The Burlington Manor Affair

Carmen was totally unable to respond. At her back the hard surface of the car was the only thing holding her up.

“Come on, why deny it now?” The lust in his eyes was tempered by humor. “I touched you like this before and you liked it then. It was in the conservatory. I haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Carmen’s eyelids fluttered down, but her attempt to deny the images that assailed her was futile. They were scored on her memory, relived many times. She’d been seventeen at the time and he was back from university in Oxford. He’d been flirting with her in the conservatory, where she used to hang out and read, and then out of the blue she found herself in his arms and they were kissing. Their lust unleashed was dangerous, moving like wild fire. In hungry, eager embraces they’d almost gone all the way. Thankfully a noise from the house had broken them up.

“I was young and easily led and I won’t be played with again—and certainly not on some ridiculous promise of ownership of the house.”

“I give you my word. In fact, I can have Chris make up a contract if you don’t trust me to deliver the goods after you have...served up your side of the bargain.”

Carmen was stunned. Even though she knew him—and she’d spent days trying to figure every possible outcome from this meeting—this eventuality had never figured in her thoughts. “The whole suggestion is outrageous. I don’t intend to humor you in any way.”

“Why? I’m only asking for two weeks of your time, for the manor. Outright.”

What surprised her more—that he claimed he still wanted her, or that he knew she wanted the house so much? She wasn’t sure. What she did know was that she despised him for putting her in this position, and even more than that she despised herself for considering the idea.

His hand on her breast felt good, though, and she hadn’t pushed him away, hadn’t been able to. That old sense of longing had risen up inside her, a simmering fire that she thought she had quashed long ago. She forced it back, refusing to let him take charge of her.

It wasn’t easy, but fury had its call on her, too. She turned her face away and stared at the lines of the windows and pillars of the building they had just left, taking strength from the symmetry of it as she struggled for reason. The house, she wanted the house.

“Give it some thought.” He brushed his thumb over her erect nipple one more time before removing his hand. “Come to the house this weekend, we’ll take it from there.”

Perhaps it would be good for her to spend time at the house with him, for closure. Perhaps it would kill off all those idiotic teenage fantasies she’d had once and for all.

Or joining him there could be the biggest mistake of my life.

“I’ll come to discuss the deal, but you can’t force me to sleep with you.”

He cocked his head to the side and smiled, apparently amused.

She shook her head, denying it, one hand covering her mouth in case she said the wrong thing.

“Two weeks of your company is all I ask. Then Burlington Manor is all yours.”

Carmen clung to what logical thought remained. It was hard to do so. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t just take two weeks away from my business to play house with you.”

“Weekends it is, then.” He stepped away and glanced at his watch, suddenly businesslike. “If you’re in agreement, make arrangements to be away from London for the next four weekends. Our time together will begin on Friday evening.”

His arrogance was infuriating. The fact it was also a massive turn-on angered her even more. How was it that he could push her buttons so easily? He was so self-assured, so knowing, while she clung to the side of the car, filled with torrid imaginings and confused thoughts and needs. Her blood pumped hard, her pulse wildly erratic. She glared at him, hating him for his power and for his ability to suggest such an outrageous bargain. “You bastard, you know I want the house, but that doesn’t mean you can just buy me.”

“Consider this, if you don’t agree...well, if you don’t agree we’ll have to share the house...forever.”

With that final comment he inclined his head and then strolled back up the steps into Montague’s office, leaving her standing there with one hand gripping the car to hold her up—her clothes awry, her body awash with heat, her heart thundering in her chest.

CHAPTER TWO

THE TICKET INSPECTOR returned Carmen’s ticket to her and glanced at his watch. “Less than five minutes until we arrive at Beldover. It’s the next stop.”

“Thank you.”

Carmen appreciated the notice even though she was very familiar with this journey. In fact, she’d taken the train from London Paddington to Beldover village once a year since she’d moved out of Burlington Manor, in order to visit her mother’s grave. She’d also traveled by train the week before, for the funeral. It was actually a relief to be going to Beldover without the prospect of standing by a graveside. It didn’t make the journey any easier, though. Carmen had misgivings aplenty about this particular trip.

Anxiously she focused on the Oxfordshire countryside. The wooded chalk hills of the Chilterns rolled away from the rail tracks in the September sunlight. The beauty of the landscape reminded her why she wanted to be here, even while she contemplated the high level of stupidity she was engaging in, entertaining Rex’s request to turn up at the time and place he’d suggested.

Even though she’d stated her case and said she was coming to Burlington Manor purely to discuss its future with Rex, the wild nature of his proposition was ever present. He’d had such a knowing smile, too, as if he was taking it for granted he’d won.

When she got away from Chris’s office and had time to think, she tried to reassure herself that he was just winding her up, trying to get a rise and managing to do so with very little effort indeed. Rex was a consummate seducer, an eternal game player and the quintessential bad boy. From what she’d heard, he was notorious for being a party animal during the Formula One racing circuit social calendar. He also left a string of broken hearts behind him. She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised when he came out with such an immoral suggestion. He probably did it all the time, and some women might love it.

As if he could buy her, though, physically. Carmen frowned. What possessed him to think he could treat her that way? She was a mature businesswoman now.