“First door on the left.”
She resisted the urge to flip him the finger and instead gathered up her skirts and walked, as dignified as she could, toward the bathroom.
Inside she slid the lock and looked around. Marble sinks and surrounds, gleaming steel fittings—nothing less would satisfy someone of Gabe’s exacting tastes. Heeling off her shoes, she sighed as her feet touched the cool marble-tiled floor. After wriggling her toes, she reached around and unhooked the catch on the dress. With some difficulty she managed to get the zipper down, slipped the dress over her hips and stepped out. It felt so good to be out of that damn dress.
She looked around, searching for the change of clothes Gabe had arranged. Finding nothing hanging up, she went to the floor-to-ceiling cupboard in the corner and found that empty, too.
A tap sounded at the door.
Since she was in her underwear, she grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around herself. “What?”
“Everything okay?”
“Where’s that change of clothes you said you had for me?”
“Open the door.”
Which probably meant he was about to give them to her. She tightened the towel, clung to the fastening between her breasts and slid open the lock. Teasing open the door a measly few inches, she stuck her free hand through and grabbed hold of what he offered before slamming the door shut again.
Stepping back, she held out the fabric and recognised a man’s white linen shirt. “Is this supposed to be funny?” She crumpled the shirt in her hands. “You said you had fresh clothes for me.”
“That shirt’s fresh. Cleaned and pressed.”
She barely resisted the urge to scream out her frustration, but that would give him exactly what he wanted. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Since she had no intention of getting back into the wedding gown, which was strewn on the floor where she’d left it, she held up the shirt and gauged that it would at least cover the essentials. Since he was playing her, she would return the compliment. “Do you have a spare belt?”
“Belt?”
“Yeah. If I’m going to wear this shirt in public, it needs a belt. Something to make it look chic.”
It was hard to resist smiling at the sound of his muffled curse. Spurred on by the feel-good factor of having him on his back foot, she stepped closer to the closed door.
“I can wear the heels again, so they’re okay, but I really need that belt.”
Opening the door, she reached her hand through again and waggled her fingers.
“You really like to test boundaries, don’t you, princess?”
Through the crack in the door, he gave her that sensual perusal again, making every inch of her flesh shiver in response. While she was perfectly decent, she was very aware of her near nakedness. He did that. He made her feel raw, exposed, vulnerable.
She clasped the towel tighter around herself. “Do you mind?”
His gaze slid across her bare shoulders, down to where the edge of the towel covered her breasts. “Not particularly.”
Refusing to look at him, she kept her attention on his chest. Big mistake. It was still as wide, still as formidable. Beneath that shirt she knew it was leanly muscled and so damn hot. She’d cuddled up against him enough times to remember the heat he emanated, to remember the strength of him, the feel of him.
Oh hell...
She gripped the towel so tightly her fingers hurt. It was difficult to get air into her lungs, and she knew her breasts rose and fell with the effort. Sensing his gaze remained fixed on her, she kept hers averted.
Only the gentle hiss of their breathing filled the space between them, yet it seemed to buzz with a heightened sense of awareness that felt decadent and dangerous.
Drawing in a breath, Gabe stepped back. “We’ll be landing soon.”
At the sharp change in his tone, Maddie looked up. There was no suggestive gleam in his eye, no arrogant slant to his mouth. What had happened? What had changed?
He reached behind him, then handed her a hanger with a dress covered in a thin layer of protective polythene. “Don’t take too long.”
Maddie grabbed the dress and closed the door. She ripped off the polythene and realised that the dress was actually hers. She might have recognised it sooner had she not been busy going all gaga remembering how toned his chest was.
He might have been extremely easy on the eye, and skilled between the sheets, but he wasn’t worth the effort of fathoming out. They were poles apart. He ate, slept and breathed business. Loved nothing more than analysing stock markets, projecting profit summaries, surveying property investment opportunities. Whereas she didn’t give a flying fuck about any of that stuff. She preferred creating things. Working with colour, shape and form to make something beautiful for people to enjoy.
Not that any of it mattered right then. Bigger fish to fry and all that.
She unzipped the dress, annoyed that despite what Gabe said, he must have gone to her apartment after all. The only other possibility was that he’d gotten someone else to do it for him. Laura? Her friend really disliked Oscar and had tried to talk Maddie out of the marriage. But Laura wasn’t a fan of Gabe’s, either, especially since she’d been the one to help pick up the pieces of Maddie’s heart two years ago.
Maddie added Laura’s name to her mental list of calls to make as she dressed in the plain blue shift dress and slipped her feet back into the wedding shoes.
While she hated being out of control like this, hated that Gabe was calling the shots, she knew that would change soon enough. Once they were in the South of France, she would arrange to return to London and smooth everything over with Oscar. She had to. Too much rested on her agreement with him.
With a sigh, she leaned back against the wall. The thought of going back didn’t exactly fill her with joy. What was she returning to? A loveless marriage with no prospect of sex. Not that sex was ever on the menu. She’d made damn sure Oscar hadn’t expected that to form part of their arrangement.
Maybe thinking about sex, or the impending lack of it, had made her hypersensitive or something, but a provocative thought lodged in her mind and refused to budge. Tapping a finger to her chin, Maddie considered her current position. Was she being hasty here? While this situation with Gabe hadn’t been of her choosing, it didn’t mean she couldn’t make the most of it. It could be a proverbial gift horse. The chance for some breathing space.
If, at the end of it all, marrying Oscar was still the best option, all well and good. In which case, this hiatus could provide an opportunity for a kind of last fling.
With Gabe.
Sex between them had been sensational. Off the wall. Who could blame her for wanting to repeat that experience before she settled for a sex-free future?
She tapped her chin some more, a little thrill tingling in her stomach at the thought of spending up close and personal time with Gabe. Now, wouldn’t that be fun? And didn’t she deserve it before hooking up in that loveless marriage? All she had to do was make sure she kept emotion out of it. A brief, temporary affair with absolutely no strings attached. How hard could that be?
Still considering her options, she walked to the door and stepped out. Her next move wasn’t entirely clear yet, but one thing was certain. It would most definitely be one of her choosing.
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