‘How long would we...?’
‘You make it sound as though I’m backing you into a corner where nothing short of a bed of nails awaits. I’m not.’ This time, when he looked at her, there was an intimacy in his eyes that had the predictable effect on her disobedient body.
Just like that he could arouse her, fill her head with images of them together naked, his hands on her bare skin, his mouth exploring her in ways that made her cry out with pleasure.
‘You’re blackmailing me,’ she protested weakly.
‘I’m giving you options. What’s your answer?’
‘You still haven’t told me how long you think this...er...arrangement will last. What is going to change?’
Gabriel lowered his eyes. Knowledge was power, he thought, musing on all the information he had managed to glean. But that was something he had no intention of imparting. Not least because he had not quite managed to square it with his conscience, however many times he’d tried to justify everything to himself.
With things in motion, he would have a way forward and a timeline, and it would be immensely satisfying. It would take many weeks to get to the final destination, but to get to that vital place where Bianca accepted his authority, in receipt of everything he now had to show her...days.
‘No more than a fortnight.’
‘A fortnight.’
‘Like I said, Izzy...’ He reached forward to gently trail his finger along her wrist before moving it in tiny circles with devastating effect. ‘Two weeks isn’t going to be a hardship for me. Will it be for you?’
Izzy tried hard to quell the rising tide of desire inside her. She stared at that brown finger moving against her paler skin and sternly told herself to thinkpractically.Two weeks and Evelyn’s future would be secured. Was that too great a sacrifice?
No. And he was right. The chemistry between them was undeniable. Two weeks would give her time to adjust to the changes ahead, prepare her for when she had to walk away, go back to Hawaii. Time to pin him down on dates and give herself a vital timeline, she said to herself with the cool logic of someone weighing up the pros and cons and arriving at a decision with thought and good judgement.
‘You’re right.’ Love was something to be hidden away with him. There was no point trying to analyse thewhens and whys and howshe had managed so completely to fall under his spell. Nor was there any point in telling him that she no longer wanted to be his lover. She did. She still wanted him. He gave her goose bumps and she couldn’t think of him, far less look at him, without wanting to touch him.
She knew that she would do what it took for Evelyn to be safe for the rest of her days, and she also knew that it would be no hardship for her either.
But she had to exert some control over the situation. Why should he be the one calling all the shots?
‘So you’ll stay...a while...?’ He smiled a slow, curling smile that threatened to wash away all her resolve.
‘A while.’ Izzy looked at him with composure. ‘I resent being dragged into a situation with your ex-wife, but I do care about Rosa very much, and wouldn’t want to see her hurt in any way if it’s true what you’ve said about Bianca.’
‘You have my word that the woman would stop at nothing to get her own back at me. Believe me, Izzy, there’s no way under the sun I would ever involve you or anyone else in my private life if I had a choice.’
Well, doesn’t that say it all?Izzy thought. Left to his own devices, this would only have been about sex, but fate had decided to intervene, and here he was, having to share a sliver of his past with her, grudgingly and resentfully.
Had she ever thought that she would willingly hand her heart over to a man who wasn’t interested in love? Whowas happy to admitthat he had no intention of ever forming any serious and committed relationship with anyone? Especially after Jefferson and the devastating sense of betrayal she had felt at the time. And yet she had, and she could no more make sense of herself than she could figure out how to build a rocket and fly to the moon.
‘And I care even more about Evelyn. Her safety and security means the world to me. If I’m to go ahead with this arrangement, then I want your agreement in writing, signed and witnessed by the appropriate parties.’
‘You don’t trust me?’
‘Maybe in this short space of time I’ve learnt from the master that trust is a commodity not to be taken for granted.’ She met his eyes squarely and he scowled in return, withdrawing his hand, leaving behind a coolness she hated. She clasped her hands together and kept her eyes pinned to his handsome face.
Did he have the right to dish out homilies about trusting no one...becausetrustwas a hindrance when the only thing you cared about was making money so that the rest of the world could bow at your feet...while expectingherto trust everything he said as the gospel truth?
The galling thing was that shedidtrust him, absolutely and completely. He was as good as his word, and she had the grace to blush at what she had just imparted, even though it was just part and parcel of approaching the situation in as detached a manner as possible.
‘Of course,’ Gabriel countered politely. ‘I’ll have everything signed and above board. No room for me taking advantage of you.’
‘That’s not what I meant.’
‘No?’
‘I also need to call my brother. He’s been patient with me taking time out here to try and sort Evelyn’s affairs but he’s only going to be patient for so long. I’m going to phone him tomorrow and tell him that I’ll be back in Hawaii in exactly two weeks’ time.’ Keen to break the sudden tension, and smiling hesitantly as she reached out for the hand that had just left hers, she added, ‘Max isn’t the most patient person on the planet.’
