We’ve had every name beginning from A to Z; Annie’s had too much time to think.’
‘Poor Annie. The last few months have been difficult for her.’
‘Poor Jeff. This weepy thing women go through in pregnancy has thrown him for six. He can cope with concepts that blow the normal human mind and technology that would have floored Einstein as easy as pie, but Annie crying sends him into a spin.’
‘That’s because he loves her,’ Toni said quietly.
‘Yes, he does.’ Steel gave a crooked smile. ‘He loves her very much.’
There was someone. She knew it. Toni took a gulp of her coffee and scalded the back of her throat. He was so different today, so not the Steel of office hours. And this was the man all his girlfriends saw; someone infinitely more devastating than even the powerful, ruthless tycoon she had become accustomed to. No wonder his women became obsessed with keeping him, as the unfortunate Barbara had done. How would you get over someone like Steel? Or perhaps you never did.
Suddenly she felt she was in one of those dreams where she knew it was imperative to escape the unseen threat bearing down on her but only to find her legs were like lead and she was unable to run. She blinked, taking a deep breath, and the panic receded, leaving her slightly shaky.
‘More coffee?’ Steel said softly. ‘Or a brandy?’
‘No. No, thanks.’ She met his eyes, hers veiled. ‘I really do need to get back to the office, Steel. There are several things I have to deal with today.’
He nodded, standing up and reaching for her coat on the back of her chair. As he helped her into it she was conscious of a feeling of disappointment at his easy capitulation and chided herself for her inconsistency. She really had to pull herself together, she told herself with uncomfortable truth. She was acting like a naive schoolgirl rather than a mature woman with two small children.
It was bitterly cold outside; the frost had barely dissipated at all and where the sun hadn’t reached the ground it was as slippy as walking on glass. As her feet slid from under her Steel’s arms shot out and caught her before she could fall, the momentum bringing her hard against his chest.
She wanted him to kiss her more than she had ever wanted anything in her life. The knowledge was there as she stared wordlessly up at him, and then he bent his head and fulfilled the longing that had burnt her up for six long months. He kissed her thoroughly and with an enjoyment he made no effort to hide.
His lips were cool and firm and tasted of the mints the waitress had brought with their coffee, and when his tongue swept inside the sweet honey of her mouth her senses went haywire. He withdrew after a few moments, only to begin the invasion anew and this time his head tilted to give his searching mouth full access. The kiss was everything she remembered and more.
Toni found herself arching towards him with a wantonness that would have horrified her only minutes before. Her lips moved instinctively, trying to deepen a kiss that was already immeasurable, and she clung onto him as though she were drowning.
One of his hands moved at the back of her neck and the next moment her hair was loose, cascading about her face as he threaded his fingers through it, supporting her head as he continued to explore her. His other arm was round her waist and she was moulded into the bulk of him, gloriously close.
She didn’t think about anything but the feel and taste of him; he’d obliterated the past and future and the present was purely sensation. She was conscious of thinking that she didn’t want the kiss to end, that she wanted to stay like this for ever, wrapped in his arms in the frosty air.
But, of course, it had to end. He raised his head slowly but didn’t let go of her, wrapping his open overcoat round her so she was enfolded even more closely into him. ‘Wow,’ he breathed softly.
Her thoughts exactly. She blushed, still lost in the grip of sensual desire, but as the door to the pub opened and she heard voices she pulled slightly away, suddenly shy.
Steel smiled, putting his arm around her and keeping it there as they walked to the car. They didn’t say a word, but once inside the Aston Martin’s leather-clad interior he turned toward her and kissed her again, a light kiss, brushing her lips with his own. ‘I’ve waited six months to taste you again. I’m not going to wait another six months,’ he growled huskily. ‘In fact six minutes would be pushing it.’
‘Steel, this isn’t right.’ Somehow she found her voice. ‘I can’t do this.’
‘Yes, you can.’ He refused to accept her self-denial. ‘Look how easy it is.’ The third kiss was scorching, as he’d meant it to be, and she felt the impact right down to her toes.
Feeling trapped—whether by him or the strength of her reaction to him, Toni wasn’t sure—she struggled away from him, leaning against the passenger door as she gasped, ‘You don’t understand.’
‘Oh, I do, Toni. I do. Believe me, if I didn’t understand I wouldn’t have waited six months. But no more. You can’t deny there’s something between us. I don’t know if you’re ready to hear this now, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I want you. You turn me on with your velvet-soft eyes and silky skin and gentle ways; in fact you send me crazy.’
She stared at him, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. This couldn’t be her he was talking about.
‘I want to make love to you; I spend most of the day thinking about it and then when I go to sleep it’s worse. The things we indu
lge in at night, Toni …’ He leant slightly closer, not touching her with any part of himself yet enveloping her in his body warmth. ‘It’s driven me insane playing the boss when I want to be much, much more to you.’
‘I’m—I’m not what you want,’ she whispered.
Steel expelled a quiet breath. ‘Yes, you are.’ He reached out and touched her lips with his finger. ‘From the moment I set eyes on you, in fact.’
‘That’s—that’s just lust, sexual attraction.’ She let her hair fall forward, hiding her expression. ‘You didn’t even know me then.’
‘But I know you now. I know so much about you now, and you know plenty about me too. What have the last six months meant to you, Toni? All those chats late at night when everyone else has gone? Did you look forward to them? Enjoy finding out little things about me?’