turning to face the person behind them. He was certain it was Caruthers. He also gave himself time to get his raging hard-on under control. Not that it seemed to be responding with any speed.
* * *
Miller looked up at Valentino and was aghast to realise that she had become so completely lost in his kiss that she had quite forgotten they were in a public place.
Never before had she been kissed like that, and heat filled her cheeks at the realisation that she wouldn’t have stopped if Dexter hadn’t turned up. That she would have had sex with Valentino in the middle of a garden like some dumb groupie.
Not wanting to dwell on how that made her feel, Miller shoved the thought away before lurching backwards.
‘Dexter...’ she began, trying to organise her thoughts on the hop. She was almost glad when Valentino took over.
‘You wanted something, Caruthers?’
Miller closed her eyes at Valentino’s rough question and wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
‘I came to let Miller know that TJ has opened champagne in the music room. As we’re here in a professional capacity to win the man’s business, it might be prudent for her to join us.’
Miller smoothed her eyebrows and stepped out from behind Valentino, determined that Dexter wouldn’t see how mortified she felt right now. ‘Of course.’ She forced herself not to defend her actions, even though she desperately wanted to.
‘Good. I’ll leave you to pull yourself together,’ Dexter said stiffly.
He was clearly upset with her, and he had good reason to be, Miller thought. She was here in a professional capacity, and even if she and Valentino really were lovers it didn’t excuse her poor behaviour.
Although they had been secluded from the other guests, Dexter had found them—which meant anyone else could have.
A small voice informed her that Valentino had probably achieved his goal and put paid to Dexter’s suspicions about the genuineness of their relationship, but Miller wasn’t listening.
She wouldn’t have chosen to do it that way, and she was furious that Valentino hadn’t given her a choice. Furious that he had used his superior height and strength to hold her against him to prove a point. A point he had clearly enjoyed.
As did you. The snide voice popped up again, reminding her of how she had wrapped her tongue around his and tried to climb his body to assuage the ache that was still beating heavily between her thighs.
God, what a mess.
Valentino moved his arm in a gesture for her to precede him up the path and Miller determinedly made the same gesture back to him. He cocked an eyebrow at her, his eyes lingering on her mouth; his trademark sexy grin was more a warning than an indication of pleasantness.
Miller narrowed her eyes and thought about stomping on his foot as she strode past, but she decided not to give him the satisfaction of letting him know he had succeeded in rattling her again.
She knew he liked to take control but, dammit, this was not his show to orchestrate. She was in charge and it was time to set some clear boundaries between them. She’d dealt with alpha males in her line of work before, and she’d deal with this one too.
FEELING as if the past hour had taken a day to pass, Miller unfolded a woollen blanket and laid it on the bedroom floor.
‘What are you doing?’
She glanced up to find Valentino lounging against the bathroom doorway, watching her. His face was stony, but it only highlighted the chiselled jaw that was again in need of a razor. He wasn’t wearing anything other than his black jeans, unbuttoned, and his biceps bulged where he folded his hands across his superbly naked chest.
‘Problem with your shirt?’ she said, and could have kicked herself when his mouth curled into a knowing smile.
‘Only in as much as I don’t wear a shirt to bed.’
Miller raised an unconcerned eyebrow. ‘Lucky you wear jeans, then.’
‘I don’t.’
His eyebrow rose to match hers and she turned back to unfold a second blanket she’d picked up from the end of the bed. Flicking it out, she laid it on top of the first.
‘I repeat—what are you doing?’
‘Making up a bed. What does it look like?’
Valentino looked bored. ‘If you’re worried about whether or not I’m going to jump your bones now that we’re alone, I doubt I could get through that passion killer you’re wearing with a blowtorch.’
Miller stood up and moved to the wardrobe, where she had seen a group of pillows on the top shelf. She was glad that he didn’t like her quilt-style dressing gown. It had been a present from her late father, and although the stitching was frayed in places she’d never get rid of it.
Thinking about her father made her remember the day her parents had told her they were separating. She’d been ten at the time, and while they’d talked about it calmly and rationally Miller had felt sick and confused. Then her mother had driven her from Queensland to Victoria and Miller’s world had gone from cosy and safe to unpredictable and unhappy. A bit like the steely, coiled man feigning nonchalance in the bathroom doorway.
‘Or are you worried you won’t be able to keep your hands to yourself after that kiss?’ he asked.
Miller cast him a withering look and returned to the bed she was setting up on the floor. She wasn’t going to stroke his ego by responding to his provocative comments.
He’d felt her response to his kiss and it still rankled. Afterwards she’d pretended that she’d been acting for the sake of their audience, but she hadn’t been, and she needed time to process that.
In the space of a short time the solid foundations of her secure life had become decidedly rickety, and she wasn’t going to add to that by letting her plans for the future be derailed by a sexy-as-sin flamboyant racing car driver who treated life like a game. Because Miller knew life wasn’t a game, and when things went wrong you only had yourself to rely on.
It had been a tough lesson she had learned hard after being sent to an exclusive girls’ boarding school, where her opinion hadn’t meant half as much as her lack of money. Teenage girls could be cruel, but Miller hadn’t wanted to upset her mother by telling her she was having a terrible time at school. Her mother had needed to work two jobs in order to give Miller a better start in life than she’d had, so Miller had put up with the bullying and the loneliness and made sure not to give her mother any reason to be disappointed in her.
‘If you think I’m sleeping on that, Sunshine, you’re mistaken.’
Valentino’s arrogant assurance was astounding, and Miller stared open-mouthed as he crossed to the bed and placed his watch on the bedside table.
Fortunately she had already anticipated this problem and, she thought grumpily as she fluffed up her pillows, she hoped the bed had bugs in it.
‘Good to know. At least there won’t be any more arguments between us tonight.’
* * *
Tino smiled. He couldn’t help it. Which was surprising since he was still irritated as hell by that kiss out in the garden and the way he had become completely lost in it. Drunk on it.
He’d told himself all day to lay off the little fantasies he’d been having about her mouth, but had he listened? No.
And what was up with that? If he ignored his instincts on the track as he had out in that garden he’d have bought the farm a long time ago.
The problem was he had made her off-limits and