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Instead of handing it to her he unlocked the door. ‘The apartment is serviced and used by travelling employees so you should find it has everything you need.’
Not about to be accused of wanting to engage in foreplay with him again she gave him a serene smile. ‘Thanks. I’m sure it will be fine.’
Grunting something under his breath he headed inside the apartment and Eleanore had little choice but to follow.
Focusing on the elegant decor and rich furnishings in the open-plan living area she busied herself by taking off her overcoat and hat. Unused to the heavy weight of her hair down she secured it into a quick bun, not caring how untidy it might look. ‘The apartment looks lovely,’ she said lightly, hoping he’d hear the silent please leave in her tone.
Of course he ignored it if he did and headed for the kitchen. Eleanore glanced at the ceiling in search of divine intervention. Unfortunately she seemed to be all on her own with him.
‘I’ve had the housekeeper stock the kitchen with basic food.’ He opened the fridge and peered inside. ‘Milk, eggs, cheese, bread.’ He glanced back at her. ‘Do you cook?’
‘Yes.’
One dark blond brow climbed his forehead. ‘Really?’
Eleanore gave him a look. ‘Yes.’
‘What do you cook?’
‘I don’t know. Omelettes, pasta, sometimes a casserole that my mother used to make for us when she was alive. I’m very good with arsenic too.’ She smiled. ‘Would you like to stay for supper?’
He flashed her an amused grin and opened one of the overhead cupboards. ‘Tempting but I’ll pass. What happened to your mother?’
Eleanore rarely talked about her mother and her throat clogged. ‘She died of cancer.’
Lukas heard the soft vulnerability in Eleanore’s voice and knew that it had been a difficult experience for her. He found himself wanting to make her feel better. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
She shrugged and he didn’t know if she was trying to block him out as she’d tried to do since he’d met her or if it was a self-protective gesture. ‘It was a long time ago. I was only nine.’
‘But you miss her.’
She seemed surprised by his observation but not as surprised as he was himself. He rarely involved himself in conversations about anyone’s parents or their pasts. It opened up the opportunity for them to ask him questions he had no intention of answering.
‘I don’t know if I miss her as much as I wish she were still here. Particularly as I get older. There’s so much I’d like to ask her and say to her. And I can only imagine that getting worse when I have kids of my own. What about you? Are your parents still alive?’
Lukas had no idea. ‘No kids and no parents.’
‘Oh.’ Her big hazel eyes widened with empathy. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘What, that I don’t have kids or that I don’t have parents?’
Realising how bleak those words had sounded he slammed the cupboard door and told himself to leave. ‘Through there is the bathroom and two bedrooms. One is set up as an office with a pull-out sofa.’ He moved back toward the main door before he turned around. He looked back and found her staring at him with those wide, empathetic eyes he could drown in, her mouth soft and pink, beckoning him to come drink from it so that he could wash all his pain away. All his troubles.
All his troubles? All his pain?
Caught off guard by unexplainable emotions Lukas nearly walked out the door before he realised that he still held her apartment keys in his pocket. Unused to feeling so off balance he marched back toward her, trying to make light of his gaffe. ‘You’ll need these, I expect.’
‘Oh, right. Sure. Just...you can just leave them on the counter.’ The smile she gave him was wary and her eyes still held some sort of sympathy he knew in a heartbeat he could replace with lust. He thought of her curvy bottom against his groin earlier. All that fragrant hair tumbling down her back.
Physical arousal coursed through him, swift and unequivocal. His body wanted Eleanore Harrington even though his mind warned him not to go near her.
But goading her as he’d done all afternoon whenever she had annoyed him was one thing, following through by taking her into his bed was something else altogether, and he might have been able to follow through with that thought if she hadn’t bent down to unzip her high-heeled boots and release a moan of pleasure as she did so.
She wasn’t looking at him, or even putting on a performance as some of his past women would have done to get his attention, and perversely that seemed to affect him even more. What was it about her that drew him so strongly? And why analyze it? Sex was a normal part of life, a means of relaxation. It would be no different with her so why hold back? ‘So what’s on the agenda for tonight, Eleanore?’ He found himself asking before his mind was fully sold on the idea. ‘A hot bath or are you more a shower kind of girl?’
