Once her family found out they were seeing each other, there would be pressure from them to take things to the next level. There would be pressure from the public because everyone loved a celebrity romance. The press had already taken an avid interest in Julius’s engagement to Holly. What would they do with the news of Leandro and Miranda’s involvement?
‘Miranda...’ He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. ‘I know I’ve said this before, but you do realise we can’t continue this when we go back home, don’t you?’
She didn’t quite meet his gaze. ‘Are you worried what Julius and Jake will say?’
Leandro raised her chin so her eyes met his. ‘It’s not about what your brothers think. It’s about me. About what I can and can’t give.’
‘But you’d make a wonderful partner,’ she said with an earnest expression. ‘I know you would. You’re so caring and kind and considerate. How can you think you wouldn’t be happy in a long-term relationship?’
‘But you don’t want a long-term relationship,’ he said, watching her closely.
Her eyes went back to his chin as if that was the most fascinating part of his anatomy. ‘I wasn’t talking about me per se... It’s just I think you’d be a great person for someone to spend the rest of their life with. To have a family with and stuff.’
He let out a heavy sigh. ‘It’s not what I want.’
She pressed her lips together for a beat or two of silence. ‘I suppose you think I’ve fallen madly in love with you.’
‘Have you?’
Her eyes still didn’t quite make the full distance to his. ‘That would be rather fickle of me, given this time last week I was in love with Mark.’
Leandro brushed her cheek with his fingertip. ‘You’re twenty-three—still a baby. You’ll fall in love with dozens of men before you settle down.’ The thought of her with someone else made his chest ache. What if they didn’t treat her right? She was an incredibly sensitive person. She could so easily be taken advantage of. She was always over-adapting to accommodate other people’s needs and expectations. Even the fact that she’d settled for his ‘thing’ with her was evidence of how easily she could be exploited.
Not that he was exploiting her...or was he? He had been as honest as he could be. He hadn’t given her any promises he couldn’t keep. She had accepted the terms and yet... How could he know for sure what she had invested in their relationship? She acted like a woman in love, but then anyone looking in from the outside would think he was madly in love with her. Being physically intimate with someone blurred the boundaries. Was it lust or love that motivated her to be with him?
How could he tell the difference?
His own feelings he left in the file inside his head labelled ‘Do Not Open’. It served no purpose to think about the feelings he had for Miranda. He would have to let her go. He couldn’t hold her to him indefinitely. Over the years he had taught himself not to think of the things he wanted—the things most people wanted. He had almost convinced himself he was happy living the single-and-loving-it life. Almost.
Miranda slipped off the desk and smoothed her hands down her jeans. ‘I should leave you to get on with your work...’
Leandro captured her hand and brought her close to his body, watching as her pupils flared as his head came down. ‘Work can wait,’ he said and pressed his mouth to hers.
Desire rose hot and strong in him as her mouth flowered open beneath his. He stroked his tongue against hers, a shudder of pleasure rocketing through him when her tongue came back at him in shy little darts and dives. He spread his hands through her hair, cupping her head so he could deepen the kiss, savouring the sweet, hot passion of her.
Her small dainty frame was pressed tightly against him, her mouth clamped to his as her fingers stroked through his hair. Her touch sent hot wires of need through his body. The slightest movement of her fingers made the blood surge in his veins.
He wondered if he would ever forget her touch. He wondered if he would ever forget her taste. Or the way she felt in his arms, like she belonged there and nowhere else. He wondered how he would be able to make love to someone else without making comparisons. Right now he couldn’t envisage ever making love to anyone else. How could someone else’s touch make his flesh tingle all over? How could someone else’s kiss stoke a fire so consuming inside him he felt it in every cell of his body?
‘Make love to me here,’ Miranda said, whisper-soft, against his mouth.
Leandro didn’t need a second invitation. He was fighting for control as it was. Every office fantasy he had ever had was coming to life in his arms. Miranda was working her way down his body, her hands shaping him through the fabric of his jeans, then unzipping him and going in search of him. The smooth, cool grasp of her fingers around his swollen heat made him stifle an animalistic groan. She read his body like a secret code-breaker, stroking him, caressing him, taking him to the brink, before pulling back so he could snatch in another breath. ‘Let’s even this up a bit,’ he said and started on her clothes.