She twisted lightly away from him, her hands resting briefly on his chest as she steadied herself before taking a step back. ‘Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen,’ she muttered uncomfortably.
His gaze was quizzical in the moonlight. ‘Are you sorry that it did?’
No, Luccy wasn’t sorry. Sorry didn’t even begin to describe the emotions this man aroused in her! The truth of the matter was Luccy could never remember feeling such an overwhelming desire to lose herself to the moment. To forget who and what she was and just enjoy the here and now.
It was a realisation that terrified the life out of her!
‘Perhaps we should go back inside; I’ll finish my brandy and then leave,’ she suggested, her heart pounding so loudly in her ears she was sure he must be aware of it too.
Sin looked at her searchingly. His desire for her earlier this evening had been instant, immediate, and, now that he had actually kissed her, held her, his body ached for more. He was pretty damned sure, from her response as he’d kissed her, that Luccy felt the same need too.
‘Could we at least go back inside?’ she prompted again at his continued silence. ‘It’s getting a little cold out here, don’t you think?’ As if to prove her point she shivered a little as she wrapped her arms about the slenderness of her waist.
Sin studied her for several long seconds, aware that Luccy’s smile seemed slightly forced, and that her deep blue gaze no longer quite met his.
Not surprising really when she had already fended off the unwanted attentions of one man this evening!
Luccy was right to try and slow things down between them, Sin acknowledged frowningly. And now that they had introduced themselves, there was no reason why he couldn’t invite her out to dinner tomorrow.
‘Sin?’ she pressed lightly.
‘Of course we can go back inside, if that’s what you want,’ Sin acquiesced warmly.
‘It is.’
‘Are you okay?’ Sin asked.
Her smile was definitely strained. ‘Fine,’ she said.
Sin bent to pick up his jacket before following her inside, knowing that, before she left, he needed to do his utmost to persuade Luccy to see him again…
CHAPTER TWO
‘SO, LUCCY,’ Sin murmured softly as he replenished their brandy glasses and set one of them down on the coffee table in front of where she had sat down on one of the sofas, choosing not to sit down himself yet; he couldn’t think straight when he was too close to her! ‘Why don’t we relax and you can tell me a little about yourself?’ he invited.
She looked back at him beneath lowered—guarded?—lashes. ‘There really isn’t anything interesting to tell,’ she claimed.
Sin’s mouth quirked. ‘I somehow doubt that very much,’ he contradicted.
She straightened, her breasts thrusting forward as she moved one of her hands and lifted the heavy weight of her hair back over her shoulder, once again drawing Sin’s appreciative gaze to the bare expanse of her throat and the swell of those creamy breasts against the red silk.
‘You first,’ she said.
He shrugged wide shoulders. ‘Like you, there isn’t anything of interest to tell.’
She gave a rueful smile. ‘And, like you, I doubt that very much!’
Sin smiled appreciatively at how neatly she had turned the conversation back onto him. ‘Well, I’m obviously American. As were my parents. And their parents before them,’ he added dryly.
She nodded. ‘Are you an only child, or do you have siblings?’
‘Only child. Only grandson, too,’ he expanded as he found himself drawn into sitting beside her on the sofa despite his previous decision not to do so.
‘Wow.’ She grimaced. ‘So, no pressure, then?’
Sin smiled in spite of himself. ‘As you say, no pressure,’ he drawled even as he reached out to pick up a tendril of her long blue-black hair, loving the silky feel of it as he curled it around one of his fingers.
He breathed in the heady scent of her perfume, his senses already aroused by her exotic beauty and the kiss they had shared on the terrace. He knew he should have resisted getting too close to her again so soon after that kiss…
‘What brings you to London, Luccy?’ he asked in an attempt to clear his mind of passionate thoughts.
‘Like you, business,’ she said.
Sin nodded. ‘And what work do you do?’
She hesitated before answering. Sin was patently not going to tell her much about himself; despite the attraction between them, he obviously wasn’t interested in having a close relationship with her. So perhaps it would be better to limit the amount of information she gave him about herself. ‘I—why don’t you try and guess?’ she suggested lightly.
Sin smiled derisively. ‘I’m not really into guessing games.’
She regarded him quizzically. ‘Oh, come on, it could be fun.’
‘Okay.’ Sin couldn’t resist her mischievous expression. ‘A model, perhaps?’
She laughed softly. ‘Don’t they have to be tall and willowy?’
This woman might not be tall enough to be a model, Sin acknowledged, but she was certainly stunningly beautiful enough to be one.
He relaxed back against the sofa. ‘So not a model, then?’
‘No.’ She smiled.
Sin shook his head. ‘I somehow can’t see you in an office.’
Luccy frowned. ‘Why not?’
He raised a mocking eyebrow. ‘If I had a secretary that looked like you I would never get any work done!’
‘Isn’t it a little chauvinistic of you to assume a woman has to be a secretary if she works in an office?’ she teased.
Sin gave a self-deprecating grimace. ‘Hmm, you have a point.’
Luccy’s earlier tension started to leave her as she realised she was quite enjoying this teasing conversation.
He shrugged. ‘Okay, so you work in an office…’
‘Actually, no, I don’t.’
He frowned. ‘Is it always this difficult to get a straight answer from you?’
Not usually, no, Luccy acknowledged ruefully. But she was loath to confide too much about herself. As well as her earlier concerns on a personal level, she doubted the management of PAN Cosmetics would appreciate it if the incident between herself and Paul Bridger ever became public knowledge. Jacob Sinclair, the owner of Sinclair Industries, was very strict concerning his policy of no bad publicity. So much so that it was actually written into employees’ contracts, including the one Luccy had signed with PAN Cosmetics the previous year.
Usually Luccy was completely professional when it came to her work—it really wasn’t her fault that men like Paul Bridger couldn’t behave in the same way!
And the situation she now found herself in? What woman in her right mind would manage to extricate herself from one potentially dangerous situation only to land herself in another one that could prove equally disastrous? In fact, more so, because Luccy hadn’t been attracted to Paul Bridger, whereas she was definitely attracted to Sin.
As that kiss outside on the terrace had proved…
‘Why are you so interested?’ She frowned at Sin’s persistence.
‘Because everything about you interests me,’ he drawled huskily.