Pregnancy of Revenge(23)

Charlie didn't go sightseeing; instead she hit the shops, and blew her clothes allowance for the next year because she wanted to look good for Jake. When she returned slightly after six, he was waiting.

'Typical woman: late and couldn't resist shopping,' he said mockingly as she walked in with a handful of carriers.

'But not from the hotel's overpriced boutique, and paid for by me,' she mocked back.

Without a single word of warning strong hands curved under her arms and hauled her hard against a taut male body, a dark head descended and she was kissed senseless. The carriers fell unnoticed to the ground as she linked her arms around his neck. A few hours later they called room service.

And so it continued for the next few days. Pressure of business meant Jake never accompanied her during the day as she roamed around London, visiting all the places of interest that appealed to her, but she didn't mind because she knew she would see him later. But the nights in the privacy of the suite were the best. He had only to look at her in a certain way, and her whole body heated in instant response.





CHAPTER SIX



FRIDAY showed all the signs of being a beautiful spring day, and as she sat dressed in only a bathrobe Charlie wondered what her chances were of getting Jake to share it with her. She looked across the table at him, noting the magnificent broad shoulders clad in a perfectly tailored dark jacket, the white shirt enhancing the bronzed skin of his almost indecently attractive face. She could look at him for ever. He had finished his breakfast and was filling his cup with coffee for the third time. That was something else she had noted about him: he always drank three cups of coffee.

'You drink too much coffee, Jake,' she declared, her eyes sparkling as she held his faintly brooding gaze. 'And you work too hard. If you're not at a meeting you're on the phone or attached to that computer. You need to relax more. Spend the day with me?'

'If I relaxed any more with you, cara, I would be in danger of having a heart attack,' he mocked gently, his dark gaze sliding down to where the soft swell of her breasts was exposed by the lapels of her robe, and back to her face.

'I didn't mean that.' Charlie blushed and Jake laughed. 'For your information,' she said firmly, 'I'm going to Kew Gardens to meander around the tropical plants and pretend I'm on a tropical island somewhere.'

'Now, that I can envisage: you on a paradise island wearing only a grass skirt,' he said. 'We'll do that for real when I have time. But, unfortunately, I can't join you today. I do have a huge corporation to run, and thousands of people who depend on me for their livelihood.'

'Very laudable.' His casual remark suggesting they had a future had made her heart sing. 'But you should remember the old adage: "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy",' she teased with a smile that faded as she saw his dark brows draw together in a frown.

'I was just joking,' she said.

Jake was not amused, mainly because he knew there was some truth in her words. His gaze focused on her features, noting the sudden faint wariness in her eyes, and he felt bad. She gave him everything in bed and out; her enthusiasm for her ridiculous sightseeing tours, and the pleasure she took in explaining them to him, amused him, and he gave little back.

'I know you were, cara ,' Jake hastened to reassure her. Charlotte had surprised him this last week. He could count on one hand the women he had actually allowed to share his life for more than a weekend. He preferred to wine, dine, and make love to the woman in his life and return to his own bed to sleep.

Charlotte was the exception, probably because she was the least demanding woman he had ever met. She was nothing like the greedy, selfish bitch he had first believed her to be. He hadn't spent a penny on her, and guiltily he realised he had never actually taken her out all week.

He wasn't the type of man who explained his actions, but Charlotte deserved some explanation. 'Before I met you, I had spent the past three months confined to my home in Italy, because my foster-parents were in poor health and needed my constant support. This trip to London is the first of many overdue visits, and in the next few months I must visit America and the Pacific Rim countries, so if I have appeared a little preoccupied with work, that's why. But all that is about to change.'

Charlie almost gasped out loud at the warmth of the smile he bestowed upon her as, rising to his feet, he crossed to where she sat and turned her around in her chair, and, bending slightly, tipped her chin up with one long finger.

'Be back from your jungle adventure early. We have tickets for the theatre tonight and the curtain rises at seven- thirty.' He lied: he had not got tickets, but he would. 'And tomorrow I am completely at your disposal. You can take me where you want.' Straightening up, he added, 'Though I do have a property to check out in the morning. Perhaps we can combine the two.'