Snowbound Seduction: A Night of No Return / To Claim His Heir by Christmas / I'll Be Yours for Christmas

‘Well, we’re just sitting eating dinner, so how practical does it have to be?’ Apparently oblivious to his struggle, Emma stroked her hands over her hips. ‘It’s not at all what I would have chosen, which is half the fun if I’m honest. It was clever of her to find something at short notice. I have no idea how she knew my size—’ Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. ‘Ah. You must have told her.’ And if she were embarrassed about that, then there was no sign of it.

Lucas ground his teeth. Wasn’t she supposed to be blushing and shy or something? Instead she seemed aware of her femininity in a way she hadn’t been only days earlier. Or maybe he was the one who was suddenly aware of it. Watching her hands stroke her hips made him think of the way she’d touched him and suddenly he wanted to get her out of the damn dress and into the silk sheets of his bed. But if there was anything more dangerous than sleeping with this woman once it would be sleeping with her twice.

‘If you don’t feel comfortable wearing that to dinner then I can ask the hotel to send something else.’

‘What would be the point of that? And I don’t want to risk offending Avery when I’m finally about to meet her in person. I know I’ve only ever spoken to her on the phone but we get on really well.’ She closed her hand around a slim purse. ‘It’s just a dress, Lucas. I hardly think a dress is going to bother you if it doesn’t bother me.’

It bothered him.

It seriously bothered him but he couldn’t tell her that without taking the conversation into areas he was determined to avoid. Given that fact, he had no choice but to accept the fact that the red dress was her chosen outfit for the evening.

The tension in him mounted. ‘If you’re too tired to join me for dinner I quite understand.’

‘Tired? Don’t be silly. I can’t wait to see the restaurant. I remember it on the model and the plans and I’m so excited. I can’t remember when I last went out to dinner. I mean, I know this is work,’ she added, throwing his own rule right back at him, ‘but I’m ridiculously excited to eat something I haven’t had to cook myself.’ Her enthusiasm was genuine and charming but he didn’t want to be charmed. The feeling unsettled him in a way that was new to him.

Deciding that keeping his hands off her might well turn out to be the biggest challenge of his life, Lucas gestured to the door of the suite. ‘In that case we should go. We have a table reserved. Can you even walk in those shoes?’ They were clearly designed for sex, not walking. Before last night he would never have been able to imagine Emma in shoes like that, but now they formed an erotic addition to those incredible legs.

‘Of course I can. I’ve been practising in my room. That’s why I was late. Watch me.’ Grinning, she walked up to him, a look of triumph on her face. ‘See? I don’t even wobble. It’s all to do with putting your weight on the right part of your foot.’

She was different, he thought. Her skin glowed, her eyes shone, she sparkled.

And then she lost her balance on those heels and tumbled against him. With lightning reflexes, Lucas caught her. His hands closed over her shoulders, his fingers biting into warm flesh. Just that simple touch took him back to the night before and suddenly he wanted all of it again. Her lips, her warmth, her incredible body.

His mouth was dangerously close to hers and he was dangerously close to doing something about that. Furious with himself for being so weak-willed, he gave a growl of frustration and was about to pull away when she calmly detached herself.

‘Oops. Sorry about that. Clearly your first assessment was right. I need more practice in the shoes.’ Not looking at him, she tightened her grip on her purse. ‘Shall we go? We don’t want to be late.’ And, with that, she walked towards the door, the wicked red dress swirling around her gorgeous legs.

* * *

Dropping two phones into her bag, Avery Scott kicked off her shoes and curled up on the soft sofa in the private dressing room of the exclusive boutique. ‘You’ll have to excuse me, but I’ve done enough of these parties to know that I’ll have blisters by ten o’clock if I don’t rest now. This is my last chance to sit down so I’m taking it. So—spill. While we’re waiting for them to bring clothes, tell me all.’

‘Do you seriously have time for this?’ Trying to ease the pain in her feet, Emma flopped down next to her, thinking how nice it was to have female company. Her life was so frantic she’d let her friendships slip. Apart from the occasional exchange at the water cooler, she rarely chatted with anyone. ‘Those shoes were gorgeous but it was a bit like walking round with my feet in the jaws of a crocodile. It’s really kind of you to help me shop, but don’t you have a million other things you should be doing before tonight?’

‘I employ good people and I delegate. Now forget the shoes and tell me how that red dress looked.’

‘It looked great. Too great. Lucas acted as if I’d chosen it on purpose to try and seduce him, which was pretty unfair given that I had nothing to do with it.’

‘So did you? Seduce him, I mean.’

‘No, of course not.’

‘Ah.’ Avery’s beautiful eyes sparkled. ‘Want to talk about it?’

‘No. Let’s just say that tonight I’m wearing a grey sack.’ She was joking about it, but inside it didn’t feel funny. It felt hopeless. It didn’t matter what she did, things between them were never going to be the same again. They couldn’t undo what they’d done. ‘I work for him and I really need the job and now I’ve...I’ve messed it up.’

‘How have you messed it up?’

Emma rubbed her fingers over her aching head. ‘It’s not really something I should even be talking about. Just make sure I pick out a boring dress so that I blend into the background tonight.’

Avery shuddered. ‘I’ve never intentionally picked a “boring dress” in my life. I’m not sure I could even if I tried and I don’t intend to try. Tell me what is going on.’

Emma was surprised by how badly she wanted to confide. ‘You don’t need to hear my problems.’

‘Yes, I do. I’m fantastic with other people’s problems. It’s just my own I can’t solve. And you’re not the first woman to sleep with her boss.’

Emma gave a groan but didn’t bother denying it. ‘It’s such a cliché.’ And before she could stop herself she was blurting it all out. Everything. From the loneliness of living alone in London in the week, to the row with her sister and sex on the rug. The only thing she didn’t mention was Lucas’s daughter or the fact that his father had never acknowledged him.

That information was private. His secret, not hers to tell.

‘Wow.’ Effortlessly elegant, Avery uncurled her legs and sat up. ‘You’ve led this life driven by duty and responsibility and then suddenly on one snowy night it’s all blown apart. That’s so romantic.’

‘It’s not romantic. It’s embarrassing and inconvenient. And my life hasn’t been driven by duty.’ Emma shifted uncomfortably. ‘It isn’t like that. I adore Jamie.’

‘I never said you didn’t adore him, but that doesn’t change the fact you’ve always put him first. And you’re so different from Lucas’s usual type of woman.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You’re the home and hearth type that Lucas usually avoids like a non-alcoholic cocktail.’ She gave a slow smile. ‘And you spent the night together. How interesting.’

‘It’s not interesting. In fact I think it’s fair to say he was appalled. He thought it meant I would automatically fall in love with him.’

‘Whereas you were already in love with him.’

‘No, absolutely not! I don’t love him.’

‘Probably why you slept with him,’ Avery said helpfully, ignoring Emma’s denial. ‘Let’s just hope he doesn’t figure that one out. So—you’ve freaked him out. Lucas Jackson is Mr Cool so I’m looking forward to meeting the freaked-out version.’

‘He is so freaked out he spent all yesterday making sure I knew it was never going to happen again. And he was really angry about the whole thing.’

‘Definitely freaked out,’ Avery murmured, ‘which would explain his reaction to the red dress.’

‘No, that was just because he thought it was too frivolous for work.’

‘You think so?’ Avery gave a cat-like smile and pulled her phone out of her purse as it rang. ‘Excuse me for one moment while I get this—’

While Avery solved some problem that involved lighting and fireworks, Emma brooded on the grim reality of her situation. She wasn’t in love with him. It would be madness to fall in love with a man who would never love her back. Even greater madness to be in love with her boss.

After his initial response to the dress, Lucas had returned to his detached, slightly intimidating self. Their evening had been starchy and formal. Their whole relationship had changed. They couldn’t go backwards and it seemed they couldn’t go forwards either.

‘Right—where were we? Ah, the dress—’ Avery came off the phone and looked at her. ‘You were saying that he found it incredibly sexy.’

‘I didn’t say that. I said he was angry.’

‘Presumably because he found you attractive and didn’t want to.’

‘I’ve no idea. I work for him and I want to carry on working for him. But I have to stop feeling this way.’

Avery shrugged. ‘A man like Lucas Jackson comes along once in a lifetime. My advice? Take the sex and get a different job. Problem solved.’