‘No!’
She would never see him again. Thrown into a state of confusion by the tumult of emotion that accompanied that thought, Susie stared at him, dry-mouthed.
Sergio ignored her outburst. He wasn’t up for this—however intriguing it might be and however much it rescued him from his emotional torpor. This was a complication, and he could do without complications.
When it came to women, he liked to know what he was dealing with. He had no idea what he was dealing with here. Gold-digger? A sexy little number who wanted to press all his buttons and was doing so via a roundabout route? Or an up front and honest young girl who genuinely had no idea of her own sex appeal? And how up front and honest could she really be if she was out there, trawling the internet, advertising herself on the open market?
‘Look...’ Coffee made, Sergio sat next to her at the kitchen table. ‘Somehow I found myself in your company tonight. Not what I had planned on. In fact I had planned on working, having something to eat and coming back here on my own.’
His keen eyes noted the slight tremble of her hands as she cradled the mug between them. If this was acting, then she should be up for an award.
‘That said, I was more than happy with the change of plan. I have no idea who you really are, or what you really want from me, but like I said...you’re sexy. And I’ve been celibate for two months, which is two months too long for me. But I’m not interested in going round the houses to get there. Now, drink up and I’ll see you to the front door.’
‘What do you mean that you have no idea who I am or what I want from you...?’
Sergio gave a sigh of pure frustration. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever talked so much with a woman before sex.’
Susie blushed and hurriedly sipped her coffee, then cleared her throat. ‘You mean you just beckon a woman across, lead her to the nearest bed and...and...?’
‘Oh, we talk...’ Sergio laughed softly, enjoying the arousal that was making itself felt all over again, despite the fact that the traffic lights had turned red and he knew it was time to stop. ‘High-powered career women generally have a great deal to say. It’s all very civilised. We discuss the state of the world, and once that foreplay’s done we head to bed.’
‘Oh.’
And tonight for a while he had been caught up in the novelty of someone who didn’t have a great deal to say on the state of the world, but he wasn’t so caught up that he was going to wade through her sudden attack of nerves and hold her hand because she was suddenly feeling panicky.
He was a sophisticated man who liked sophisticated ladies but he had been willing to step out of the box for a brief session with her.
‘I’d better be on my way, then.’ She stood up, not looking at him. ‘And I’m sorry. You know... I guess it’s not really on... Well, it’s really not on to lead a guy on. Which I wasn’t doing. Actually. Because when I agreed to come here with you I thought... Well, I guess it’s just not like me to have a one-night stand.’ She frowned. ‘In fact I’ve never had a one-night stand in my life before and I’ve never been tempted to. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe it was just...walking in there and seeing Colonel Mustard at the bar... I wouldn’t have approached you otherwise, you know...’
Sergio raised one hand to halt the stream of introspective conversation.
‘I’m getting the picture,’ he said wryly.
He ushered her out of the kitchen. He was doing the right thing. He would deal with his unwanted arousal later. In the shower. Turned to cold. That should do the trick.
‘Just out of interest,’ he drawled, once they were in the hall. ‘if you’re not the kind of girl who goes in for exciting, racy one-night stands, why the hell did you agree to this in the first place?’
He leaned against the wall and watched as she took her time fumbling with the black coat, belting it around her waist before raising her eyes to meet his.
‘I don’t know,’ Susie admitted. ‘I...I fancied you...’ She went bright red and her eyes skittered away.
And that, Sergio thought, was how a guy could get insanely turned on. She could barely meet his eyes. She sounded as though the admission had been dragged out of her.
What kind of a guy would he be if he let her go away with nothing?
He moved forward, cupped his big hand behind the nape of her neck and saw her eyes widen with a mixture of surprise and hot excitement.
In that split instant he knew that he could have her if he wanted. He had never wanted anything so much in his life before, but was he going to have her? No. He would stick to what he knew. Safer that way. A controlled life was a life with no nasty surprises.
His mouth hovered tantalisingly close to hers and she whimpered and linked her hands around his waist. She was so wet! She eased the ache by widening her stance a little, when all she wanted was for him to put his hand there and rub away the discomfort, give her some release.
Sergio breathed in her scent, light and floral and clean.
With a groan, he lowered his head and forgot...everything. Her lips parted readily...her tongue flicked to meet his. He was barely aware of propelling her backwards, so that she was pressed against the wall and he was pressed against her. He moved against her, wanting nothing more than to rip off the black cape and hoist up the flimsy nothing of a dress. He wanted to yank her panties down and just take her...right here in the hallway...up against the wall...with her legs wrapped around him...
It took a few dazed seconds for her eyes to flutter open as he tore himself away and stood back.
‘Why have you stopped?’ Her nerves had gone, banished under the impact of that kiss. She hated the cooling distance he was putting between them and the fact that the bedroom beyond that short flight of stairs was no longer too scarily close for comfort.
‘It’s no good.’ Hot blood was still pumping thick and hard in his veins. ‘You’re not my type.’
He should never have made a move on her—never invited her back here. But he was just so damned accustomed to having exactly what he wanted, to taking exactly what he wanted.
He clenched his jaw as he saw her hurt expression and told himself that this was just the sort of episode that would make her stronger. Get her off the internet for a start.
‘You’re either a gold-digger,’ he said coolly, ‘or a naive kid—and I’m not interested in either.’
‘I’m not experienced enough for you...or clever enough...’
‘Don’t put words into my mouth. I’m telling it like it is—and here’s something else... If I were you I’d think twice about trying to find your soul mate on the internet. It’s a dangerous place out there...’
But not as dangerous as the inside of an exclusive restaurant in the city...
Susie knew that she shouldn’t care. Okay, so she might go away with her pride slightly dented, but he had probably done the right thing.
She drew herself up and returned his cool look with an equally cool one of her own. ‘Thanks for the advice. And if you’re glad you didn’t end up in bed with me because I’m not your type, then I’m just as glad that I didn’t end up in bed with you because you’re not my type.’
She forced herself to smile...the casual, dismissive smile of one adult to another.
‘And I’m not as naive as you