CHAPTER FIVE
But her supposition was wrong. Ten days later Jacy stood before the mirror in the bathroom of Leo's opulent London apartment in Eton Square, and surveyed her reflection. Tonight she had opted for the casual look— a plaid skirt in autumn shades, topped with a tangerine silk shirt. It should have clashed with her hair, which was brushed loose around her shoulders in soft curls, but somehow it worked. Huge eyes, wide and luminous, reflective, stared back at her and she barely recognised herself. She had excused herself to go to the bathroom in a last-ditch attempt to regain control of the fluttering nervous anticipation that was tying her stomach in knots, and it was all Leo's fault. At this very minute he was sprawled on the sofa in the lounge, waiting for her to join him, having just dismissed for the night the couple who'd served the intimate dinner they had shared. For the life of her she couldn't understand how she had got herself in this position with a man she had despised for the past ten years.
She reviewed the past week in her mind and to her surprise she was forced to admit that Leo Kozakis had been the most attentive and charming companion. On the Sunday after the party at the Ritz, he had called around to collect his car, and insisted on Jacy joining him for lunch. Monday evening he had escorted her to the latest musical in the West End; Wednesday it was the opening of a new art gallery—one that Leo had an interest in, she had discovered on talking to the young man whose paintings were on exhibition in the place.
Saturday night it had been an intimate dinner at the renowned celebrity restaurant, the San Lorenzo in Knightsbridge.
A worried frown marred her smooth brow. It was Sunday evening and he'd suggested a relaxed, lazy night at his apartment. The trouble was, she thought uncomfortably, although Leo had behaved impeccably, her own behaviour she had difficulty coming to terms with. She kept telling herself that it was the bet, and a desire for revenge, that had made her accept his invitations; but her own innate honesty forced her to admit that neither reason was the total truth. The bottom line was—she enjoyed Leo's company. At eighteen she hadn't really known the man on an intellectual level, but this past week she had delighted in his conversation, his sharp intellect, and surprisingly she'd discovered that they had a lot of common interests, from painting to music and a love of 'whodunnit' books...
She tried reminding herself that he was a womaniser, but it didn't stop her heart beating faster when she met him, or defuse the sexual tension that constantly simmered just beneath the surface when they were together. His dark eyes lingered on her shapely body, the brief kisses they shared on parting, were subtle reminders to Jacy that Leo was a virile, intensely physical male—and that he wanted her. The lie she had told over a week ago had protected her so far, but she had an uneasy feeling tonight that Leo intended a lot more than a goodnight kiss.
Straightening her shoulders, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, and, fixing a polite smile on her face, she opened the door of the luxurious bathroom and walked straight into the hard wall of a very masculine chest. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her, holding her steady.
'I was beginning to think you'd got lost.' Leo murmured the words against the top of her head.
Jacy eased back. He was dressed casually in comfortable hip-hugging designer jeans and a soft, baggy blue chambray shirt, open at the neck to reveal an enticing glimpse of crisp, curling body hair. She swallowed hard and, tilting her head, looked up into his ruggedly attractive face.
'Are you all right now?' he demanded huskily, not trying to hide the avid hunger in his gaze. His brown eyes, dilated to almost black, captured hers and she had the sinking feeling that he was not asking her solely about the shock of bumping into him.
Jacy could feel the heavy beat of his heart beneath the small hand she had defensively splayed across his chest. She felt the heat building in her lower stomach, the warmth of his muscular thighs hard against the soft wool of her skirt, and she chewed her lip nervously, unable to answer him. The problem was that her own feelings were no longer so clear-cut. Her head said she should despise him, but she was beginning to realise that it would be a very simple step to being completely enthralled by him all over again, and the thought terrified her.
'Yes, I'm fine,' she managed to respond in what she hoped was a cool tone, but the huskiness of her voice betrayed her conflicting emotions.
'In that case, my bedroom's next door,' Leo said thickly, his eyes grazing over her upturned face and lower to the enticing cleavage revealed by the V-neck of her silk shirt, then lower still to her narrow waist, the soft feminine curves of her hips, and her flat stomach. His fascinated gaze fed on every inch of her before slowly drifting up to her mouth and finally to her wide, honey-gold eyes.
She swallowed hard. An image of her younger self and Leo, naked limbs entwined, flashed into her mind, and she felt light-headed at the thought of once more experiencing the potent force of Leo's lovemaking. But that way lay madness, she reminded herself, all her defensive instincts coming to the fore. He wanted her, but wanting wasn't enough for the mature Jacy. Or was it, when every nerve-end in her body cried out for fulfilment?
'Still the same egocentric Leo,' she said tightly, trying to defuse the atmosphere of electric tension surrounding them. Pushing against his chest, she made to slip past him.
His expression snapped from hungry need to puzzled bewilderment. 'What are you playing at?' he countered hardly, one hand sliding down from her shoulder to slip loose a button of her shirt, his thumb brushing the swell of her breasts.
She gasped and inhaled sharply at the contact, her hand reaching to cover his. 'Don't!'
'Why not? We have spent the last week together and I've made it perfectly clear that I want you, and you know you want me; the chemistry between us is as powerful as ever.' Deliberately his fingers played with the fastening of her shirt, teasingly brushing her breasts. 'You're no shy young virgin, and I should know,' he drawled mockingly, his glance dipping to where her hand ineffectively rested on his and then back to her face, fully aware of her obvious response to his caress.
Jacy quivered. He was right, damn him! But she had no intention of admitting as much, certainly not after his last crack. I don't go in for one-night stands,' she protested, fighting down the incredible urge to lean into his hard, hot body.
'It could never be a one-night stand for us, Jacy,' he declared throatily. And, as if losing all patience, his fingers tightened around hers at her breast and he hauled her against him, trapping their joined hands between them while his other arm encircled her waist, his hand stroking suggestively up her spinal cord. 'We've been lovers before and we will be again. I've tried to be reasonable,' he mouthed against the top of her head. 'How I've stopped myself from touching you these past few days is a miracle of self-control. I'm not trying to rush you, Jacy-' his grip tightened around her slender waist '—but celibacy doesn't suit me.' And with his other hand he raised hers to his shoulder and placed it there before dropping his hand back to the opening of her shirt and burrowing beneath one soft, silk-cupped, lacy-clad breast. 'Or you either, by the look of things.' His dark eyes were fixed on her hardening breast, his voice thick. 'Don't try to deny it. You want me.'
'No,' Jacy murmured, but with little conviction, unable to resist his intimate touch as heat-waves of desire coursed down her spine. He moved his thighs restlessly against her, the hard heat of his masculine arousal pulsing against her abdomen. The fact that she could so easily arous
e him fuelled her own growing excitement. Her body, with a will of its own, arched into his, but as his head bent to find her mouth a last thread of self-preservation had her turning away to avoid his kiss. Was she such a fool as to fall again for the same suggestive talk and hard body?
'Don't play games with me, Jacy,' he said thickly, a sharp edge of angry frustration in his voice. 'I'm too old and too experienced for teasing females.'
'I'm not playing games,' she got out shakily.
'No? Then come to bed,' he demanded arrogantly. 'You know you want to.'
It was his supreme arrogance that finally gave her the strength to pull out of his arms and dash into the lounge.
Leo followed, grabbing her wrist before she could reach the entrance-hall and escape.
'What the hell is the matter with you?' he asked furiously. 'Do you make a habit of leading men on? Is that something you've learnt in the past ten years?' His eyes darkened as he looked down at her. 'I'm nobody's fool, and I don't take kindly to frustration...'
'My God, you've some nerve,' Jacy flung back at him, her mature sophistication flying out of the window as her barely controlled emotions were overtaken by a rush of anger. 'You think a few dinners and a show entitle you to a woman's body... well, let me tell you, buster— not this woman's. The last ten years have taught me to be a lot more discerning than the young girl you seduced. When and if I have a lover I will want a hell of a lot more than a couple of dates and into bed.'
'My apologies,' Leo said in a menacing voice. 'I forgot for a moment that all women have a price. What's yours—a diamond bracelet? Or perhaps you'd prefer a necklace? No wonder you own a house in London; you've used your body well. But if it's marriage you're holding out for, don't hold your breath.'