Second Chance Proposal: A Man Without Mercy / Bring It On / Rancher to the Rescue. Miranda Lee
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say no to his taking candid photographs of her; she’d always hated having her photograph taken. It was quite another thing to say no to more sex with him. Which was what would happen if she refused to become his girlfriend. Jack was not the kind of man who warmed to rejection. He’d probably take back his offer of this job as well.
Of course, she could always make an alternative suggestion...
The idea which popped into her head was truly wicked. But oh so tempting, her heart quickening as the audacious counter-proposal formed in her brain. Hopefully, Jack would agree. Oh, surely he would. He was a man, after all. And what she would be proposing was every man’s fantasy.
Her mouth still dried with what she was about to suggest.
‘For pity’s sake say something, Vivienne,’ Jack finally snapped. ‘You must know how much I detest indecision.’
‘I do too,’ she threw back at him. ‘So, yes, it’s way too soon for me to consider being any man’s girlfriend.’ Especially one who’s already admitted to being emotionally bankrupt, she thought, but didn’t say. ‘I’m not even keen on thinking of us as lovers. You and I both know that love has little to do with what we’ve been doing today. I’m not in love with you any more than you are with me. But there’s no denying I love having sex with you. More than I would ever have thought possible.’
Vivienne could not help but notice this last statement of hers didn’t go down too well. But Jack had claimed he liked honesty and she was only being honest.
‘I dare say you might be shocked by what I am about to suggest...’
‘I doubt anything you say now is going to shock me, Vivienne,’ he said very drily. ‘So suggest away.’
Vivienne buttoned up her blouse then took a deep breath before going on. ‘Firstly let me say I would very much like to do this job,’ she began, waving her hand up at the façade of Francesco’s Folly. ‘But, as you yourself said, it would be impossible for us to work together now without sleeping together. So, for the duration of this project, I would like to become your mistress.’
His head snapped back, his eyebrows arching at the same time. ‘I guess I was wrong. You have shocked me. So, exactly what kind of mistress did you have in mind? The kind who dresses in shiny black leather and carries a whip?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she retorted.
‘In that case, you must mean the kind I install in a flash apartment with all the bills paid, in exchange for which I get to do whatever I like to you whenever I like to do it.’
‘I’m not that kind of girl, either.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Jack said.
‘I just meant the kind of mistress who’s kept a secret. I don’t want anyone and everyone knowing that we’re sleeping together.’
‘Why not? It wouldn’t bother me if people knew.’
‘Well, it would bother me.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it would lead to questions from friends and family that I don’t want to answer.’ Not that she had much of either. But Jack did.
‘You’re worried they might think badly of you,’ he said. Quite intuitively, Vivienne thought.
She stood up. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said. Aside from how soon it was after Daryl, everyone she knew thought she didn’t like Jack. They’d wonder what had come over her. They’d probably think she’d lost it.
Jack frowned. ‘You wouldn’t have to worry about that if you became my girlfriend.’
‘But I don’t want to become your girlfriend, Jack,’ she said, feeling both irritated and frustrated with him. ‘I just want to have sex with you, okay?’
Once again Jack looked none too pleased with her. ‘Okay,’ he bit out. ‘Where?’
‘What do you mean, where?’
‘Just exactly that. Where are we going to do it? Not your place, I gather—or your good friend and neighbour Marion would twig, and then you’d have to answer those questions you don’t want to answer. So that leaves my place, or a hotel room.’
Jack was taken aback when Vivienne blushed. Lord, but she was full of contradictions. In truth, he didn’t know what to make of her today. Same as himself; why wasn’t he happy with her mistress idea? Why was he trying to needle her? Nothing made sense to him any more. No, he knew exactly what was bugging him: his ego had been dented. His considerable ego.
Get a grip, Jack, he lectured himself sternly. You’re onto a good wicket here. If you don’t stuff it up, that is. Think of the positives: all the sex you want with none of the complications. No clinging. No commitment. No having to say you love her. Exactly what the doctor ordered. So put aside your emotions and take a more pragmatic approach to Vivienne’s offer which, if you think about it sensibly, was really rather exciting.
‘Obviously that idea doesn’t appeal,’ he said, trying hard not to sound sarcastic. ‘Maybe you should rethink the idea about my getting you that flash apartment. I can afford it and it would solve the “where?” problem.’
As much as Vivienne was tempted to say yes—it would solve the ‘where?’ problem—she could see that such an arrangement went against her highly independent nature. Not to mention her conscience. She didn’t want to feel Jack was paying her to have sex with him.
‘Like I said, Jack, I’m not that sort of girl. Look, I have an alternative suggestion which I think would work well for both of us.’
Jack smothered the sigh which threatened to escape his lungs.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Fire away.’
‘THAT’S THE BEST news you could have told me,’ Marion said.
They were sitting having morning tea in Vivienne’s kitchen, Marion having dropped in to see how things had gone with Jack the previous day. Naturally Vivienne hadn’t told Marion the whole rather shocking truth, just that she had accepted Jack’s offer to redesign the interior of Francesco’s Folly, as well as her plan to live at the place whilst the job was being done. Though that wouldn’t be happening until contracts were exchanged in a couple of weeks.
Jack had seemed somewhat at odds with her live-in idea at first, until she’d pointed out that he could come visit her there every weekend, leaving him free during the week to concentrate on work. She’d boldly stated that she would be worth the wait, promising to be at his sexual beck and call for those two days. By the time Jack had dropped her back at her place late last night, he’d warmed to the idea, especially after having tested out what she meant by being at his sexual beck and call...
Vivienne, by then on the other hand, had been bombarded by a host of second thoughts. But she didn’t voice them out loud, her sated body not having had second thoughts at all. She’d slept like a log last night and had woken feeling marvellous, any lingering qualms easily pushed aside.
Already she was looking forward to seeing Jack again tonight. He’d promised to take her somewhere discreet, although he’d argued that their having dinner together could easily be explained away as a business dinner. She was, after all, going to be working for him.
And under him. And on top of him, he’d added wickedly.
Vivienne struggled to contain the heat which flooded her veins at the memory of all Jack had demanded of her yesterday. Positions which she supposed weren’t all that shocking, but which she’d never experienced before, let alone enjoyed. She was well aware of the woman being on top, but had never thought of it being done with the woman’s back to her lover. But, oh...she’d loved it that way. Loved riding him with her hands clasped around the rungs of the brass bed-end.