Her face flamed with colour. ‘Oh! I—I forgot.’
He grimaced. ‘I haven’t, I can assure you of that.’
She hung her head. ‘I’m really sorry I scratched you.’
‘You can’t be any more sorry than I am,’ he swung out of the car to come round and open her door for her. ‘Come on.’
‘I—I’d rather wait here for you,’ she refused nervously. ‘And the reason I scratched you was that you were hurting me.’
‘I meant to hurt you,’ he told her grimly, not giving her chance to make any more refusals but pulling her unceremoniously out of the car and locking the door firmly behind her. ‘And I’ll hurt you again if you don’t stop acting like an hysterical idiot. I could be some time getting out of this shirt and I have no intention of leaving you down here while I do it.’ He quirked an eyebrow. ‘You may decide to run away.’
Lauri trailed along behind him as
they walked the short distance to the lift, standing apart from him as it swished up the building. ‘What would be the point of running away?’ she said hollowly.
‘True,’ he drawled. ‘I’d just come after you.’ He waited for her to precede him out of the lift, moving to one of the only two doors on this floor and throwing open the door with a flourish. ‘In you go.’ He didn’t wait for her to comply but pushed her inside.
The apartment was very much as she had imagined it to be, very modern, very luxurious, but lacking warmth, as was its occupier. Everywhere she looked was the stamp of wealth and good taste, and yet it lacked atmosphere, lacked that fundamental feeling that told you it was a home. It looked like one of the show-houses she often admired in magazines but knew she could never live in.
Alex watched the play of emotions across her face, a mocking twist to his lips. ‘You don’t like it,’ he stated.
‘I—It—No,’ she answered truthfully. ‘No, I don’t like it at all,’ she confirmed.
‘I knew you wouldn’t,’ he said with a shrug, throwing his car keys on the side-table. ‘Make yourself at home,’ he added tauntingly. ‘I shouldn’t be long.’ He disappeared through one of the many doors leading off this, the main room, into a room she presumed was his bedroom.
Lauri couldn’t make herself at home and he knew it, knew this wasn’t the sort of place she could ever feel comfortable in. Consequently she was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room when Alex came back out of the bedroom several minutes later. Her eyes widened as she took in his naked torso, the skin tanned a deep brown, four livid red scratch marks running from his throat almost to his waist. Lauri felt sick. Had she really inflicted those nasty-looking wounds?
Alex came to stand in front of her. ‘Here,’ he handed her a tube of antiseptic, ‘I’m sure you’ll do a better job of it than I would.’
‘Yes, but I—’ How could she tell him she daren’t touch him, daren’t because she was afraid of her reaction to him. She thrust the antiseptic back at him. ‘I’d rather not.’
‘Scared?’ he taunted softly.
‘Certainly not!’ She grabbed the tube out of his hand. ‘I was just afraid of hurting you. This could sting.’
‘I doubt it could hurt more than when you did it. Go on, Lauren, I’ll be a brave boy,’ he mocked.
He wasn’t a boy at all, that was the trouble! His chest and arms were firmly muscled, all the more noticeable as he stood hands on his waist. A fine sheen of dark hair covered his chest, curled slightly against his tanned skin. Lauri’s hand shook as she applied the cream, her head bent as she concentrated determinedly on the task.
His skin felt smooth to the touch, the four jagged scratches marring the male beauty of him. She bit her lip, her concentration almost nil, her breathing ragged. She had to move away from him, had to escape the magnetism of the sensual aura he was emitting.
‘Finished,’ she said huskily, her head still bent.
‘No, I don’t think you have,’ he contradicted softly.
Her eyes flew open. ‘But I have, you can see I have.’
‘No,’ he shook his head, taking the antiseptic out of her hand and throwing it on the table next to his car keys. ‘There’s one place you missed with your healing touch.’
Lauri frowned. ‘But I’m sure I—’
‘It’s right here, Lauren,’ he pulled her against him. ‘Right here,’ he repeated throatily, his mouth claiming and parting hers.
‘My dress!’ She wrenched away from him, looking down at the way the cream had stained the soft white material. ‘Look what you’ve done!’ she gasped.
Alex pulled her back against him, his mouth caressing her throat and bare shoulders. ‘It doesn’t matter, you’ll be taking it off in a minute.’
‘I—?’ Lauri pushed even harder against his restraining arms. ‘I most certainly will not!’