As the guests filtered away, Emily organised the clearing up, the caterers and quartet packing up their supplies while Gillian tallied the amounts pledged towards the desalination plant. ‘I think Jason will be very pleased,’ she said smugly.
‘Pleased about what?’ Jason strolled into the living room, having seen the last of the guests off.
‘Oh, Jason, you startled me.’ Gillian fluttered her false eyelashes at him and all the goodwill Emily had been feeling towards her abruptly evaporated. ‘We did very well tonight,’ she continued, ever so slightly emphasising the we. ‘Of course we’ll have to wait until the cheques clear—’
‘Wonderful,’ Jason cut across her in a way Emily was quite familiar with. ‘Now, Gillian, you look exhausted. I’ve called you a taxi,’ he told her as Gillian’s mouth dropped open in surprise and perhaps a little dismay. ‘And I insist you take it. You’ve, as always, done an absolutely brilliant job with the fund-raiser. Enjoy your rest. You deserve it.’ He smiled so charmingly that it didn’t feel like a dismissal, although Emily was quite certain it was. He wasn’t telling her to go take a taxi … and the thought filled her with fizzy bubbles again, the most delicious sort of anticipation.
Aimlessly, she wandered around the living room, waiting for Jason to return, her heart already starting a hectic beat. She saw a few half-drunk glasses of wine on a side table and reached for them, intending to take them to the kitchen.
‘Leave that.’
Emily stilled, turned around. Jason stood in the doorway, his bow tie and the top button of his shirt undone, his hair just a little rumpled. He looked unbearably sexy. How had she ever thought he was boring? Now she felt so fizzy with anticipation and excitement she could barely breathe. ‘Just trying to tidy up,’ she said in a breathy, wobbly voice she barely recognised as her own.
‘We can do it later.’
She swallowed down the question: So what should we do now? Her heart was beating so hard and fast it hurt and her palms were slick. She struggled to appear normal, as if this were normal, for her and Jason to be alone in his flat, the night dark all around them, his gaze steady on hers. She glanced around the stark black and white room with all of its after-party detritus. ‘I think everyone had a lovely time, don’t you?’
‘I hope so.’ He didn’t sound very interested in continuing the conversation, and as he moved towards her Emily felt a lurch of something close to alarm. This was so new, so strange. This was Jason. And she still had a lurking fear that he was suddenly going to chuckle and say, Oh, Emily, you didn’t actually think …
‘I feel terrible about Philip and Helen,’ she blurted, then wished she hadn’t. They were just about the last two people on earth she wanted to talk about right now. It looked as if Jason felt the same for he stilled mid-stride, his brows drawing together.
‘Do you?’ he said neutrally, and Emily decided she might as well come clean. Better now than … later. If there was a later.
‘Philip rang me last week,’ she confessed. ‘And it was obvious that he … that he didn’t.’ She stopped, wishing she’d never started this wretched conversation. ‘I had no idea he was such a … a …’
‘Bastard?’ Jason supplied, and Emily nodded.
‘Yes,’ she admitted in a small voice. ‘I’m afraid I really was blinded by his charm. And so was Helen.’
‘Understandable, I suppose,’ Jason replied. Emily watched as he removed his bow tie and slung it on a nearby chair. He certainly was very casual about removing his clothes. ‘He’s quite good at all that sweeping.’ His gaze met hers, glinting with amusement, although she sensed something deeper, something darker underneath. Philip, Emily supposed, was a case in point for Jason. Sensible won over romantic. Except Philip really hadn’t been either, in the end.
And Emily wasn’t sure what Jason was being now.
‘Yes … thank you for rescuing her from Philip this evening. I had no idea he would be here, or I wouldn’t have invited her. I thought she could use a night out, away from Philip, and then of course he showed up with that Sylvie person, who builds wells, would you believe—’
‘Emily,’ Jason said, moving towards her, ‘stop talking.’
Emily shut her mouth with a snap. She had been babbling, but she was so nervous. And Jason looked so assured. ‘Okay,’ she managed, her voice wobbling slightly. Jason stood in front of her, smiling faintly even as he drew his brows together in concern.
‘Why are you so nervous?’
Emily shook her head, unwilling to admit how uncertain she still was. Even now she wasn’t sure what Jason intended. What he wanted. She certainly knew what she wanted. Her gaze remained fixed on the column of his throat, the skin so smooth and warm-looking. ‘I’m not nervous.’
‘Really?’ Jason arched an eyebrow, glancing pointedly at the pulse fluttering wildly in her throat. ‘I wonder,’ he said softly, his gaze now sweeping over her body like a blush, ‘why the thought of me being anything other than boring, stuffy Jason terrifies you so much?’
Emily straightened her shoulders, her eyes flashing. ‘Do I look terrified?’
‘Do you really want to know the answer to that question?’
She let out an uncertain laugh, conceding the point. She supposed it did seem fairly obvious. ‘Maybe not.’
‘I think we’ve both needed to change the way we think about each other,’ Jason continued, his voice musing, his gaze sweeping over her once more, lingering, languorous. Emily knew there could be no misinterpreting or imagining a look like that. His look was like a caress, his eyes touching her body. ‘Of course, we might need some practical help in that regard.’
Only Jason would use the word practical in a moment like this. Emily didn’t feel practical at all. Her entire body was buzzing with awareness, aching with need. ‘Practical …?’ she repeated in a whisper.
‘Yes,’ Jason confirmed, and he lifted a hand to tuck a stray tendril behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her lobe, that little touch possessive and sure. ‘And the practical thing for me to do now is seduce you.’
‘SEDUCE me?’ Emily repeated. The words rippled over her, dousing her in shock. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’
Jason laughed softly. ‘I intend to show you in vivid detail.’
Images danced before Emily’s eyes, intimate, evocative, startling images. Candlelight on bared skin, clothes slithering to the floor. ‘What I meant was,’ she amended hastily, ‘that most people don’t announce their intentions to seduce—‘
‘I told you I’d always be honest with you.’
‘Ah.’ She managed a shaky laugh. ‘Right.’ She was still reeling from Jason’s sudden announcement. ‘So seduction is practical, is it?’ she said and Jason smiled.
‘Eminently. You are attracted to me, aren’t you?’
Emily flinched at such a direct question. There could be no evading, no protecting herself. Still, she tried. ‘I … I suppose.’
He laughed softly. ‘Damned with faint praise.’ Emily said nothing, not wanting to admit just how attracted she was. Even now she was nervous, afraid. Terrified. Jason was right. The thought of him being anything other than what she’d known was scary, strange.
Thrilling.
‘I suppose,’ Jason murmured, ‘I’ll just