The Billionaire Boss's Innocent Bride(21)

           



       

'It happened to my father,' Alex heard herself say, and told him the   story of the New Year's Eve party. 'But-' she swallowed '-I-I-'

'Don't reciprocate? I know. I wasn't sure at first but when I came over a   few nights ago and I saw you with Max, I-' He hesitated and shrugged.

Alex froze as she cast her mind back to his unannounced arrival that   night and thought how it must have looked. She'd certainly been glowing   at the time with her memories of Seisia, but would it be true to say it   was only that?

She looked down and bit her lip.

Paul O'Hara watched her downcast lids, her carefully darkened lashes,   and felt his heart go out to her. 'The thing is,' he said, 'Max-well,   put it this way, Nicky is no ordinary kid. He's the sole heir to a   billion-dollar fortune and that could create all sorts of problems.'

'What-what do you mean?'

Paul shrugged. 'Custody problems if Cathy marries someone else, how   vulnerable Nicky could be to the wrong kind of manipulation, security   problems, amongst many others.'

'Security … ?' Alex stared at him with her lips parted.

'Stan isn't just a gardener-cum-chauffeur.'

The scales fell from Alex's eyes as she recalled that wherever they went   Stan had contrived for some reason or other not to be far away.

But she wrenched her mind away from that. 'I know what you're trying to   say. The obvious thing for them to do is to marry. I've known that   almost from the beginning,' she said starkly, 'but if it's not going to   work that'll hurt Nicky-' She stopped and made a futile little gesture.

'They were magic together once,' Paul O'Hara said quietly. 'But-' he   looked away embarrassedly '-that's up to them. I just wanted to say to   you-' his grey gaze came back to seek hers '-if you need a friend who   really cares about you, I'm here.'

Alex felt a rush of warmth and she quite spontaneously stood on her toes   and kissed him lightly. 'Thank you. Thank you so much,' she breathed,   but stepped away as his hands came up to circle her waist. And she took   flight down the path towards the pool garden.

Once there she breathed in the night air, deliciously perfumed with   jasmine and honeysuckle but very fresh, and she stood quite still to   catch her breath. Then the gate clicked open behind her and she whirled   on her heel, afraid it was Paul again, but it was Max …

Instead of steadying, her breathing grew more ragged and her heart   started to pound, he looked so tall, so good-looking, but with that   entirely unapproachable aura again.

'You shouldn't have run away from Paul, Alex.'

She stared up at him, her eyes huge. 'You … you heard?'

He shook his head. 'Only the last bit when he offered you his   friendship. But you'd have to be blind not to know there's a whole lot   more he'd like to offer you. He's also thoroughly nice-what have you got   against him?'

Alex felt a spike of sheer annoyance surge through her veins that was as   unexpected as it was irrational. But, at that moment, she felt Max   Goodwin was the last person she needed advice from on her-non-existent   but all the same-love life. Anyway, whose fault was it Paul O'Hara   didn't affect her at all?

She opened her mouth, tried to caution herself against doing anything   silly, but days of turmoil and trying to hide the truth from him and   herself saw her suddenly snap …

She said huskily, 'What have I got against him? He's not you.'

She paused with her lips parted as his eyes changed, went from bleak to   incredulous, then her fingers flew to her mouth in a telling little   gesture that shouted her thoughts-What on earth have I done?

She also couldn't help the blush that burned her cheeks and she lurched   into speech to attempt, at least, to ground her statement in reality.   'Not that I mean to burden you with it! I fully realize there's probably   light years between us in-in that kind of context,' she stammered.

He said nothing but his eyes were hooded and heavy, then, 'Light years?'   he repeated. 'No. And perhaps this will make you understand how highly   desirable you are, Alex, for once and for all. Certainly not the last   woman on the planet … ' And he put his arms around her.

She stood frozen in the circle of them as his heavy blue gaze followed   the line of her throat down to the rise and fall of her breasts so   intently-so intently that her nipples flowered spontaneously. It drew a   tingling response that spread down the length of her body and made her   feel soft and satiny even though she was fully clothed.                       
       
           



       

It did more. It made her yearn for the feel of his body on hers, taut   and hard against her curves, and she was possessed by the image of them   undressing each other item by item until there were no barriers between   them. Until she was compliant and melting inwardly at his every touch …

She noticed the little scar on his left eyebrow and she badly wanted to   touch it lightly with her fingertips. She wanted, urgently, to be  kissed  and to be able to kiss him back.

She couldn't help herself. She reached up and touched that little scar   with her fingertip-and the flow of static between them rose dramatically   as his hands tightened on her waist. And, in the moment before he bent   his head to kiss her, she experienced the sensation she thought she'd   misread once before. It was as if they were alone on the planet,   drinking each other in …

It was everything she'd dreamt about, their kiss. The feel of his mouth   on hers, his hand on her breast, fired her to revel in their closeness,   to marvel at what she'd had tantalizing glimpses of, but not guessed  the  full wonder of-the magic of being in the arms of the man you loved.  The  taste, the feel, the joy at the sheer fineness of Max Goodwin in  all  his tall, beautifully built splendour thrilled her and filled her  with  exquisite sensations, but, not only that, the feeling that to be  in his  arms was like no other place on earth.

And all the complications of loving Max Goodwin melted away as if they'd never existed …

There also came the sudden confidence that there might not be light   years between them and she could match that mind-blowing sexy force in   him. In fact when he raised his head abruptly she thought it was so he   could say something personal and intimate that would put the perfect   seal on their togetherness. He didn't. He stared down at her and she   could see his tortured expression before he closed his eyes briefly,   then put her away from him.

Alex had a blinding, momentary sensation that she'd been left alone on a   high, icy plateau. That she'd been left exposed and vulnerable and   rejected. She put her fingers to her lips and stared at him out of huge   shadowed eyes again. He lifted his hands, then, as if on second   thoughts, shoved them in his pockets. And the look in his eyes was   brooding and sombre. 'I should never have done that. I'm sorry.'

'Please don't say that,' she whispered.

He gritted his teeth. 'Alex, I must. I've got a lot of baggage, you're   probably aware of that more than most, and some pretty unpleasant water   has passed under my bridge. Those are the only light years between us,   but they're crucial factors and they'd be more of a burden than any man   in his right mind would want to place on you.'

He paused and his expression softened. 'Whereas you've got it all in   front of you, my dear. You can do it right, you will do it right, and   once you find someone to love, someone to have children with, you need   never be alone again.'

'But-'

'No, Alex.' He shook his head. 'You will always have my affection and   I'll never forget what you did for Nicky.' He smiled but not with his   eyes. 'The other thing is, you look so lovely tonight, I wouldn't have   been the only man who wanted to kiss you.'

If she'd been rejected once tonight, Alex thought, this was even more   comprehensive, and the shock of it saw silent tears well and stream down   her cheeks.

Max Goodwin moved abruptly, but before he could do or say anything that was how Margaret Winston found them.

'Oh, there you are, Mr Goodwin!' Her expression was distressed as she   came through the gate. 'I've been searching high and low. Your absence   is becoming noticeable-' She broke off. 'Why, Alex! What's happened to   you?'

'Margaret, could you take care of Alex for me?' Max said. 'She's-she   needs a bit of help. In the meantime I'll get back.' He turned back to   Alex and added gently, 'Don't go anywhere, don't do anything, I'll fix   everything.' He paused as he captured Alex's gaze briefly. 'Goodnight,   my dear.' And he turned and strode out.