He gave a short laugh. ‘I can see now why your father was so determined he help you escape from the rut you were in. I detected a sense of remorse in his attitude—a sense that he wanted to try to repair some of the mistakes he’d made in the past. He must have realised that giving you money was having precisely the wrong effect, and that’s why he withdrew your funds.’
‘Wow. You should be a detective!’
‘But you didn’t like being broke, did you, Amber?’ he continued silkily. ‘You didn’t like having to knuckle down and do a hard day’s work like the rest of the human race.’
‘I thought I did a good job for you tonight with the Prince!’ she defended, stung.
He nodded reluctantly. ‘Oh, you did,’ he said. ‘He was very impressed with you and who wouldn’t be, with your classy dress and your pearls? And, of course, the fact that you were gazing up at him on the dance floor and batting those witchy green eyes certainly didn’t do you any harm. But I guess you quickly discovered that he wasn’t interested in you and so that quicksilver mind of yours had to come up with an alternative plan.’
‘Really? And what plan was this, Conall? Do enlighten me—this is absolutely fascinating.’
‘I think I can understand why you were a virgin,’ he said slowly. ‘With a mother who was sexually voracious, you must have realised that virginity is the most prized gift a woman can offer a man. It’s unique. A one-off.’
‘You’ve lost me now,’ she said faintly.
‘Think about it. Because despite your lack of qualifications, you’re a super-sharp woman, Amber. You know damned well what I’m talking about. You played the vamp with me. You realised there was real chemistry between us and that all I wanted was casual sex. It was a grown-up agreement between two consenting adults when suddenly you spring this surprise on me. You’re a virgin! Though when I stop to think about it, maybe it isn’t so surprising after all.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘Take a previously wealthy woman with nothing to offer but her innocence—and throw her into the arms of an old-fashioned man with a conscience and the result is predictable.’
‘What result?’
Despite their cold hue, his eyes suddenly looked as if they were capable of scorching her skin.
‘It doesn’t matter—at least, not right now,’ he said, his mouth twisting into a grim line. ‘What an impetuous fool I was to have taken you to bed!’
‘Then why don’t you do us both a favour and get out of it right now?’
She wasn’t expecting him to take her at her word, but he did—pushing back the bedclothes with an impatient hand and moving away from the bed as if it were contaminated. But the impact of seeing him unselfconsciously naked as he walked across the room was utterly compelling and Amber couldn’t seem to drag her gaze away. He went to stand by the window and all she could s
ee was his magnificent physique, silhouetted against the gleaming moon and scattered stars. And all she could think about was how pale his buttocks looked against the deep tawny colour of his back. How it had felt to have the rough power of his muscular legs entwined with her own, which had felt so light and smooth in comparison.
Only he had made her feel bad about what had happened—and bad about herself. As if she were using her virginity as some kind of bargaining tool. As if she were nothing but a cold-blooded manipulator.
So why did she still want him, despite his wounding words? Why did she want to feel his lips on her lips and his hands on her hips as he positioned himself over her, before thrusting deep inside her? Maybe she was one of those women who were only turned on by men who were cruel to them, just like her mother.
She licked her dry lips. ‘Are you going now?’ she croaked, because surely it would hurt less if he was gone.
He turned back to face her and at once she could see that he was aroused and, although she tried not to react, something in her face must have given away her thoughts because he gave a cold, hard smile.
‘Oh, yes,’ he said ruefully. ‘I still want you, be in no doubt about that. Only this time I’m not going to be stupid enough to do anything about it.’ Grabbing his clothes, he started pulling them on until he was standing in the now-creased suit he’d worn to the party.
‘I’m going to bed,’ he continued. ‘I need to sleep on this and decide what needs to be done. I’ll have breakfast sent up here tomorrow morning and then drive you back to London. Make sure you’re ready to leave at eight.’
Amber shook her head. ‘I don’t want to drive back to London with you,’ she said. ‘I’ll get the train, like I did before.’
‘It’s not a subject which is open for negotiation, Amber. You and I need to talk, but not now. Not like this.’
She lay there wide-eyed after he’d gone, hugging her arms around her chest. And although she went to the bathroom to shower his scent from her skin, it wasn’t so easy to erase him from her memory and her night was spent fitfully tossing and turning.
She was up and dressed early next morning, telling herself she wasn’t hungry but it seemed her body had other ideas. She devoured grapefruit, eggs and toast with an appetite which was uncharacteristically hearty, before going downstairs to find Conall waiting outside for her with his car engine running.
She tried not to look at him as she climbed beside him and she kept communication brief, but he didn’t object to her silence and said very little on the journey back to London. She stared out of the window and thought about yesterday and how green the lush countryside had seemed—and how today it seemed like a once-bright balloon from which all the air had escaped.
He drove her straight to her apartment and as he turned off the engine she couldn’t resist a swipe.
‘Here we are—home at last,’ she said with bright sarcasm. ‘Though not for much longer, of course, because soon my big, bad landlord will be kicking me out onto the streets.’
‘That’s what I want to talk to you about,’ he said, pushing open his door.
‘You’re not planning on coming in?’