‘I might say no.’
‘Will you?’
‘No.’
He grinned at her. ‘Great. No problems, then. I’ll tell Andy you’re my new girlfriend.’
Jess sighed. ‘You are incorrigible.’
‘I’m smitten, that’s what I am.’
She just stared at him. She was the one who was smitten. He just wanted to get into her pants.
‘I think you should know in advance, Ben, that I don’t sleep with a guy on a first date.’ Or she hadn’t, till he’d come along.
There was that hint of a smile again. ‘Who said anything about sleeping?’
‘Very funny. You know what I mean.’
‘Yes, of course I do. Let me assure you, Jess, that I would always be respectful of your wishes.’
Mmm…meaning he was very confident that he could seduce her in no time flat. Which he could, of course. But she had to make some kind of stand. Her pride demanded it.
‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Just so you understand my feelings in advance. I don’t want to have to fight you off at the end of the night.’
‘I appreciate you being straight with me, Jess. I admire honesty.’
Oh, dear. She hoped she didn’t look too guilty. Because of course she was probably going to sleep with him. How could she possibly say no? He was the sexiest man she’d ever met.
‘Soon as I finish this coffee, I’ll ring Andy,’ Ben said, looking very pleased with himself.
He made the call out of earshot, walking around the garden as he talked. Jess wondered what he was telling his friend. She hated to think it was one of those ‘nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more’ conversations where Ben and his best friend were becoming co-conspirators in her supposed seduction. She would hate that. Still, Andy had already to know that Ben hadn’t been out here in Australia for long. So how could she possibly be a proper girlfriend? She was just someone he’d met and fancied, but who would be quickly forgotten once he flew back to America.
Now that she was thinking straight, Jess also doubted Ben would really do anything about Fab Fashions. His interest in her ideas was just a ploy to keep her sweet. It also crossed Jess’s mind as she watched Ben chatting away to his friend that she wouldn’t be the first girl he’d installed in that cottage for the weekend. He was the sort of guy who would always have a willing girl on his arm. And in his bed. Jess would just be one in a long line of conquests.
She didn’t like that thought, or the other thoughts she’d been having since he’d left her at the table.
Feeling decidedly disgruntled, Jess stood up, thanked the lady who ran the café and marched back to her four-wheel drive.
AFTER BEN FINISHED his call to Andy, he went back to the table on the veranda, only to find it empty. He glanced around and saw that she was out by the SUV, standing with her arms crossed and her face not at all happy. Ben wondered what had gone wrong during the last ten minutes. And there he’d been, thinking all his plans for the weekend were on track. Andy had accepted his entire story about Jess and agreed to put them both in the cottage. He’d also said there would be no problem with her coming to the wedding tomorrow.
Her body language worsened as he walked towards her, her manicured but unvarnished fingertips digging into the sleeves of her floral jacket.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked straight away.
Her mouth tightened. ‘I don’t like lies, that’s what’s wrong! I’m not your girlfriend, Ben. Not really. Not yet, anyway. Why, you haven’t even kissed me yet!’
Jess could not believe she’d just said that. It sounded dreadful, like she was asking him to kiss her.
‘Well, that can be easily fixed,’ he returned, his eyes dropping to her mouth as he reached out and took firm possession of her shoulders.
Oh, Lord, she thought as panic set in.
He didn’t rush anything; her arms dropped to her sides long before he actually kissed her. He gathered her against him very slowly, his eyes holding hers captive as easily as he was holding her body. The descent of his head was just as slow, Jess’s heart pounding against her ribs by the time his lips made contact with hers. Even then, he didn’t kiss her properly, just brushed his mouth over hers. Once. Twice. Three times. Finally, her tingling lips gasped apart, desperate for more.
But he denied her desire. And, in doing so, deepened it. She moaned when his head lifted, her eyes glazed as they stared up at him.
‘Will that do for now to raise your status to girlfriend?’ he said, shocking her with his cool manner. She was on fire inside. Yet he seemed totally unmoved.
‘Like I said, lovely Jess,’ he went on, ‘I’m smitten with you. Seriously smitten. I’m already planning on extending my stay here in Australia to spend more time with you. And, since you don’t like lies, let me say right here and now that I doubt very much if I can fix Fab Fashions, even with your very excellent ideas.’
He was a wicked devil, she decided shakily, using honesty now to seduce her.
‘But I’m willing to give it a try,’ he added, ‘if it makes you happy.’
What to say to that? She could hardly admit that Fab Fashions wasn’t high on her personal agenda right at this moment. All she could think about was being with this man.
At the same time, she didn’t want Ben thinking he could play her for a fool.
Pulling herself together, Jess did her best to imitate his controlled demeanour.
‘It would be nice to try to turn things around,’ she said. ‘So, yes, it would make me very happy.’
‘Good. And, whilst I’m in the mood for confession,’ he went on, ‘my reason for organising for us to stay together at the cottage was something far more…intimate.’
Ben was watching her eyes closely and decided she wasn’t upset by his admission. Just the opposite, in fact. There was a glittering of dark excitement in their gorgeous depths. She was trying to act cool with him but her eyes gave her away. Besides, he’d felt her tremble in his arms just now. And that frustrated moan of hers had been very telling. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He hadn’t dared deepen that kiss for fear of losing it himself. Jess really did have a powerful effect on him. Much more than Amber ever had.
‘Not tonight, unfortunately,’ he said with true regret, ‘Since I’ll be otherwise occupied. But I thought by tomorrow night, after the wedding, I’d be in with a chance.’
‘Did you now?’ Jess threw at him, desperate to find some composure, not to mention her pride.
His beautiful blue eyes glittered with amusement, not to mention supreme confidence. ‘Let’s just say I was hopeful.’
‘You’ll need to improve your kissing technique.’
‘Really? And there I was, thinking you’d enjoyed being teased.’
Jess shook her head in defeat. He was just too clever for her. And way too knowing. ‘You are incorrigible.’
‘And you’re irresistible.’
Jess said nothing to that, but her mind kept ticking over. Oh yes, he was a wicked devil all right, with all the right words and all the right moves. She wondered how many women he’d had in his life.
Lots, she supposed.
And she would be just