Love Islands: Forbidden Consequences. Natalie Anderson

compressed his lips, his jaw hard as he turned and curved his hands around the cold metal rail he had been leaning against before admitting, ‘We had a ten-minute conversation last week. I hadn’t been home...well, since the last time and he threw me out.’

      ‘I assumed you’d had a falling out...’

      Ben opened his mouth to tell her that it was none of her business and instead found himself responding to her probing with an explanation.

      ‘My efforts to update the estate did not go down well. He accused me of being heartless and avaricious.’ An accusation that had left a bitter taste in his mouth because Ben was pretty sure that, even though he’d never mentioned it to his grandfather, the old man knew about the money Ben had surreptitiously sunk into various projects on the estate. Unless he thought the aged machinery in the saw mill renewed itself? ‘It appears he thinks forward planning involves selling off a painting or a piece of land to settle debts.’

      Lily felt a stab of sympathy for both men. ‘I suppose it’s hard for someone like your grandfather to relinquish control...young lion, old lion type of thing...?’ she suggested tentatively. ‘People need to feel needed.’

      ‘There’s just no talking to the man!’ The explosive complaint left his lips before he could censor it. He shrugged, moderating his tone as he added, ‘But I will tell him about Emily Rose.’

      Hopefully the shock would not see him off, he thought grimly. Would it heal any rifts? The jury was still out on that one.

      ‘When?’

      ‘Next weekend,’ he decided, estimating the time the round trip would take him by helicopter as he unzipped his leather jacket. ‘The next time Elizabeth wants to go back to Warren Court let me know—you can use the chopper. It’s at her disposal any time she wants it.’

      Lily blinked at the generous offer.

      ‘And you, of course.’

      Lily, who had no plan to go anywhere, nodded then frowned as he removed his jacket. Underneath he wore a thin long-sleeved top. ‘What are you doing?’

      In response he took hold of the hem of the cashmere top.

      Panic slid through her. It turned out to be justified because a moment later he was standing there naked from the waist up, revealing his muscle-ridged golden torso to anyone who might be passing.

      Only there was no one in the car park but her. Her own private striptease.

      She had no control over the movement of her wide eyes as they made a covetous sweep from his broad, powerful shoulder to his ribbed belly. The warmth that began in the pit of her belly spread outwards until she was burning and hot all over. A sound that was half moan, half protest left her mouth as she struggled to tear her gaze free. He had a body like a classical statue.

      ‘Well, come on, I’m getting cold.’ He sounded impatient.

      She looked at the top he held out to her and closed her mouth with an audible snap.

      ‘Do you really want to spend the rest of the day looking like that?’

      Lily followed the direction of his gaze downwards, registering for the first time the coffee stains all down her front. There were some splashes on her slim-legged trousers but her top was totally ruined. She patted ineffectually at the still-damp stains, stopping as she recognised it was a lost cause—she barely even remembered spilling the coffee. What had it been—five, ten minutes ago...? It felt as though it had happened in another life!

      She looked at the fabric fluttering slightly as a breeze caught it and her brain belatedly translated the gesture—he was offering her his top.

      ‘Thanks, but I couldn’t possibly—’

      ‘There isn’t a hidden catch.’

      ‘You need it!’ she declared, shaking her head and not delving too deeply into why she was so desperate to think of an excuse not to put the garment, still warm from his skin, on her bare flesh.

      ‘I have a jacket. It may not be your colour, Lily, but it is a practical solution.’

      Lily sighed and gave in, grumbling, ‘What did you say about your grandfather? It’s his way or no way?’ She saw his startled expression before she turned around and, presenting her back to him, whipped her soiled top off, gasping a little as the cool air touched her skin.

      His top settled against her skin, still warm from his body. It carried his scent mingled with expensive male fragrance or maybe soap. She felt a stab of guilt as her stomach muscles reacted to the intimacy of the shared body heat.

      What sort of mother was she, distracted by sex at a moment like this?

      She tugged her hair loose from the top and as she turned back Ben was zipping his jacket up, giving Lily a brief glimpse of his golden toned skin against the dark leather.

      She knew that the image was going to stay with her.

      He stood looking at her, his head a little to one side. ‘It looks better on you than it does on me.’

      Blatantly not true. The garment, which was snug-fitting on him, was loose on her and hung baggily down almost to her knees. Lily despised her stomach-fluttering response to his compliment. And the fluttering got considerably worse when, without explanation, he stepped forward and began to competently roll first one sleeve and then the other up to her elbow level. His dark head was close enough for her to smell his shampoo as he performed the task.

      Lily fought the impulse to lean into him. They shared a child but they were not a couple. She needed to remember that. She took a hasty, and not very elegant, step backwards.

      ‘Thanks.’

      Without another word she vanished through the door. He picked up the soiled top she had dropped on the floor and, before he pushed it into the conveniently placed waste bin, found himself yielding to the impulse to lift it to his face.

      His nostrils flared in response to the lemony scent it carried. He needed to be careful. Lily was vulnerable, and she was the sexiest, most sensual creature alive. It would be easy to forget that the closeness they were experiencing was temporary. Yet it was the closest he had ever been to a woman.

       And what does that say about you, Ben?

      It said he had the good sense to keep clear of close relationships. Having witnessed firsthand the war that had passed for his parents’ marriage, Ben had decided early on that he was never going to walk into a relationship he wasn’t able to walk out of.

      But he wouldn’t walk away from his daughter.