Hands clenched, she dabbed her tongue to the beads of sweat along her upper lip. She could control her voice, but her traitorous thoughts were another matter entirely.
And this definitely wasn’t what she wanted, she reminded herself as she studied the tablecloth. Some complications she had no control over; this was one she did. All it required was a little willpower, a little self-control.
Emmy was their link; their roles as her parents needed to be strictly defined.
The only problem was that when he looked at her that way her self-control went on holiday.
The first challenge was to hide the chain reaction that had begun as a tremor in the pit of her belly. It was now spreading until her skin was prickling with sensation and she was shaking inside and out. It was terrifying to feel this much and he wasn’t even touching her.
‘I thought it might be my birthday present.’ His voice was light, but the accompanying gleam in his eyes was anything but.
She shook out her napkin and dabbed her lips. ‘I wonder where the ladies’ room is?’ she said, following up her comment with an ostentatious glance over each shoulder.
She had half risen to her feet when her glance connected with his. Without warning her knees folded and she sat down with a gentle thud. The explicit gleam of hunger in his eyes had a paralysing effect.
Without breaking eye contact he clicked his long fingers.
‘Bill, please.’
Lily watched through her lashes as he placed a wad of notes on the plate, not even looking at the denominations, though from the waiter’s expression there were way too many.
‘We’re going?’
He arched a dark brow. ‘You want to stay?’
Lily looked at him and wished she didn’t know what she wanted. ‘I thought you were hungry.’
‘I am.’
Their glances connected, startled green on smouldering blue, and though her insides dissolved she ignored the sensation and didn’t ask him to explain the comment. She already knew and to admit it would have made the return journey more awkward. It was easier to ignore the elephant in the room.
As it was they completed the trip in total silence and to hear him finally break it made her start violently.
‘We’re here.’
Ben pulled the car to a halt; without the engine noise everything seemed very quiet. She could hear her own heartbeat and the distant sound of the ocean.
Disorientated, she looked around. ‘But—’ She stopped, realising that he hadn’t driven through the main gates. He’d turned the vehicle down a dirt track that came to a dead end in the trees. Through the leafy canopy she could make out the outline of her bungalow.
‘Right, thanks.’
‘I wanted to ask something...’
Her heart started to thud; in the darkness his blue eyes were hypnotically dark. A wave of longing rolled over her, blanking all logical thought. ‘What?’
‘I wondered if you had a photo of Emily Rose that I could have?’
And straight away she was back to reality. He was thinking about Emmy and she... Lily’s skin burned with mortified heat as she tipped her head. She was just relieved that she hadn’t lunged at him like some sex-starved teenager. ‘Of course, I brought some with me.’
‘I’ll stop by tomorrow to pick it up. Have a think about what we’ve discussed. You can tell me how you feel about what I’ve said tonight... I don’t want you to feel that I’m pushing you.’
‘Yes, that would be...’ she took a deep breath ‘...fine.’
She closed her eyes and stayed where she was, calling herself all kinds of fool, while he walked around to her side of the car.
Without the headlights it was dark, but as he reached the passenger side a shaft of moonlight pierced the leafy canopy, picking out the slim figure poised to jump down.
A deep breath rattled deep in his chest. The light shone straight through the green fluttering dress, outlining the sinuous softness of her slim body, and simultaneously lust slammed through him.
It was a bad idea on more levels than he could count. But this was not about right or wrong, it was about the hunger seeping into every cell of his body—some more than others!
He knew the sex would be great—more than great—but then what...?
How many excellent working relationships had he seen go bad because the people involved fell into bed? When things went wrong, as they inevitably did, the recriminations and the name-calling started... Hell, no, nightmare! He had to think long term. It was going to be hard enough to establish a relationship with his daughter without adding any more obstacles.
‘Careful, there’s a bit of a hole here.’ He held out his arms and she automatically stepped into them.
Her timing was slightly off and the collision that made him take a step back caused the breath to exit her lungs in a soft whoosh as their bodies connected. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.
His response was to draw her closer to his body until she was plastered up against him like a second skin. She was painfully aware of the rock-hard imprint of his erection in her belly. A small whimper left her lips as she pressed her face for a moment into his shoulder and, squeezing her eyes closed, stayed there.
‘You all right?’ He curved a big hand around her face, drawing it up to him.
The almost tenderness in his voice filled her throat with emotion. Combined with the hot lust pumping through her veins, it rendered her dumb and pliable as a marionette.
His breathing got louder and faster as she tapped into hidden reserves and drew back a little.
‘This is a bad idea, Ben,’ she whispered, thinking it was more than bad—insane really.
As if things weren’t complicated enough.
‘Agreed.’ He nodded, tightening his arm around her ribcage. ‘Bad idea...’
Lily didn’t fight the constraint. Instead she lifted the hand that was not trapped between her body and him and touched the hard, abrasive angle of his jaw. ‘Really bad.’ Stretching her body up in an arc, she pressed a hard kiss on his mouth.
He let out a low half-growl, half-moan and then released her. He grabbed her hand and headed to the bungalow. Unable to keep up with his long-legged pace, Lily had to trot alongside panting.
They arrived at the bungalow hand in hand and breathless. He turned and looked at her, the raw desire written into the hard lines of his face, and the hungry glow in his eyes made her insides dissolve. Lily closed her eyes and whimpered, feeling the brush of his lips on her eyelids before he scooped her up and carried her inside.
Kicking the door closed behind them, Ben looked around. ‘Where’s the bed?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she murmured indistinctly.
Ben nodded and sank down to the floor with her in his arms; kneeling, he laid her down. Lily lay there on the polished boards, her breasts lifting in time to her uneven, laboured breathing. A strange enervating weakness seemed to have invaded her limbs. The entire surface of her body prickled with a sensual awareness. One arm flung above her head, the other held in a tight clenched fist on her chest, she watched through half-closed eyes as he knelt over her and fought his way out of his shirt.
The rippling perfection of his taut, lean body took her breath away and pushed her deeper into the sensual vortex of her own desire. He looked like some pagan god.
‘You’re so beautiful!’ She struggled to force the words past