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yde Park. ‘For a girl,’ he finished.
She socked him on the arm, making him laugh. Then shuddered as the brittle winter wind found its way through the bare chestnut trees sheltering the fair and whipped at her hair.
He slung his arm over her shoulder, hugged her against his side as he dumped the last of the candy floss in a rubbish bin. ‘How about we head back to the hotel? Get you warmed up.’
She circled his lean waist, leant against him as they strolled out of the park together. But she knew she didn’t need warming up, the spark inside her that had ignited days ago now burning like a log fire and giving her a golden glow inside and out.
The last five days had been magical. He’d handled all his business meetings with ruthless efficiency first thing in the mornings, leaving the afternoons and evenings free to play. And play they had.
They’d gone ice-skating at the crowded rink in front of the Natural History Museum. Feasted on fine French wine and steak and pomme frites in the stark Mayfair elegance of Quaglino’s and on champagne and oysters in the Italian gothic splendour of Bentley’s Bar and Grill in Piccadilly. They’d taken long walks with his arm around her shoulders through the frost-bitten parklands of Kensington Gardens. And she’d even managed to drag him to the Boxing Day sales along Oxford Street where he’d endured over an hour of bargain hunting before he’d made her spend almost as long genuflecting over the newest gizmos in the gadget store on Regent Street.
And every night they’d made passionate love in the seclusion of his penthouse suite. Her senses and physical awareness of him were so acute now, all he had to do was look at her with hunger burning in his eyes and she became moist, her body readying itself to indulge in all the pleasure she knew he was about to give her.
She was falling in love and she wasn’t scared of her feelings any more.
They hadn’t had any more conversations about serious stuff, like her past or his. They hadn’t discussed what would happen in two days’ time when he returned to New York. And he hadn’t said anything specific to her about continuing their affair. But sometimes actions spoke louder than words. The appreciation and affection and approval that shone in his emerald gaze whenever he looked at her. The way he couldn’t stop touching her: the hand-holding, the fleeting kisses, the impromptu hugs, the palm brushes down her hair or the knuckles he skimmed across her cheek whenever they were in public. And then there was the way he made love to her, sometimes two or three times a night and often in the morning too, with a power and a passion and an urgency that increased in its intensity with each passing day.
All those things could only mean one thing.
Jace was falling for her too. Although she suspected, given his past relationships with women, he didn’t have a clue.
Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve and he’d arranged for them to watch the countdown and the fireworks from the balcony of an exclusive nightclub overlooking the Thames.
As his arm tightened around her shoulders, and the garish sights and sounds of the winter funfair faded, she made her own special New Year’s resolution. If he didn’t say anything by tomorrow night, she would take the initiative.
Nessa had told her she should fight for what she wanted. And she intended to do just that.
She wasn’t going to put undue pressure on him and make some lavish declaration of undying love. But why shouldn’t she see if they had a future together? It seemed foolish to let what they had slip away, just because both of them were too scared, or too cautious or too clueless about love to admit their feelings for one another went deeper than a Christmas fling.
‘Only ten minutes to go, then we can make our getaway,’ Jace murmured against Cassie’s hair as his hands skimmed over her waist.
He heard her draw in a quick breath, his palms settling on the cool silk covering her hips.
‘I don’t think so,’ she whispered, her eyes connecting with his in the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the Thames. The Millennium Wheel stood proud and glaringly modern, spotlit across the choppy water as the anticipation of the well-off crowd rose with each incremental movement on Big Ben’s clockface to the right of the terrace. Cassie’s lips edged up in a nervous smile. ‘We have to see the fireworks. The view from here is incredible.’
‘I’ve got a much better view.’ He nuzzled her ear lobe as he caressed the sensuous silk. ‘And I’ve got some much better fireworks in mind too.’
She giggled, covering his hands with hers, to halt his increasingly insistent caresses. ‘Stop it. You didn’t pay five hundred pounds a ticket to miss the main event.’
He chuckled. ‘Cassidy, as far as I’m concerned, tonight’s main event does not involve us being cooped up on a terrace with a hundred other people.’
She turned in his arms, lifted her hands around his neck and sent him a saucy smile. ‘Well, you’ll just have to be patient. This is our last night together and I want it to be special.’
He tensed slightly, his hands settling on the small of her back. She’d given him the opening he’d been waiting for. He’d been thinking about his options for days, made the final decision that morning. But now he had the chance to say the words he found himself hesitating. Evaluating the situation and the best way to handle it—and her—one last time.
Everything had worked out perfectly in the last few days. He’d had more fun in her company than he could ever remember having with another person. She seemed to understand him in ways no other woman ever had. She was bright, lively and sweetly optimistic and had no need to cling to him. In fact, her lack of expectation had made it possible for him to relax and enjoy himself without fear of having to deal with the suffocating prospect of commitment. Maybe the plan to reduce the physical intensity hadn’t quite worked out, given that the instant, insistent need had turned to a constant, growing ache that he had found harder and harder to control. But he wasn’t too worried about that any more. Because the ‘I love you moment’ he’d been dreading hadn’t materialised. He’d kept things light and non-committal—even forcing himself to take time out every morning to handle the meetings his PA had rescheduled—and Cassie had gone along with it. She hadn’t made any demands, or any requests even. And while part of him had been relieved, as the time drew close for him to leave he’d actually begun to find it a little galling.
Because now he was the one who was going to have to do the asking. But as she looked at him expectantly, her eyes shining with excitement, the compelling look of acceptance on her face, he knew he couldn’t hold back any longer.
‘About this being our last night.’ He paused. ‘I was thinking …’ His voice trailed off.
Come on, Ryan, spit it out. It’s not that big of a deal. If she says no, it won’t be the end of the world.
‘How busy are you right now, workwise?’
She tilted her head to one side, the shine positively glowing now. ‘Why do you ask?’
His hands rode up her sides, tightened. Maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but the desire to hear her say yes was still pretty damn acute.
