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'In a few minutes. You wouldn't deprive a thirsty man of refreshment, would you?' he enquired mockingly.
She gave him a grudging, 'OK,' and preceded him through the living-room to the kitchen. The light of challenge in his dark eyes was enough to warn her that the simplest course of action was to give him the drink and then get rid of him. That way he would have no excuse to return for his damned champagne! she thought, finally practising some caution. She reached for the handle of the refrigerator, and was stopped by a large, tanned hand catching hers.
'Go and sit down, Jacy. I'll bring it through.'
'You don't know where the glasses are kept,' she argued, reluctant to have him take charge.
'I'll find them. Do as you're told,' he commanded, lifting his other hand to the nape of her neck and urging her around.
Meekly she walked back into the living-room and sat down on the sofa, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. She was tired, she told herself, and the tension down her spine had absolutely nothing to do with the lingering effect of Leo's touch...
She watched him warily as, within seconds, he appeared with two glasses in one hand and the champagne bottle in the other. With a minimum of fuss the glasses were placed on the low table in front of her, and the champagne expertly opened with a satisfying pop and then poured into the waiting glasses.
'You should have been a waiter,' Jacy remarked as she took the glass Leo offered her, while carefully avoiding touching his fingers.
His dark gaze flashed from her face to her hand and back to her face, as good as telling her that he had noticed her not so subtle avoidance of his touch; but he said nothing. Instead he smiled broadly, picked up his own brimming glass, and sat down beside her.
I was a waiter for quite some time, and a very good one.'
'A waiter? I don't believe you!' she exclaimed.
'It's perfectly true,' he confirmed, and, casually leaning back, stretching his long legs out in front of him, he raised his glass to his mouth and drank the sparkling wine.
She watched the muscles in his throat move beneath the bronzed skin as he swallowed, and had to swallow herself. He was a dangerously attractive man, and he was much too close for comfort. Hastily Jacy drained her own glass as Leo continued conversationally, 'My father is a firm believer in starting at the bottom and working one's way up. When I was young, our business was not so diversified as it is now. We owned a few hotels and a shipping line. So as a boy of fifteen I was put to work in one of our hotels—then every summer after that until I was twenty-one and had finished university.
"That accounts for your expertise with the bottle,' Jacy said, for the moment forgetting her dislike of the man. Fascinated by this insight into his youth, she unconsciously began to relax in his presence.
'Yes, but I was not always so efficient. I can remember one summer, my first time serving in the dining-room, and I asked a lady if she wanted more hollandaise sauce. The lady was wearing a very low-cut summer dress, and I was momentarily distracted and inadvertently poured the sauce d
own her shoulder.'
'Oh, no,' Jacy chuckled.
Leo flashed her a quick grin. 'It wasn't funny, I can tell you. It turned out that the scrap of a dress had a designer label, and my father made me pay for it. I worked the whole of the summer for that damn dress.'
Jacy burst out laughing. I wish I could have seen you,' she declared, all her antagonism vanishing under the warm smile in Leo's dark eyes.
'I was a skinny teenager, you wouldn't have liked me. But the episode did teach me a valuable lesson.'
'What was that?' she asked, still smiling.
Leaning forward, Leo placed his glass on the table and slid his arm around her shoulders. His dark eyes held hers, his gleaming with devilment. 'I never ogled the female guests ever again. But, I have to say, if ever a garment was made for ogling it's a bustier. I am having the greatest difficulty keeping my eyes off it, and no luck at all with my hand.' As he spoke his free hand lifted, his long fingers tracing along the soft swell of her breast above the beaded cups of her bustier.
Jacy, from being relaxed, was instantly tense. The touch of his fingers on her soft flesh was like a ribbon of fire and she jerked upright, instantly on the defensive; pushing his marauding hand away, she jumped to her feet. 'Obviously you never learned the lesson well enough,' she said drily. 'And I think it's time you left.'
'But we haven't finished the bottle.' His dark eyes gleamed wickedly up at her as he lounged back against the soft cushions of the sofa. 'I can remember the last time we shared a bottle of champagne, and we finished it off with you curled on my lap.'
'Did we? I don't remember.' She did remember, all too well, and she also remembered how that night had ended with Leo storming out. This time it was her turn to call a halt. 'You're driving, you can't have any more.'
'Come and sit down and share the champagne. If I'm over the limit for driving I'm sure that, as a gracious hostess, you will give me a bed for the night.'
'No way,' she shot back, hovering over him, willing him to get up and go. The thought of Leo anywhere near her bedroom was enough to send warning signals to every nerve in her body.
'Frightened, Jacy?' Reaching up, he grabbed her wrist and with one swift tug she found herself back on the sofa, and curved into Leo's side.
'Let go...'
'Don't worry, Jacy. I don't go in for rape: subtle persuasion is more my style.'
