Hired: A Bride for the Boss: The Playboy Boss's Chosen Bride / The Corporate Marriage Campaign / The Boss's Urgent Proposal. SUSAN MEIER
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was momentarily paralysed with fear, unable to make herself move.
‘We’re here,’ he said, prompting action.
‘Right!’ she forced herself to say, and somehow managed to swing her legs out of the car.
Jake grasped her arm, assisting in getting her upright from the low-slung seat. It brought her very close to him and when he took hold of her other arm, turning her to face him, every nerve in her body zinged as though hit by an electric charge. Was he about to kiss her? She looked up in helpless agitation. For several fraught moments, his eyes searched hers, and the tension emanating him held her more captive than his hands. What was he looking for? What did he want to find?
He didn’t kiss her.
‘Go and open up,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’ll get your bags out of the trunk and bring them inside.’
Her arms were released. He turned away. Free to move, Merlina recollected herself and headed for her front door. I’m his puppet again, she thought, acting to his dictation. She didn’t even realise she had no handbag with her until she reached the porch. It was probably in the trunk, too. Rather than turn back, she took the emergency key from the little magnetic box attached to the pot stand under the pink geranium, used it to unlock the door, then returned it to its hiding place.
The trunk slammed shut, which meant Jake was on his way. She entered her living room, leaving the door opened wide for him to carry in the bags of clothes, including the red rose StValentine’s Day bikini, which she’d designed with malice aforethought. Going out with a big bang had probably not been a good idea. Another decision driven by emotion.
Everything was tidy, as she’d left it on Saturday morning. There weren’t any red roses in a vase. Jake hadn’t sent her any on St Valentine’s day. No token of love from him. Only…unfinished business!
‘Where do you want these?’ he asked as he came in.
She couldn’t bring herself to direct him to her bedroom. ‘Just drop them on the floor, thanks, Jake.’
He pushed the door shut before unloading himself. Merlina didn’t have to be Einstein to know he didn’t intend to leave in a hurry. Having set down her bags as directed, he straightened up, his presence more dominating than ever now that he was within the four walls of her home.
The tension swirling between them choked her into silence. All she could do was stare at him—this man whom she had craved for so long. Not for just a sexual experience. She desperately wanted him to make love to her—real love—and for it to be so wonderful he’d never want any other woman. A team for life, not limited to work. He’d used the M word…
‘Why are you frightened of me?’ he asked, frowning in concern, his hands lifting, palms open in an appeal for belief that he meant her no harm.
‘Because…’ It was a croak. She swallowed hard. ‘Because…’ Again she stopped, her head whirling with reasons, but voicing them would sound like begging for more than he was ever likely to give and that would leave her totally defenceless.
‘You didn’t really answer me before,’ he said, his eyes demanding the truth now, though his voice held a caring gentleness as he repeated the question. ‘Are you a virgin, Merlina?’
‘No. But…it’s been a while…’ Like years. Her mind suddenly seized on a reason that any woman with any sense should be thinking of in this situation. ‘And I’m not protected.’
The words were no sooner out than she realised they implied she was not against having sex with him, only that she wasn’t prepared for it tonight.
He smiled in relief as he assured her, ‘I’ll take care of it.’
Of course, she thought caustically. He was probably in the habit of carrying a pocketful of condoms. Who knew when lust would jump up and bite you, and it would be highly inconvenient if he got a woman pregnant. She was crazy to be dallying with a playboy.
‘Don’t worry about anything,’ he soothed as he moved forward, his natural confidence restored, flashing his dimples in distracting fashion while she stood like a dummy, letting him come to her.
He slid one arm around her waist and lifted his other hand to her face, his fingers grazing softly down her cheek, tracing her lips with tantalising tenderness. Again all Merlina could do was stare at him. His eyes were promising her pleasure she had never known before, and there was no longer any question of whether or not to surrender to temptation.
The promise was too close, beaming into her tormented soul, tugging her irresistibly into abandoning her fears and following his lead…the light of her life.
CHAPTER NINE
THE swell of caring Jake felt was completely new to him. None of the women he had ever been with had shown any inhibitions about having sex with him. The poignant vulnerability in Merlina’s eyes was so suggestive of innocence, he was certain her sexual experience had been very limited, and probably not pleasurable enough to seek repetition. She wasn’t even on the Pill. That alone spoke volumes.
It made him acutely conscious that this was not a casual tumble into bed. Not for her. Not for him, either. It was make or break time. If he didn’t get it right for her, didn’t make her feel good about giving herself to him, she might wipe him off as a big mistake. Might even go back to his grandfather.
Her lips quivered under his feather-light finger touch, parting slightly as she sucked in a deep breath. There were no sparks of fiery amber in her eyes. The brown had darkened into pools of dark chocolate—huge eyes swimming with unbridled emotion that tugged at his heart, asking silent questions which he knew he had to answer. Somehow.
Her hands had lifted to his chest, not to push him away, but resting there tentatively, not quite prepared to actively encourage more physical intimacy, yet he could feel the taut waiting in her body, the wanting for him to take the initiative, to make it happen.
The moment he kissed her he knew they would slide up around his neck, holding him tight as she had in his grandfather’s home. But there was no longer any need to prove the existence of the sexual chemistry between them and he didn’t want to move fast this time.
He wanted to explore every facet of Merlina Rossi, know all that she was, far beyond what she’d shown him at work. Her smooth olive skin had made him wonder how it would feel. His finger pads revelled in its satin softness as he slid them across her cheek and into her hair, so thick and glossy, like massed strands of silk, not the often dry texture of dyed blond hair.
What was it about blondes that had attracted him? Maybe it was a come-hither attitude embodied in their wish to be more attractive to men. Whereas Merlina… This is me, she had cried when he had accused her of adopting a different image to the one he had insisted upon for her job as his P.A. If he had not demanded the change, if her hair had remained long, how gloriously sensual it would be to lie on it, to have it brushing over his body!
‘I shouldn’t have told you to have it cut,’ he said regretfully.
Her head leaned into the cup of his hand, rubbing it like a cat that loved being stroked. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said huskily. ‘I can grow it again now.’
Be herself…away from him.
The intolerable thought spurred the need to draw her into a closeness she wouldn’t want to break. His mouth sought the response from hers she had given before, using all its erotic skill to excite her out of the passive stance she’d been holding. Her arms instantly flew up to wind around his neck. Her tongue danced a wild tango with his. The voluptuous swell of her breasts pressed against his chest, their hard peaks imprinting proof of her arousal.
He gathered her closer and her wonderfully soft and curvaceous femininity was an intoxicating pleasure. Skinny was great for wearing designer clothes. Feeling pelvic bones and ribs was not so sexy. Merlina’s body was sensually perfect and his hands revelled in moulding it to his.
He