Jess
Brodie was looking at me, waiting for a response. Quickly I said, ‘No. I just hadn’t....thought it all the way through to that...’ I felt breathless. Of course we’d have to share a room. We continued.
The young man was opening a door off a long corridor. ‘This is the Rose Suite. Let us know if anything is not to your satisfaction.’
When he said that I felt the most absurd flush of heat, thinking about other forms ofsatisfactionand how satisfying it had been the other evening.
Brodie let me precede him into the room and I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping. It was magnificent. Sumptuous pale carpets. Dusky pink furnishings. Lush thick curtains with intricate flower designs. Tonally different but complementary striped upholstery on chairs and a deep window seat. The window looked out over rolling lawns and a forest in the distance. There was a pool. A tennis court.
There was an en suite that made my mouth drool. Marbled floor. Two sinks. A rolltop bath. Shower big enough for a half dozen people. Or some imaginative sex. I felt my face get hot and explored further. There was a dressing room.
The young man left. Brodie was by the door, hands in his pockets, watching me. I’d studiously avoided looking at the bed, which took up most of the room. I looked at it now. Four-poster. Dressed in plain white linens that I didn’t have to touch to know would feel divine. Big enough to comfortably sleep an entire family. Big enough to be fucked hard.
Brodie cut through my lustful thoughts. ‘I don’t expect to share the bed. You can take it; I’ll sleep on the couch.’
Oh, yeah, because there was also a sitting area with a couch, chairs and a TV.
I was determined not to let him see how off-centre I felt. I was a modern woman. I could handle this situation.
I gestured at it as if it were nothing. ‘The bed is massive; we can share it just fine.’
‘We don’t need to decide now.’
He went over to a table and I allowed my gaze to move over him. Since when did chinos get sexy? They clung to his muscular buttocks and strong thighs.
‘There’s an itinerary.’
I looked up. He was staring at me. Was that a knowing smirk around his mouth.Shite. It was bad enough that I’d protested vociferously that nothing would happen and now he was catching me ogling him.
I went over, plucked the itinerary out of his hand and looked at it. I read out loud, ‘Aperitifs on the terrace at six p.m., followed by dinner. Feel free to use the facilities, pool, tennis court. Take a nature walk in the woods. Breakfast al fresco tomorrow followed by team-building exercises and then a lunchtime barbecue before departure.’
I looked at Brodie. ‘Team-building exercises?’
‘Scavenger hunt in the woods. Gordon has a thing about them. Last year I had to hide until I was sure Cecily had left; she was hunting me like a hound after a hare.’
I couldn’t help it, I snort-laughed at the thought of six-foot-plus ripped Brodie Montgomery quivering behind a bush.
‘It’s not funny.’ But there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth and I shoved down the warm feeling inside me, saying dryly, ‘Good thing you brought your own personal protection this year, then, isn’t it?’
‘I’m paying enough for it.’ His sharp responsed reminded me of the reason why I was there. The warm feeling inside me cooled significantly. I hated to admit it but it pricked at me, especially after telling him everything I had on the way here. I’d revealed too much. I lifted my chin. ‘Safe Refuge is worth it.’
Brodie must have seen something on my face. ‘Look, Jess, I didn’t mean it like?—’
But there was a knock on the door and Brodie cursed softly before going to open it. A woman in a suit said, ‘Mr Davison is ready for the team meeting now.’
‘OK, I’ll be right down.’
When the woman had gone, I said, ‘What’s the team meeting?’
‘Gordon likes to get business out of the way before the socialising starts.’ Brodie opened his case to take out a file. ‘Sorry about this, arriving and then leaving you to your own devices. But make yourself at home. Feel free to use the pool or take a walk.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ I said lightly, glad of the chance to get a breath. And if I did feel a little lurch at the thought of having to explore on my own, I ignored it. This wasn’t a real date.
When Brodie was gone I let out a long breath and collapsed back onto the bed, trying very hard not to think about what it would be like to be here as a real couple. After a bit I got up, unpacked and tidied myself up. Then I went to the window and looked outside.
The sunshine was glorious. I was in the depths of England’s lush countryside and there was a fricking pool. Enough spiralling about a man who I was in serious danger of becoming as obsessed with as his boss’s wife. Now that was pathetic.
Chapter 20
