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'Reece, darling… You dreadful man! You were going to let me go without saying hello?' If anything could have underlined the difference between Reece's world and hers it was the woman bending over him so familiarly as she offered her lips for a kiss.
Miriam realised instantly that it was the woman she had noticed earlier and, close to, her beauty was even more impressive. She was tall and slim, her figure clothed immaculately in a chic black dress, and the thick, shining silver-blonde hair that had caught Miriam's eye earlier was coiled expertly into a glossy chignon at the nape of her neck. Her skin was flawless, her small nose perfect and, as she straightened and turned to Miriam, Miriam saw that the large, wide eyes were a deep jade-green and as clear as glass.
Reece had risen without comment and now gestured to Miriam, who remained seated. 'Miriam, I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine—Sharon Berkely-Smith. Sharon—Miriam.'
'How do you do?' The voice was cultured and soft and beautifully pitched, and as Miriam received the full force of the striking green eyes she felt almost dazed for a moment.
'Hello.' Miriam smiled politely as she met the blatant curiosity in the brilliant eyes. They swept over her face and figure with piercing sharpness before the woman turned back to Reece with a little sigh.
'Reece, darling, you really are the most annoying man. I thought you were going to ring me when you got Barbara's little muddle sorted?'
'I hardly think her wedding can be termed as a 'little muddle' Sharon,' Reece said drily, 'and I haven't had the time.'
'Darling, you work too hard, you really do. We shall have you turning into a recluse if we aren't careful.' She turned to Miriam with a sweet smile that didn't touch the cool green eyes. 'But perhaps you are taking him in hand?'
'I…' Miriam was lost for words, and saw the fact register along with a certain degree of satisfaction in the lovely face in front of her.
'Miriam is taking care of some aspects of the wedding for me, Sharon,' Reece said coldly as he nodded to the other members of the party who had stopped a few feet away. 'And I think Bob and the others are waiting for you.'
'Oh, my marching orders?' She laughed gaily, but Miriam detected no amusement in the sound at all and suddenly realised, with mind-boggling amazement, that this elegant, exquisite, beautiful creature in front of her was actually put out at seeing Reece in her company. 'Goodbye, Miriam.' The clear green eyes were stony even as the curved red lips smiled a farewell. 'But perhaps I shall be seeing you again?'
'Possibly.' This was Reece at his most formidable, and Miriam was surprised that Sharon didn't wilt under the steely grey eyes, but the other woman just gave her light laugh as she reached up and kissed him again, her arms clinging round his neck just a trifle longer than necessary.
'I'll see you on Saturday, then, darling.' She turned gracefully on her heel as she spoke, the tall, slim body fluid. 'Half-past seven for eight o'clock and Daddy wants it formal; you know how Mother likes to dress up.'
'Goodbye, Sharon.' The dark voice was positively arctic now, but as Sharon disappeared in a whirl of silk and expensive perfume Miriam saw a satisfied tilt to the blonde head and with a sudden tightening in her throat heard the tinkling laugh as she reached the others.
'She's very beautiful.' She dragged her eyes from the departing group to Reece's face and saw that it was cool and bland, the grey eyes shuttered.
'Yes.' He gestured to her cup as the waiter appeared at their side again. 'More coffee?'
'No, thank you.' Suddenly there was a dead weight on her chest and a heavy thickness in her head. 'I really must get back to work; we're so busy.'
'As you wish.' He nodded to the waiter who returned with a slip of paper which Reece initialled as he helped her on with her coat. Of course. He'd have an account here. She glanced round the luxurious surroundings again and felt the weight get a little heavier. 'Come along.' He took her arm in his as they walked out of the restaurant and she was aware of several pairs of female eyes following their progress.
Once in the car, Reece said nothing beyond asking if she was warm enough as he adjusted the heater, and she sat quietly looking out of the window, her thoughts jumbled and confused as he drove swiftly back to the office.
Just before they turned into the small, run-down estate where the factory was situated Reece pulled the car off the road and through a gateway into a deserted, freshly ploughed field, and cut the engine before turning to face her, his eyes hooded.
'Sharon's family and mine have known each other for years,' he said flatly, his face grim. 'Our father's went to university together and had joint business interests for a good deal of their lives.'
'Oh.' She stared at him nervously, wondering why he was telling her all this.
'Sharon was born late in their lives, when they had given up all hopes of having children, and has consequently been spoilt outrageously,' he continued quietly. 'She tends to look on me as the older brother she never had.'
Older brother? Miriam almost choked. Older brother? Who was kidding whom? Whatever had prompted that little display in the restaurant, sisterly affection had had no place in it. She might be naive and she might be unworldly, but did he really think that she was blind and stupid as well?
'Does she?' Miriam looked straight into the steady grey eyes and steeled herself not to lower her gaze. 'What has all this got to do with me?'
'I—' She saw a small muscle jerk by the side of his mouth as he stopped abruptly. 'Dammit, Miriam!' He had reached across and taken her in his arms before she'd realised his intention, but the second his mouth met hers there was nothing but sheer sensation in every curve and sinew of her body.
She had wanted him to kiss her. Almost from the first moment she had met him she had wanted to know what it would feel like for a man such as he to make love to her. She could hear her heartbeat surging into a faster tempo through the pounding in her ears, and a wild exhilaration that it was even better than she had imagined gripped her senses.
The lukewarm excitement she had felt on other occasions before she had brought matters to an abrupt halt had not prepared herself for the onslaught of Reece's mouth on hers. Those other men—boys, really—had slightly irritated her with their preoccupation with sex and she had begun to think that she must be frigid, but this… this was something else.
He moved her more comfortably into him without raising his head, and she could feel the thudding of his heart through his open jacket and the thin silk of his shirt, betraying his own excitement. As his tongue explored and tasted she clung to him helplessly, his big, powerful body and hard-muscled shoulders adding to the frissons of pleasure that were shivering through her and setting her blood on fire. He moved slightly to trace light, tantalising kisses in a little circle round her lips, and she almost moaned with the thrill of it.
This was crazy, madness. She pushed the thought away as his mouth moved to her throat, inflaming her senses still further before he took her mouth again in a kiss that was almost savage. His body was hard against hers, leaving her in no doubt as to the desire that she was firing in him, and as she returned his kiss with a frantic abandon she didn't recognise she knew that she was lost.
