A Virgin for a Vow

A flicker of something passed through her gaze. ‘Ella showed me a photo of her once. Kimberley was really beautiful and slim, wasn’t she?’

‘I didn’t mean it that way.’ Luke mentally rolled his eyes. What was it with women and their weight? Abby had a beautiful body—a gorgeous, luscious body he was having trouble keeping his hands off. Sure, her body wasn’t stick-thin but he had always been annoyed by his ex’s obsession with being reed-slim. It had been one of the reasons he’d ended their relationship. One of the many reasons. He couldn’t face another meal out with Kimberley moving the food around her plate without eating a morsel. He’d found it cute how Abby had eaten his dessert tonight as well as her own.

‘I only have a couple of her things anyway,’ he said. ‘I’ve been meaning to give them to her family but never seem to get around to doing it.’

Abby gave him a thoughtful look. ‘Do you think it’s because you’re not ready to finally let go?’

Luke moved past her, undoing his bow tie as he went. ‘I’ll get you a toothbrush and show you which bathroom to use. Follow me.’

Abby followed him upstairs, where he opened the door to one of the spare rooms. It had a bathroom just down the corridor but she couldn’t help noticing it was the furthest bedroom from his. It was another slap down to her ego. Did he think she’d come crawling into his bed during the night and try and seduce him? Clearly she had some work to do in the seduction stakes. A lot of work.

‘Do you want something to sleep in? A shirt or something?’ he asked.

‘Don’t worry. I can sleep in my… Actually, I’m not wearing any underwear. I didn’t want any panty lines under my dress.’

Argh! Why did you tell him that?

His gaze flicked over her as if he were imagining her naked under her ball gown. But then he gave a rapid blink as if he was clearing his mental vision. ‘Right, well, then. I’ll leave you to get settled. Goodnight.’

Abby closed the door once he’d left and leant back against it with a sigh. Did he have to make it any clearer he didn’t want her? Most men would have jumped at the chance for a bit of no-strings sex.

What was wrong with her?

Was she so hideous Luke couldn’t stomach the thought of being intimate with her?

Or was it more about him than her? Was he still so hung up on the loss of his girlfriend he couldn’t bear the thought of making love with someone else?

But he’d said he hadn’t been in love with Kimberley. Why then would he remain celibate for so long?

Why was he still punishing himself?

CHAPTER FIVE

ABBY WAS SO tired she barely made it to the bed before her eyes closed. But during the night she woke with a start, wondering at first where she was. One of the legacies of her crazy childhood was a tendency to be a light sleeper. And all those years of sleeping at different foster homes made her jumpy whenever she woke in unfamiliar surroundings. She woke at the slightest sound, her heart racing, her legs feeling fizzy as the fight or flight reflex switched on.

She felt the mattress enveloping her like a hug and she breathed out a deep sigh of relaxation. At least it was the weekend tomorrow so she didn’t have to front up to work still dressed in her ball gown.

But then she heard the sound again.

She sat upright, cocking her head to try and identify the noise. Was she imagining things? Had it been a dream?

Abby lay back down, remonstrating with herself for being so pathetic. Luke’s house had top-notch security. Her fears of a masked intruder sneaking into her room were as likely as Luke himself coming in and saying he’d changed his mind about sleeping with her.

Not going to happen.

She closed her eyes again and tried to go back to sleep but her body felt twitchy and restless. And she was so thirsty her mouth felt like she’d been sucking on a stale gym sock. She threw off the covers and wrapped her naked body in the fluffy bath sheet towel she’d used earlier.

Abby tiptoed down the corridor but then she noticed a thin strip of light shining underneath Luke’s bedroom door. She paused by the door, tilting her head against it to listen. She heard a groan and then the sound of something being knocked over and hitting the floor with a muted thud. ‘Luke?’ She rapped her knuckles gently against the door. ‘Are you okay?’

There was the sound of a muttered curse and then footsteps padding across the carpet towards the door. The door opened and Luke looked down at her through squinted eyes, his features pinched and a ghastly shade of grey. He was wearing a pair of long grey cotton pyjama bottoms that were riding low on his trim hips. And, in spite of how unwell he looked, Abby had never seen anything so sexy.