She was beautiful, he thought, absolutely ravishingly beautiful. He loved everything about her: her silken hair; her delectable blue eyes; the wide, sexy mouth that absolutely begged to be kissed; her slender body that he wanted to urge against him; high, firm breasts that tempted him through the thin cotton of her dress. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep his hands off her.
‘How long are you planning to stay?’ He didn’t realise how harsh his voice was until he saw her sudden frown.
‘I don’t know. Aunt Helen says for as long as I like.’
‘Until you’ve got over your disastrous marriage? Is that it?’
‘I guess so,’ she agreed.
‘Whereabouts in England do you live?’ There was still so much he wanted to know.
‘In the Midlands, near Birmingham. I share a flat with a friend.’
She shared! From choice or necessity? ‘Did you get a settlement from your husband?’ The second he’d asked he realised it was a very personal question, too personal considering they hardly knew each other. Fortunately Lara didn’t seem to mind.
‘I wanted nothing from him,’ she announced bitterly. ‘I walked into marriage with nothing, I left it with nothing. He didn’t offer anything, I didn’t ask. I was glad to be free of him.’
‘Strong sentiments,’ he agreed, ‘but not very practical ones. He owed you something for the three years you gave him. Do you still work for him?’
‘Goodness, no!’ she exclaimed hotly. ‘He made me give up my job when we got married.’
‘What sort of a man is he, for God’s sake?’ Bryce was finding it difficult to contain his anger. ‘He doesn’t sound human. Didn’t your feelings, your needs, your rights, enter into the equation at all?’
‘Do we have to talk about this?’ she asked, her eyes shooting dangerous sparks of fire.
Bryce cursed his too-ready tongue and was grateful when the waiter appeared with their entrée.
Lara’s baby octopus tart served with a Kakadu plum and chilli sauce had been served at exactly the right moment. She wished Bryce wouldn’t keep questioning her. It was only friendly interest, she knew, but some things were best kept private, and her catastrophic marriage was one of them.
She ought never to have said anything, and she was definitely beginning to doubt the wisdom of agreeing to become friends. Bryce Kellerman was a dangerously sexy man; it might be impossible to hide the attraction she felt. It wasn’t love, could never be love, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility that she would enjoy him making love to her. In fact her body went warm at the very thought and she kept her head bent over her food so that he shouldn’t see the sudden surge of colour in her cheeks.
But—so long as he stuck to his side of the bargain—there shouldn’t be a problem. The trouble was, would he? Or would he fall at the first hurdle? Would they both fall? Would the temptations of the flesh be too much for them?
What had happened to the grim determination that had carried her through the dark days of her separation and divorce? She had vowed to let no other man near, not for a very long time, if ever. And now here she was, only months into her freedom, agreeing to be Bryce Kellerman’s friend. What sort of a friend, for heaven’s sake? A man as sexy as he couldn’t possibly entertain the idea of a platonic relationship.
‘You’ve gone very quiet.’
His deep tone startled her, made her look at him with wide, disturbed eyes. ‘I’m enjoying my food.’
‘You’ve been attacking that poor octopus as though it’s still alive.’
‘Oh, dear.’ She smiled suddenly. ‘Actually it’s very delicious. How’re your prawns?’
‘As tasty as prawns in a lemon myrtle sauce can be,’ he answered with an approving nod. ‘You can never fault the food here.’
‘You eat here often, then?’ With other women? By himself? It was a top-class restaurant. Surely a bit out of his league?
‘Only when I’m trying to impress.’
‘You don’t have to impress me,’ she said with a quick smile. ‘It’s a pricey place, we can go Dutch if you like.’
He gave a disapproving wag of one finger. ‘Don’t insult me. I would never take out a girl if I couldn’t afford it. I’m not saying I’d do it every night, but…’ He let his words trail into silence.
‘I’m honoured, then,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
Their dishes were whipped away and their main course placed in front of them. They had decided to share a seafood platter. Lara tried to concentrate on eating but was acutely aware of Bryce watching her. Ignoring him was impossible and when their fingers touched as they both went for the same oyster, she drew back swiftly, feeling as though a savage volt of electricity had zapped through her.
His eyes asked the questions not his voice. What’s the matter? What did I do?
‘That was silly of me,’ she said quickly. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Why are you so nervous?’ There was a rough edge to his tone now, a frown darkening his brow. ‘Don’t you think I’ll keep my word?’
‘Of course.’ She grimaced and gave a weak smile.
‘But you’re not sure. You keep wondering whether you’ve made a mistake.’ He shook his head, mouth suddenly grim. ‘Maybe you have, maybe I made the mistake. We’ll call the whole thing off.’
‘No!’ Lara surprised herself by the quickness of her response. ‘I don’t want that. I could do with a friend.’
‘You have your aunt.’
‘Yes, but she’s family, there’s a difference.’
‘How?’
‘If I say too much to her it might get back to my mother and brothers. They don’t know all the ins and outs of my marital problems. Actually my mother thought the world of Roger. She couldn’t understand why I walked out on him. She did everything she could to try and persuade me to patch things up.’
‘You didn’t tell her the whole story?’
Lara shook her head. ‘No. She’d warned me about jumping so quickly into marriage. It’s what she did with my father. So I always pretended to be happy.’
‘So what excuse did you give her for the divorce?’
‘I just said I didn’t love him any more, that the magic had gone out of the marriage and I wanted out.’
‘And she believed that?’ He looked faintly sceptical. ‘OK, I’ll accept that you can’t talk to your aunt. But if you’re going to behave like a skittish kitten every time we accidentally touch, then I think we have a problem, too.’
‘It won’t happen again,’ she assured him, knowing that she sounded more confident than she felt. She wasn’t even sure why she was pleading for them to remain friends. It made no sense.
As they continued to eat Bryce talked about his childhood. He was an only child and envied Lara her four brothers. ‘My parents both worked and I was left to my own devices most of the time,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying they didn’t love me, but they were so taken up with their careers that they didn’t spare me much time. I was very lonely.’
‘Where are they now?’
‘Dad died two years ago. My mother’s remarried and moved to New Zealand. He’s an OK guy and she’s happy enough. How about your parents?’
Lara shrugged and pulled a wistful face. ‘My father