AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And Amazon worldwide
CHAPTER ONE
Rex Carruthers watched his father’s coffin being lowered into the ground and he felt nothing.
The vicar’s words faded in and out of Rex’s consciousness. “An upstanding member of the community, much respected.”
A cruel, selfish man, Rex silently added. A control freak.
Even now, he couldn’t forgive his father.
When indicated, Rex lifted a handful of earth and threw it onto the coffin.
Family friends, staff from Burlington Manor, villagers and local farmers from the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside, followed his lead. They offered him solace he didn’t crave, shaking his hand and welcoming him home.
Still Rex felt nothing.
They saw him as the rightful heir to Burlington Manor. They had expectations. It was in their words and in their eyes. They expected him to take over the estate now his father was gone. Rex wanted none of it.
Then he saw Carmen standing amongst the crowd.
Carmen Shelby – so unobtainable, so elegant.
Finally, he felt something.
Desire pumped through his veins.
She met his gaze. The startled look in her eyes accentuated her fragility and her unusual looks. Those dark chocolate eyes of hers were so expressive, and the way her hair was cut, tapered around her jaw before it fell loose to her shoulders, seemed to emphasize that.
Her lips parted.
Rex nodded her way, a silent acknowledgment of their connection.
She glanced away, breaking the contact.
Rex stared at her profile. Time had done nothing to diminish the hunger he felt for her. He glanced at her hand and saw no wedding band. He supposed he would have heard. Mutual friends did like to pass news on, whether it was welcome or not.
The more he studied her, the fiercer the need he felt. His father’s death had brought him unwanted responsibilities. It had also brought Carmen back into his life. The forbidden one.
The old craving he harbored seemed insignificant compared to what was stacking up now.
He had to have her.
The following Monday Carmen awaited Rex’s arrival with steely determination. Facing her—and beginning to look rather impatient on the other side of his desk—was Christopher Montague, the Carruthers family solicitor. He gave Carmen an encouraging smile. Nevertheless, he was drumming his fingers on his leather-covered desktop, clearly disapproving of Rex’s late arrival for the reading of his father’s will. They’d been due to begin half an hour earlier. “I’m terribly sorry about the delay, Carmen.”
“Please don’t apologize.” She gave a quick smile. “Rex always has his own agenda.” That’s why I have to keep a clear head.
Straightening the jacket of her suit, she sat back in her seat. Despite her best effort to remain business like, anticipation ticked in her veins. They hadn’t seen each other for ages, not until the funeral the week before. Yet, it was like being thrust back in time, to when she’d stupidly fallen for him, desire swamping her. How was it Rex still affected her this way, after all this time?
Rex. The very sound of his name whispering around her mind made her hot.
She’d been fifteen years old when her mother had married Rex’s father. Rex was older than Carmen by four years. He’d been away at university a lot of the time, which was just as well because she’d developed a painful crush on him. Thankfully she’d grown out of it. They’d been thrust together, told to act like brother and sister. An impossible task. Sexual tension swamped her whenever he was around—the rebel, the gorgeous bad boy.
Then Rex clashed with his father over some matter or other. Rex left Burlington Manor, the stately home that had been in his family for hundreds of years. He’d walked away from his family responsibilities to pursue a start-up career in engine design for the racing car industry. She, on the other hand, had accepted the responsibilities life thrust upon her, taking command at her mother’s company after her mother’s death.
The door opened, snapping Carmen back to the moment. Rex entered the room. Chris Montague stood up to greet the new arrival.
Carmen took a deep breath and observed as he approached. The dark slash of his eyebrows and the angular bones of his face captured her attention. It was a rugged face, starkly handsome, with unforgettable blue eyes. The stubble on his jaw only made him more attractive. Rex had the kind of intense good looks that meant he could have any woman he wanted, as he so often did. While Carmen stood by, heart-broken.
