heart had squeezed every time he’d entered a room these last few days was proof enough she’d developed a monstrous crush on her rebel with a cause all over again.
A crush she finally planned to fully indulge. However, there was one main problem. The pyjamas she’d brought were a deeply unsexy pair she’d bought especially to appear as unappealing as possible. Her body, humming with the heat of the bath and anticipation, informed her point-blank that fuchsia stripes wouldn’t do the job.
As for the lingerie she’d intended on using to prove her point tonight, it had taken a tumble into the sink while she’d been brushing her teeth and there was no way she was walking into their bedroom wearing wet, see-through, ivory lace. That left only one viable option.
Wrapping the oversized bathrobe around her damp, overexcited body, she took a deep breath and prepared to leave the safe haven of the gloriously tiled bathroom.
Only a robe between her and Nick. As if she weren’t nervous enough.
Nick had his back to her and she was darn grateful for that extra shot of oxygen a second ago, for the moment she caught sight of him her lungs seized.
Soft black cotton moulded to his broad shoulders, hugging the muscular contours of his back before tapering to a narrow waist, tucked into faded denim…
That was all he used to wear ten years ago, black T-shirts and denim, somewhat of a clichéd bad-boy outfit, but she’d never cared. He’d always looked delectable and nothing had changed.
With her eyes fixed on his butt, she must’ve made some terribly embarrassing sound akin to a groan for he turned, his gaze zeroing in on her damp, bare skin, what little there was on show. His eyes turned very dark brown and he swallowed.
Brittany smiled wickedly at him, his reaction fuelling her faltering courage.
He shook his head as if to break himself out of a trance, cleared his throat, and finally spoke in a low, dangerous tone.
‘Just so you know—if you’re planning on avoiding being seduced, you’ll definitely need more than a robe. Maybe an entire wardrobe.’ His voice sounded strained.
Brittany could see the bad boy inside was only barely contained. Just the thought of what might happen when he broke out added further to her inner tremblings. In a voice that sounded higher than her own, she said, ‘Well, I wanted to talk about that—’
‘Yes?’
His response was so fast it interrupted her mid-sentence, and she gaped at him like an idiot for a moment, her train of thought derailed.
‘You were saying? Something about seducing me?’
His wide grin broke the tension as she remembered how much she liked this man and she grinned back.
‘You wish.’
‘You have no idea how much.’
His intense tone caused her belly to drop in a frightening free fall as liquid heat pooled in places long ignored, every inch of her hungry body on high alert as the bed dipped when he sat next to her.
While her scrambled brains tried to reform the words she was having such a hard time articulating, he sighed.
‘But I thought about it, and you were right.’
What? No! She opened her mouth but he continued before she could speak.
‘Let me guess. You’re not interested in changing the status quo between us. You don’t want to ruin a good working relationship. You don’t want to risk wrecking our deal by letting sex get in the way of the sound business