LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER THREE

      WHOA! THOUGHT JEREMY. He wasn’t used to women being this cool to him, especially women who looked like Alice. It rattled him for a moment. But only a moment, his mind searching for some reason why she might be in a negative frame of mind where he was concerned. All he could think of was the way he’d described himself as a crusty old bachelor. Maybe she didn’t like being deceived. She’d been warm enough to him over the phone, whereas now she was all ice.

      The corner of his mouth twisted at his own pun on her name. Alice. All ice. Very funny, Jeremy. Now see if you can use some of the infamous Barker-Whittle charm to warm up Miss Ice Princess a bit, or the evening ahead is not going to be as enjoyable as you anticipated.

      Which was a shame, given that he was partial to slender, cool-looking blondes, especially ones with gorgeous blue eyes and mouths just made for sin.

      ‘Please, call me Jeremy,’ he insisted as he subtly looked her up and down. ‘No one calls me Mr Barker-Whittle, not even Madge. Especially not Madge,’ he added with a laugh. ‘By the way, Madge said that we should offer two character names to auction off, not just one,’ he invented. ‘If that’s all right with you.’

      ‘What? Oh, yes. Yes. That would be...great. Thank you.’

      He’d thrown her a little, which was exactly what he’d wanted to do. For a split second she was the Alice he’d talked to on the phone. Sweet and grateful. But then that chilly mask slipped back into place.

      Not that Jeremy was giving up. He had all evening to accomplish the thawing of Alice. If nothing else, he would enjoy the challenge. After all, it wasn’t every day that a member of the opposite sex challenged him, especially single ones. He’d duly noted the lack of rings on either hand, a sure sign that she was neither married nor engaged. Of course, that didn’t mean she didn’t have a boyfriend or a partner. Though surely any boyfriend or partner worth his salt would have accompanied her here tonight. If one existed and he’d made a deliberate choice not to come, then the fool deserved to lose out. On second thought, however, Jeremy doubted there was some man waiting in the wings. That air of touch-me-not that she had about her would not encourage the average modern male.

      Jeremy smiled wryly at the knowledge that he was far from average, or in the slightest deterred in his pursuit of the gorgeous Alice. She’d sparked curiosity in him from the first moment he’d heard that cut-glass voice of hers. Now that he’d met her, his curiosity was joined by desire, Jeremy resolving not to rest till she agreed to go out with him.

      ‘You were going to show me the layout in the ballroom,’ he reminded her. ‘But first, let me take your coat...’

      * * *

      Panic churned in Alice’s stomach at the thought of taking her coat off, of exposing more of herself to this man’s far too sexy gaze. If he thought she hadn’t noticed the way he’d looked her over, he was sadly mistaken. Alice knew men found her attractive. It was a burden most blondes with nice figures and pretty faces had to put up with. Fortunately, these days, she didn’t attract too much male attention, always going to work with her hair pulled back, no make-up on and wearing jeans. Tonight, however, she was looking her very best. Silently, she cursed Fiona for lending her this revealing dress, plus spraying her with all that expensive perfume. The make-up she only had herself to blame for. But at the time, she hadn’t known she’d be spending the evening in the company of a man who could make her want to be different from the woman she’d become.

      At least she’d put her hair up, though not into its usual scraped-back ponytail. It was fashioned into a sleek sophisticated bun, worn slightly on one side, the latest style for formal occasions. Still, better than it being down. Pity about the dangling diamanté earrings she’d chosen to wear, however, and which swung against her bare neck when she walked. Alice contemplated telling him she would keep her coat on but he was already moving behind her and, really, she could hardly go all night with a calf-length coat flapping around her legs. Without glancing over her shoulder at him, she reached up to push the coat back off her shoulders—it wasn’t the kind that had buttons—sucking in sharply when she felt his fingertips brush over the nape of her neck. A shiver ricocheted down her spine as the coat slid down her arms, presumably into his waiting hands. She was too shaken to turn and look. Too shocked.

      What kind of power did this man have to make her feel like this? So swiftly and so surely. Alice had felt sexual attraction before; she hadn’t always been so wary of it. She’d found the thought of sex fascinating from the time puberty hit, spending a lot of her teenage years indulging in romantic fantasies over various handsome actors. Then there’d been that charmer at college, the tall dark and handsome one she’d been attracted to despite everything, the one who’d convinced her he returned her feelings. And so she’d agreed to go out with him. More fool her!

      But the attraction she’d felt on that occasion paled into insignificance compared to this highly charged feeling that was currently sweeping through Alice. It was madness, this urge she had to throw caution to the winds, to forget all the lessons she’d learned about men, to ignore Fiona’s warnings and just let Jeremy Barker-Whittle have his wicked way with her. Which, of course, was what he wanted to do. He was a playboy, wasn’t he? That was what playboys did.

      But not with me, Alice decided as she marshalled all her willpower. Not tonight. Not ever.

      ‘I’ll just go over and check this in,’ he said smoothly after she turned to finally look at him. ‘Then we can proceed.’

      He walked the same way he

Скачать книгу