Australia: In Bed with a Bachelor: The Costarella Conquest / The Hot-Blooded Groom / Inherited: One Nanny. Emma Darcy
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to her father for bringing him into her life. This journey was definitely worth taking and she hoped it would go on for a long, long time.
As they were leaving the hotel the next morning Jake asked, ‘Will you be free to join me next Saturday night? I’ve booked a table at Universal, Christine Manfield’s restaurant.’
Free for you anytime, she thought, her heart skipping with pleasure at not having to wait more than a week to be with him again. Glorious food was no longer the seductive temptation it had been, though she would absolutely enjoy it, having Jake as her dining partner.
‘That would be lovely,’ she said, trying not to sound too eager for his company, which was now the main drawcard. This relationship did have to be controlled. Jake was not falling all over himself to be with her every free moment he had and it was better for her if she could hold him at a distance, too, in between their meeting points,
‘Same time?’ he asked.
‘Suits me.’
‘Good!’
He gave her his brilliant, sexy smile and Laura managed a smile back though her insides clenched, wanting, needing much more of him. She had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself pleading, Why can’t we be together today? I won’t get in the way of your working on the house renovations. I’ll help. We can chat, laugh, enjoy being with each other.
The words kept pounding through her mind as they settled in the taxi that would take her to Eddie’s apartment before driving on to Jake’s place, but she couldn’t let herself voice them. It would put Jake in a position of power over her, knowing she wanted him more than he wanted her.
Had her mother fallen into that trap with her father, showing how needy she was? If so, he’d certainly taken advantage of her vulnerability. She wasn’t sure if Jake would be like that or not, but her gut feeling told her not to show any weakness that could be exploited.
It was best to keep to what they had agreed upon. If anything changed further along the line, the change had to come from him, not from her and certainly not today.
TETSUYA’S, a Japanese-French fusion eatery many times listed amongst the top fifty restaurants in the world, was Jake’s choice for his last night with Laura. It had the longest waiting time to secure a table—two months—and he’d actually held back his own agenda, just to have this very special dinner together before he took her father down.
He checked his watch as he waited for her to arrive, conscious of not wanting her to be late, not wanting to have a minute of this final encounter wasted. It wasn’t quite seven o’clock. The hell of it was he would miss the pleasure of her company, miss the fantastic sex they had shared even more, but knew it was stupid to try spinning out their time with each other any further.
It had been good. Great. But she was her father’s daughter and once the axe fell on Costarella he would come out fighting for blood in return and the first casualty would be any personal association with his accuser. Laura would be turned out of the Mosman mansion if she didn’t toe that line. Even if she chose not to and fled to her brother’s apartment… No, she wouldn’t do that. She would stay by her mother to deflect as much of her father’s venom as she could.
Tonight was it—the end.
No point in looking for any way around it.
Besides, once he’d achieved the objective he’d set for himself he wanted to move on, find the kind of relationship he’d seen between his mother and step-father, have a family of his own, hopefully sharing good times with his wife and children. Regardless of how powerfully drawn he was to Laura Costarella, he couldn’t fit her into that picture.
As hot she was in bed, she kept a cool head out of it, content to go about her own life without trying to get him involved in it. This was confirmation to Jake that marriage had no appeal to her—understandable given her family background. Part-time lovers was as far as any man would get with Laura. It made the end of their affair easier in so far as he knew it carried no deep importance to her. He’d given her pleasure. He hoped the memory of it would not get too tainted by the angst his actions would inevitably cause in the Costarella household.
All this past week he’d been tossing up whether to tell her, warn her what was about to happen, explain why. Somehow that smacked too much of justifying himself and he didn’t need to do that, not when he was meting out justice, which would eventually be evident to everyone. Besides, he’d told Laura right from the beginning he didn’t want to want to her. Understanding would come soon enough. Better for them both to enjoy this one last night.
Laura was smiling, aglow with excited anticipation as she entered Tetsuya’s. She was ten minutes late, due to the public transport connections needed to get to Kent Street in the inner city—where the restaurant was located—but she was finally here for another night with Jake. And there he was, rising from the table where he’d been seated.
Her heart skipped a beat. Every time he had this impact. And his smile of pleasure on seeing her…it was like a fountain of joy bursting through her. She loved this man, loved being with him, fiercely wished they could be sharing much more than one night a week.
Though she told herself it was sensible not to get too involved, not when she still had to earn her university degree. It was halfway through the year now. In a few more months… Was Jake waiting for her to be fully qualified before inviting her into more of his life? There was quite an age gap between them. Maybe he was conscious of that, too. Whatever his reasons for keeping their relationship so strictly limited, Laura felt sure they would wear out eventually. They were too good together—great together—for this journey to ever end.
She couldn’t resist planting a greeting kiss on his cheek before sitting down. ‘Sorry I’m a bit late. The bus trip was slow. Lots of people getting on and off.’
‘No problem,’ he assured her, his deep rich voice curling around her heart, warming it with pleasure. ‘You’re here. And I’ve been perusing the menu. This promises to be a fantastic dining experience.’
‘Oh, wow! I’ve been so looking forward to it.’
He laughed at her excitement as they both took their seats. Laura loved his laugh, the sexy male rumble of it, the way it lit up his handsome face, the dancing twinkles in his eyes.
‘I want us to do the gustatory menu—all eight courses of it. Are you up for it?’ he asked.
Laura goggled at him. ‘Eight courses!’
‘They won’t be big. Just a marvelous range of tastes.’
‘Let me see.’ She held out her hand for the menu and he passed it over. The list of dishes Jake wanted proved irresistible. ‘I’m up for it,’ she said decisively.
It would obviously cost Jake another small fortune, but also obviously he didn’t care so Laura refused to feel guilty about the expense. It was his choice. He grinned at her, knowing she was happy to succumb to temptation.
She sighed. ‘You’re spoiling me rotten with all this, Jake.’
An oddly rueful expression twisted his grin. ‘You’ve given me more than money can buy, Laura. I should probably thank you for being you.’
Why did that sound…almost as if he was saying goodbye to her? Laura frowned over the uncomfortable niggle. Surely he was just trying to balance out what they had together, make it feel okay to her. ‘It’s no big deal being me,’ she said critically.
He shook his head, his eyes gently mocking her. ‘I can’t imagine enjoying our dinners so much with anyone else.’
She relaxed into a relieved smile. ‘Then I should thank you for being you because I can’t imagine it, either.’
‘Good to be in accord on that point.’