‘What makes you think I’m solving a problem?’
Her eyes flickered to the bottle. ‘If you’re not solving a problem, why are you drinking?’
‘Actually, I’m not drinking.’
But she still wasn’t listening. ‘I don’t know what you’re searching for but you won’t find it in the bottom of a whisky bottle.’
He gave a cynical smile. ‘My father did.’
‘You’re not your father, Conner.’ She spoke quietly. ‘Which is why I’m standing here now.’ She let the coat slip from her shoulders and underneath she was naked apart from the skimpiest, sexiest underwear he’d ever seen. ‘You think I’m a good girl, Conner? You think you’re not allowed to touch me?’
The glass slipped from his hand and the whisky spilled over the floor. Conner didn’t notice because every neurone in his brain had fused.
Her body was all smooth lines and delicate curves, her legs impossibly long and her small breasts pressing against the filmy lace of her bra.
He stared at her in tense silence. ‘I didn’t think I’d drunk anything,’ he muttered to himself in a hoarse voice, ‘but perhaps I’m wrong about that. For a moment there I thought Flora Harris was standing in front of me in her underwear.’
She made an exasperated sound and removed the bottle from his hand. ‘You’ve had enough.’ Her subtle, floral perfume drifted towards him and he leaned his head back against the sofa with a groan.
‘Believe me, I haven’t had enough. I haven’t even started. But if I’m still imagining Flora naked, perhaps it’s time I did. I need the image to fade to black.’
‘It won’t fade because it’s real. I’m real. Oh, for goodness’ sake, Conner, I came here to seduce you and you’re—you’re…’ She sighed with frustration and put the bottle on the floor, spilling some of the contents in the process. ‘Why did you open a bottle of whisky?’
‘Because of you.’
‘Me? I’m the reason you’re drunk?’
‘I’m not drunk. But for a brief moment it seemed like a good idea. I thought it might take my mind off ravishing you,’ he mumbled, and she made a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a giggle.
‘Why do you need to do that? I want you to ravish me. I’m desperate for you to ravish me.’
He squinted up at her. ‘Am I dreaming?’
‘No, you’re not dreaming!’ She gave a sigh and shook her head. ‘You’re going to take a cold shower and while you’re doing that I’m going to make you a jug of very strong coffee.’
Conner rubbed his eyes with the tips of his fingers and shook his head. ‘You don’t need to do that. And coffee stops me sleeping.’
‘Good.’ She sounded more exasperated than ever. ‘I don’t want you sleeping. I want you awake when I seduce you. I’ve spent most of my life listening to other women telling me what an amazing lover you are, and just when I’m about to find out what all the fuss is about, you pass out on me.’
‘I’m not going to pass out.’
‘Get in that shower, Conner MacNeil, or I swear I’ll throw a bucket of freezing water over you right here!’
He ran a tongue over his lips. ‘You look like Flora but you’re not acting like Flora. Flora never swears. She’s a really sweet girl.’
‘Sweet? I’ll show you sweet.’ She grabbed his arm and yanked. ‘Stand up! You’re too heavy for me to pull you.’
He wondered if she’d be as confident if she knew he was as sober as she was.
Aware that his body was betraying his emotions in the most visible way possible, Conner stood up a
nd gave a wry smile. ‘I spilt half the bottle over myself when you walked through the door, so a shower might be a good idea. A freezing one, to kill my libido.’
‘I don’t want you to kill your libido.’ Her voice was sultry and she pulled him against her and stood on tiptoe. ‘Kiss me, Conner. And then go and take that shower. I want you sober enough to remember this. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow and have you mouthing all sorts of excuses about being too drunk to know what you were doing.’
He knew exactly what he was doing and it felt incredible.
He groaned as he felt her silky smooth body pressing against his. He just couldn’t help himself and he brought his mouth down on hers, stars exploding in his head as her tongue met his. ‘You taste fantastic.’