The Burlington Manor Affair

How did he know that she loved his teasing, though? And why did he remember so much? Bristling at the intimacy—at the direct references to the pull between them as teens—Carmen shook her head. “Dictating what I wear isn’t pushing me around?”

Rex shrugged. “It was meant as a gift, that’s all.”

Carmen met his stare as levelly as she could. His expression made her feel as if she was letting him down, a response that baffled her. I shouldn’t care if he’s disappointed in me. How the hell did he do it? That wasn’t what this was about. No, he was playing games, teasing her. He’d just got even more clever with it since they last spent time together.

“We came here to thrash out an agreement, didn’t we?” Just the way he said that was so suggestive.

Carmen braced herself. “I agreed to come

here and discuss it as adults.”

“You knew I had certain demands.” He lifted his eyebrows slightly. It was an almost imperceptible movement, but it inferred so much.

“I would prefer a monetary exchange. I stated my case already.”

“We’ll see.” Breaking eye contact, he turned and strolled away.

Carmen watched his broad shoulders as he headed to the door. He was devilishly handsome, even more so than he’d been as a younger man. The intervening years had given him a weathered, sharp look that suited him well. And his physique was breathtaking. The desire to see him naked thrust itself upon her out of nowhere, uninvited and unwelcome, yet fatally arousing.

He turned back at the doorway. “Wear the dress for me, Carmen. Call it a gesture of goodwill.”

Before she had a chance to respond he left her, but the instruction held her attention as surely as if he put his hand on her waist and commanded her.

“Damn you, Rex.” She paced to the bedside table and unlatched her watch, flinging it down there as if she could unburden herself of this age-old desire for him just as easily.

Attempting to get her thoughts on the right path she paced up and down, reasoning with herself. She was here as a businesswoman in order to negotiate a monetary exchange for property. She willed herself to focus on that. It seemed futile, though, what with Rex stalking about as if he owned the place outright—and her included. Then there was the fact she was here in the wildly romantic room where she used to conjure images of him to satisfy her teenage lust.

Returning to the bedside, she plonked herself down on it and gave a resigned sigh. Everything was the same. She turned to look at the wall behind the headboard. Even though she’d dismissed him from her dreams, all through the intervening years she’d been plagued by an image, a remembrance. It was her hand against that wall—her hand, reaching for Rex.

She’d gone to bed that way often when they were younger and Rex was at Burlington Manor. When he was home from university and he’d retired to his room she was next door. Their private spaces were only inches apart. Strung out by his presence—so close, so solid, yet so unobtainable—she knelt on her bed, closing on the wall, imagining it was him she was touching as she laid her fingers on the surface.

It was more than a wall. It represented an unremitting barrier between her and the man who filled her thoughts. Yet the surface of the wall received her touches and her kisses, and it witnessed her lying back on her bed with her legs open, masturbating while she thought of him on the other side of that barrier. Watch me, her brazen teen self had demanded as she strummed herself to orgasm. Watch me and want me.

Carmen didn’t want to think that way now. She was too cautious, too wounded, to beg for what she wanted. But she still wanted him all the same.

“Stupid woman,” she whispered to herself.

She glared at the wall, thought of the man whose room was on the other side of it and vowed not to let herself fall under his spell. He could have any woman he wanted. She didn’t want to be part of Rex Carruthers’s vast casualty list. A trail of broken hearts lay in his wake. She was not going to be one of them.

CHAPTER THREE

CARMEN DARTED DOWN the service staircase and headed out to see the grounds and clear her head. The walk, a refreshing shower and a change of clothes helped her feel more fortified for the onward negotiations. As she headed to the dining room she reminded herself this was a business venture and should be handled just like a meeting to negotiate terms, something she might undertake on a normal weekday.

When she entered the dining room Rex was already present and engaged in conversation with Mrs. Amery, who was standing by. He wore an open-neck white shirt and black trousers, and looked casual and dishy and seemingly perfectly relaxed as he lounged back in his chair at the head of the table—the captain’s seat, the place where his father had always sat. It hadn’t taken him long to assume that position, which annoyed her.

As soon as she entered the room, however, his eyes lit. His gaze covered her and he nodded approvingly when she saw that she’d followed his suggestion and worn the dress.

Self-conscious, Carmen’s fingers went to the elegant ruff, a small stand-up collar at the back of her neck. The dress was a beautiful design, a clingy halter neck that was simply cinched at the waist. The skirt was scalloped above the knees at the front, and slightly below at the back. It fitted perfectly.

Rex stood up, skirted the table and pulled out her chair, his moves subtly charming. “Beautiful. The dress becomes you.”

All of this conspired to make her feel churlish about her initial resistance to the offering.

“Miss Carmen.” Mrs. Amery nodded. “Leanne is going to bring dinner in. Her duties are in housekeeping, but she’s very eager to meet you so I said she could stay on.”

“That’s lovely, thank you.” Carmen moved slowly toward the offered seat. Even as she tried to speak normally to the housekeeper, she was aware of Rex’s presence and the persuasive touch of his hand on her forearm as she sat down.

When she took the seat he strode over to an ice bucket that was set on the side table and lifted up the bottle of champagne that was chilling there. Carmen noticed that he strolled about with ease, as if he’d never been away, and yet he’d been away from the house many years more than she had.