The Abby Green Modern Collection

‘Thank you so much; you shouldn’t have…’ She followed the man out and, when he was gone, leant back against the front door, her heart still hammering. Shaking her head, she pushed herself away and set about exploring more thoroughly and putting the clothes in the dressing room.

By nine o’clock that night Maggie’s nerves were wound to a stretching point she hadn’t known they’d possessed. Every time a noise sounded she held her breath, only relaxing once it had gone away. She’d rung her mother to check in, being as vague as possible about her situation. To her utter relief, she sounded so much improved that Maggie knew she could relax for the first time in a long time. With a friend from the village checking in every day, she knew she’d get a call immediately if anything was wrong.

The phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts. Warily she picked it up.

‘Maggie…’A pulse between her legs throbbed just at the sound of his voice; why did it have to come down the line like a caress? She pressed her legs together fiercely.

‘Caleb. I was just hoping you weren’t in a hospital somewhere.’

She could have sworn she almost heard a chuckle, disconcerting her for a moment. ‘I just bet you were. I meant to ring earlier but I’ve been held up waiting for a call from Los Angeles. With the time difference, I won’t get in till after midnight. You should go to bed.’

She remembered how late it had been last night when he’d left the office and bizarrely couldn’t stop a rush of concern, which she rapidly dampened. She was disconcerted and flummoxed by his having the courtesy to call.

‘I’ll go ahead and eat, then.’ The minute the words were out, she cursed silently. The last thing she wanted was to appear in any way concerned. Or that she’d been waiting for him.

‘Don’t tell me you cooked us a romantic meal?’

‘No such luck,’ she said sweetly, mentally crossing her fingers for the white lie. ‘I’ve been known to burn water.’ She had actually prepared a simple casserole, but wasn’t going to tell him that.

‘I assume you’ve settled in.’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. I’ll try not to wake you when I get in…or you could always wait up…?’

Maggie faked a yawn, her stomach cramping with panic. ‘Much as I’d love to, I can’t stay awake. All the excitement…Goodbye, then.’

She was about to put the phone down when she heard her name; she lifted it back up. His voice was low and lethally silky in her ear. ‘If you’re not in my bed when I get in, Maggie…you will be by morning.’

The phone clicked down. Maggie thought of the furthest guest room she’d already picked in some futile attempt to deny what was expected of her. She knew he would do exactly as he said. He would carry her bodily out of that bed, into his own.

Knowing she had no choice, she packed away her comfy nightshirt and closed the door on that room. She went into the dressing room, where she’d laid out all the new clothes. She’d placed the underwear and negligées in a drawer. They’d not been her choice to buy, but the shop assistant who’d helped her had been so enthusiastic she hadn’t had the heart to curtail her, or deny her the commission. And she thought of a couple of dresses that the girl had picked out. Dresses Maggie would never normally choose…but, she’d guessed at the time, they were dresses that would be suitable for Caleb’s mistress to wear. So she had taken them also.

And, if she was honest, a part of her had thought, Hang Caleb, he can pay for all this ten times over, and more. She resolutely refused to look too deeply into the possibility that she had in fact bought them because she wanted to…for him. She had to remember she was playing a part. And what he would expect was a mistress, dressed suitably, in his bed. That thought made her shiver as she prepared.

Later, while waiting for sleep to claim her, as she lay on the very edge of the huge bed, Maggie reflected uncomfortably that their phone conversation earlier had been almost…too easy, with a hint of warmth even. And that was dangerous. Because it reminded her of the heady days when she’d first got to know him in London, when she’d seen that other side to him. She turned over and rested her head on her hand. If he was to turn on the charm she’d be lost, for certain. She knew because she’d been lost before. Despite everything that had transpired, she was very much afraid that she was still lost.

The drama of the last few days caught up with her finally, the sleepless nights. She gave in to a deep dreamless sleep.

Caleb woke early. He was aware of the heat of another body close to his. Turning so that he was on one side, he looked to see Maggie nestling close, curled towards him. Vibrant red hair fanned out around her head. He’d been dimly aware of her shape on the far side of the bed the previous night and had been too exhausted to investigate further. But they’d obviously gravitated towards each other during the night.

Now, however, he could study her at leisure. She looked younger, innocent…oddly vulnerable. His face took on a hardness as he dismissed the notion, his eyes travelling down. With the cover drawn back, she was revealed in a creamy negligée, the delicate lace just disguising the mounds of her breasts, which rose and fell with even breaths. Caleb felt his body respond forcefully. He shifted uncomfortably and Maggie shifted too, as if they were linked by an invisible thread. He stilled.

In repose, her lips went into what looked almost like a petulant moue. He wanted to bend his head and kiss her soft mouth. He wanted to have her wake and look at him with sleepy eyes, smile and turn into him, giving herself to him. But he didn’t. Because he knew that if he was to wake her with a kiss, she’d look at him first with surprise, but then with censure…and, without wanting to question why, he knew he didn’t want that. When he made love to her he wanted her eyes to be open, aware of every moment and darkened with passion—when he took her for the first time.

In a split second she had shifted and moved even closer, a hand reaching out, finding his chest and resting there. As if to test him. Small and pale against the darkness of his skin. Fingers curling softly. His jaw clenched with the effort not to give in to temptation and very gently and slowly he extricated himself and went to take a shower. A cold one. On the bed behind him Maggie stirred but did not wake.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_ef253499-c33a-536a-86d8-871221b73f6e)

WHEN Maggie did wake it took a minute to figure out where she was. She felt completely refreshed, as though she’d had the most restorative sleep in her life. Stretching under the covers, she smiled to herself and then stopped. The feel of the slinky silk material on her body was all too alien.

She remembered exactly where she was.

Sitting up slightly, she realised that she was practically on the other side of the bed to the one she’d taken last night and the evidence of a head imprint very close to hers told her that Caleb had joined her at some stage, but he was gone now. From where she was, she must have been on top of him…or maybe he had pulled her over? No, she would have woken. And how had she had such a good sleep with him in the bed beside her? She was a finicky sleeper at the best of times and yet, her first night in a new place, sharing her bed with the most disturbing person she’d ever met, she’d slept like a baby for the first time in years.

The door opened to reveal a clean-shaven, impeccably dressed Caleb. Maggie sank back down and pulled the covers to her chin, unbelievably relieved to see him fully clothed.

‘Morning.’ He put a cup of coffee on the bedside table. She looked at him very warily.

‘You know you’re quite the wriggler when you’re asleep. All over me when I woke up. You’d think a king-size bed would be big enough…’

Just after the way her own thoughts had been going, it was too much. She would not let him goad her and stifled a defensive retort, but then had to say something.

‘Well, maybe this has been a mistake after all, if I slept through the magnitude of sharing your bed without my clothes inadvertently dropping off…’

He came down on the bed beside her and suddenly she couldn’t breathe, the air trapped in her throat. Two strong, sinewy arms came either side of her. The sheet slipped down to reveal her upper body, hardly concealed by the lace and satin. His eyes made a leisurely inspection from her face downwards, until his eyes rested on her breasts. Just under his look, she could feel them swell, her nipples tightening into small hard peaks, pouting flagrantly forward, as if begging for his touch. Almost carelessly, he lifted the back of his hand and brushed knuckles over one sensitive peak, causing her to swallow a moan, before he tipped up her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

‘Mistake…? I don’t think so, my love.’

Her insides quivered, her lower body on fire with need. He had proved with little more than a look just how, if he’d wanted to, he could have had her last night, over and over. He knew it and she knew it.

In one fluid movement he stood up from the bed, his expression unreadable. ‘I’ll be back for you at eleven to go to Monte Carlo, so be ready.’

And he was gone.

Maggie shut her eyes fiercely. She would do this. She had to. How hard could it be?

At the designated time Maggie was waiting with a bag, ready to go. She’d rung her mother, had explained that as Caleb’s ‘assistant’ she had to accompany him on a short trip. Having packed away all of her own clothes and dressed in the new ones, she felt a little more like the actress she was trying to be. A simple linen skirt, silk camisole and matching jacket. Her hair twisted back and up in a smart chignon. The phone rang. It was Caleb informing her that he was downstairs in the car. This was it.

Outside, Maggie stood on the steps for a moment. Caleb was watching from the shadows in the back of the car. When she appeared at the door, looking fresh and bright and so sweetly sexy, he had to restrain himself from jumping out to go over and touch her. Almost to see if she was real.

With her bag deposited in the boot seconds later, about to get in Maggie suddenly remembered something and stepped back.

Caleb’s voice from the interior was terse. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I just want to make sure my car is locked…’ She hurried over to the car, which was close by, and checked quickly. When she turned to go back, Caleb was standing by the car, shades on against the sun.

‘That thing is your car?’

‘Yes,’ she replied defensively.

‘It’s a health hazard.’

Maggie fought against the protective urge that kicked in. She’d bought that car with her first savings, from the family gardener. She’d learnt to drive in it, lovingly cared for it. She realised then that Caleb, of course, would have expected her to be driving something much more ostentatious. She picked her words carefully, hoping she sounded breezy and unconcerned. ‘Oh…it’s just something I borrow from the house when I’m home. It used to belong to the gardener. It gets me from A to B.’

She slid into his car and hoped he’d forget about it. The driver turned around in his seat to face Maggie, introducing himself as John. She was surprised to hear an English accent. ‘Great cars, aren’t they? My first was a Mini too. I know how attached you can get to them.’ He winked back at her and, with the first genuine human warmth in days, Maggie smiled effervescently back. Then flicked a glance to where Caleb was lounging on the other side of the car.

He was looking at her with a strange expression on his face. She hurriedly schooled her features and looked out of the window. She could see from the corner of her eye when he buried himself in a paper. Without his eyes on her, Maggie breathed slowly and her thoughts for the first time flew ahead to where they were going.