Maybe she was being too fussy. By the time you got to your mid-thirties, single, available men didn’t exactly grow on trees. If you wanted one you had to grasp any opportunity that came your way, and following the recent spate of dating disasters, she had rather opted out of the game.
So perhaps it wasn’t any wonder that what she’d longed for since she was a teenager was still nothing more than a distant dream.
Hmm. Maybe she ought to stop being so sceptical and give this friend of Alex’s a chance. She didn’t have a whole lot of other options, and how could one date hurt?
In fact, instead of mentally blasting Phoebe for setting up another blind date, she ought to be grateful that her friend hadn’t yet given up on her. Positivity was the thing, she thought, sitting up and hauling her spirits up from where they were languishing somewhere around her feet. Because who knew? Friend of Alex might turn out to be The One.
Flexing her fingers, Bella typed a reply along the lines of ‘Sounds great’ and ‘Trying to forget about it’, and hit the send button.
A split second later the sound of the buzzer ricocheted through her workshop.
Aha.
Abandoning the rest of her emails, Bella jumped to her feet. That would be her two p.m. appointment. Expecting an experienced jeweller and a valuation for a number items of jewellery, not a woeful woman with a penchant for self-pity.
Fixing a smile to her face and pulling her shoulders back, Bella sailed through the door into her shop. And stopped dead. Her heart thumped and the breath shot from her lungs.
Wow.
The man standing on the other side of the front door, cupping his hand to the glass and peering in, was nothing short of gorgeous. He was tall and dark and broad-shouldered. Wearing a navy overcoat open to reveal a pale blue jumper, a scarf and jeans, and sporting a tan that couldn’t possibly be attributed to London in October.
Bella swallowed hard. When they’d spoken on the phone his voice had done the oddest things to her stomach, but she’d never imagined it would translate into real life. In her experience things rarely did. But William Cameron was just as attractive as his voice had promised.
And about her age, she thought, perking up considerably and automatically wondering whether he was single and available.
He straightened, gave her the barest glimmer of a smile as his eyes locked with hers, and Bella’s mouth went dry. A strange kind of heat rippled along her veins. Her legs wobbled. Her stomach fluttered and then bubbled with excitement. Her entire body heated from the inside out and her bones began to melt.
He lifted his eyebrows enquiringly, gave her another half-smile, as if he knew exactly what was running through her mind, and pressed the buzzer again.
The sound brought Bella careering back to reality and she jumped. Blinked. And gave herself a quick shake.
Good one, Bella. That’s the way to do business. Leave the client standing on the doorstep while you gawp at them. Very professional.
Ordering herself to get a grip and fervently hoping he wasn’t a mind-reader, she walked over to the wide display table that sat in one corner of her shop.
And caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror that hung above it.
Oh, good Lord.
He wouldn’t need to be a mind-reader to figure out what was going through her head. All he’d have to do was take one look at her face and he’d know. He probably already did. Because her cheeks were flushed and her eyes had darkened. Her breathing was erratic and her chest was heaving. Thank goodness the pattern on her dress disguised the rest of her body’s reactions.
God, perhaps this was what was wrong with her, she thought, leaning down and pressing the button on the underside of the counter. Perhaps she was just too obvious. Perhaps she gave off desperate commitment-needy vibes or something. She stifled a shudder as she straightened. Heavens. If she did, how excruciating would that be?
It would probably be a good move to stop eyeing up every man she met as potential life-partner material, she told herself, taking a deep breath and plastering a smile to her face as he pushed the door open. Especially clients. However good-looking.
Cool, aloof and polite was the thing. The consummate professional, in fact. How hard could it be?
Deepening her smile, Bella walked forwards. And then came to an abrupt stop. Her shop wasn’t small by any stretch of the imagination, but the minute he set foot inside all the oxygen apparently whooshed out. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart lurched and all her blood rushed south, and for one horrible second she thought she was going down. Locking her knees and gulping in a shaky breath, she steadied herself and just hoped she’d managed to recover before he’d had the chance to notice.
Without the barrier of the door separating them, the overall impact of him was really quite startling. She couldn’t work out which of her senses was most overwhelmed. Her vision when confronted with short straight hair the colour of obsidian, eyes as blue as iolite and the cheekbones that could have been chiselled from marble? Or her sense of smell when assaulted by the heady combination of sandalwood and spice?
As heat began to whip along her veins every inch of her itched to hurl itself at him to see if his body was as lean and muscled as it looked.
Oh, God. The man was not only gorgeous, he was practically magnetic.
So much for being cool, aloof and polite, thought Bella a little desperately as she fought to resist his pull. She was hot, bothered and feeling very rude indeed.
The door closed behind him and the lock automatically clicked into place. He tensed. Winced. And paled a fraction beneath his tan. For a split second she wondered why, but then he started running his gaze slowly over her, sliding down from her face to her breasts, her waist and then lower, and any curiosity she had vanished. As her body began to throb with awareness his lips curved into a faint smile, dragging her attention to his mouth, and all she could think about was what it might feel like on hers. Wanting it on hers. Hot and wet, hard and demanding.
The sudden thump of lust that walloped her in the stomach nearly knocked her off her feet and brought her slamming back to her senses. Bella blinked twice and battled for control. She really had to stop this. Yes, she wouldn’t be averse to a relationship, and yes, she’d decided that she ought to grab any opportunity that came her way, but she drew the line at ravishing a client on the floor of her shop.
Belatedly reminding herself that she wasn’t a teenager and she didn’t throb, with anything, ever, she cleared her throat and lifted her chin. ‘Good afternoon,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘Bella Scott.’
‘Will Cameron,’ he said, wrapping his fingers around hers and giving her hand a firm shake before letting it go.
Two more of her senses hit the deck. His deep, wickedly lazy voice teased her ears, and her whole body tingled with the aftershocks of touching his hand.
The only sense left unaffected was that of taste, and that could be easily corrected. All she’d have to do would be to take one quick step towards him, reach up and plant a kiss on his mouth. Wind her arms round his neck, press herself against him, slide her tongue between his lips and she’d be able to find out exactly what he tasted like and exactly how hot, hard and demanding he was.
Agh, this was awful, she thought frantically fighting the instinct to swoon. It simply wouldn’t do. Grappling for her elusive self-control, Bella drew in a deep steadying breath.
‘Please,’ she said, finally managing to get a grip and waving a hand in the direction of the chair on the other side of the table. ‘Do sit down.’
Will folded himself into the chair and leaned back, taking up far too much space and, more disturbingly, far too much air. ‘Thank you for agreeing to see me at such short notice.’
‘Not a