Millionaire's Woman

‘Oh, I see.’ He took a bite of steak and chewed it slowly, swallowing before he said lazily, ‘I thought it was because you saw me in the shower.’

She stared at him, utterly bereft of words.

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bsp; ‘I didn’t mind,’ he added calmly, reaching for a slice of toast and spooning some scrambled egg on it. ‘In fact, I think I rather enjoyed it. Of course I’d have preferred you to stay, but by the time I came into the bedroom, you’d vanished.’

He knew. She prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her, or at least for her to be able to think of something to say rather than sitting staring at him with her mouth open like a stranded fish.

Eventually she managed to croak, ‘It’s not what you think.’

‘I don’t think anything.’ The blue eyes held hers and they were glittering with suppressed laughter. ‘This is an excellent steak, by the way. You’ve cooked it just how I like it.’

Blow the steak. Cory swallowed. ‘I thought I’d give you a cup of tea in bed as you’d brought me one yesterday,’ she said stiffly. ‘As I was leaving, the door was ajar and I just happened…’

‘Ah, I thought that might be the case.’

She stared at him. ‘You didn’t actually see me then?’

‘Of course not.’ He smiled serenely. ‘Do you think I wouldn’t have pulled you in there with me if I’d seen you?’

‘Then how…?’

‘The two cups of tea were something of a give-away.’ He was positively smug. ‘I just put two and two together.’

Cory called him a name which nice, well brought up ladies didn’t say—not often, anyway.

‘What’s the matter?’ He looked at her with an injured expression. ‘It was me in the nude, not you.’

‘I know that,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘So why are you the one complaining?’

‘I’m not complaining,’ she said icily, her voice in stark contrast to her cheeks, which felt as though they were melting. ‘I just don’t like being tricked, that’s all.’

‘But if I hadn’t got it out of you you’d have been suffering a guilty conscience all day,’ he said with insufferable complacency. ‘This way we’ve cleared the air and everything is back to normal.’ He took another bite of toast as he added, ‘Did you like what you saw, by the way?’

She glared at him.

‘OK, end of discussion.’ He smiled, reaching out and stroking one hot cheek as he said, ‘I love it that you can blush. It’s a lost art, you know. Most women are so hardboiled these days nothing bothers them.’

Most women wouldn’t run like startled rabbits if they saw a man in the nude. She took a swallow of juice because it was easier than having to think of something to say.

‘You were a great hit last night, by the way.’ He smiled over the top of his coffee cup. ‘My sisters are crazy about you.’

‘What about your mother?’ It was out before she could stop it, and something in the tone of her voice must have alerted him that all was not well.

‘Mum, too.’ The piercing blue gaze homed in on her.

‘Good.’ It was flat.

‘Really.’ He reached out and took her hand, lifting it to his lips in one of the little endearing gestures she found so special. ‘My mother likes you; you must have sensed that?’

She nodded. ‘I like her too.’

‘What is it?’ His voice was quiet, all amusement gone. ‘Was something said I don’t know about?’

She couldn’t let Jenny down. She forced a smile to her face. ‘Don’t mind me,’ she said quickly. ‘Just feeling insecure being the new kid on the block, I guess.’