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Last night’s wild heat returned in a rush. Swirling through him, racing through his bloodstream, quickening the passion that had ignited at the first touch of his lips to hers. Her lips parted, his tongue plundered the warm depths of her mouth.
And words became unnecessary.
It was the sound of the dogs barking, a shout from Hunter and the lilt of feminine laughter outside that brought Callum abruptly back to his senses. He stared down at the woman who had made him forget everything. His family. His work. He caught sight of the clock on the bed stand. Even the time.
He gave a husky laugh. “My God, I was ready to take you again.”
She was breathing quickly, and her eyes had gone dark with desire. The covers had shifted, revealing a pale, creamy shoulder and the slope of one breast. Want surged through him, and he hauled in a ragged breath.
“We better get up.” With heavy reluctance he sat up and shrugged the bedclothes off. “Breakfast will be ready—and I don’t want anyone coming searching for us.” He wanted to keep the intimate joy he’d found with Miranda a secret from the world.
“No, we don’t want that.”
Miranda moved away, and this time he let her. Her cheeks were stained a rosy pink from the kiss they’d shared, and she took care to keep her nakedness covered. “Your mother told me she was old-fashioned, and didn’t approve of us sharing rooms. I feel like I’ve abused her trust.”
There was a strange expression in her eyes.
Callum resisted the impulse to pull her back into his arms, tumble her against the rumpled sheets and possess her with the desire that burned so hotly within him. Instead he said, “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. My mother will be only too pleased that I’ve found someone.”
Uncertainty glimmered in her eyes. “I don’t want to deceive your mother—your family—any further.”
“I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
Her shoulders stiffened, and her eyes grew wary. “So what are you asking?”
Callum hesitated. Hell, what was he asking? For a moment fear closed around him. He shook it away. This was no time to get cold feet. But he tempered what he meant to say. “I want to make this fake relationship real.”
He thought he glimpsed joy in the gold-brown eyes. Too quickly it was gone. For a moment he thought she was going to object. Then she smiled. “I’d like that, too.”
An overwhelming relief settled over him. Miranda hadn’t refused outright as he’d half expected. She had said yes.
And he had no intention of letting her escape.
Miranda floated downstairs after a quick stop at her room to pull on something more suitable than the red halter-neck dress she’d been wearing last night. She was unable to suppress the silly smile that curved her lips, all too conscious of the man padding down the stairs beside her, his fingers loosely linked with hers.
No doubt she was heading for heartbreak, falling for Callum. It was stupid. Totally insane. Yet she couldn’t help herself.
And she would allow herself no regrets.
This was her last chance to seize a slice of happiness for herself. It wouldn’t last. But she would enjoy it while it did. Because it would be over too soon—she knew that. As surely as she knew that Callum Ironstone would not fall in love with someone like her. He would find someone with the class and the social connections he needed. Not an embezzler’s daughter living under the fog of her father’s notoriety.
They entered the dining room, and her gaze settled on Petra. Someone like Petra Harris.
The blonde glanced across at them.
Miranda read the bruised hurt in Petra’s pale eyes as she took in their interlinked fingers. For Petra it had never been about business interests. The woman really had loved Callum, she realized. Then her gaze shifted to the man seated beside Petra at the breakfast table. She took in Gordon Harris’s tight lips. For Petra’s father it had been about business. And he looked none too pleased.
Hunter greeted them first. “We started without you. Mother decided you two must’ve gone for a walk again and lost track of time.”
Miranda felt herself grow red. Thankfully Pauline wasn’t in the dining room, and she didn’t have to answer any polite questions about how their walk had gone. She didn’t dare look at Callum as he held a chair out for her before sliding into the empty seat at her side.
