She also knew there was nothing more between them than a blazing attraction. There was no possibility of a relationship, of a happy-ever-after. She lived in Cape Town and he was based in London but travelled continuously. She wasn’t prepared to watch someone she cared for walk away from her, and Cole would definitely do that. And, because she was co-raising her sisters, she couldn’t follow anyone anywhere, even if she were asked to do that.
He was her employer. She was his employee.
But none of that mattered, not in this isolated, fabulous boutique hotel on the edge of a mountain deep in rural South Africa.
In this place, it was just Lex and Cole. And Lex very much wanted to get to know Cole in the most earthy, primal way possible. She wanted to be with him—have sex with him—and if she didn’t wring every bit of magic out of every second with him she’d regret it for the rest of her life. She couldn’t think of anything worse than being old and grey, thinking,I wish I’d slept with him. I wish I knew what that was like.
‘I’m so attracted to you,’ she murmured, her hands on his chest.
‘Ditto,’ he replied. ‘If craving you could be called attraction.’
He craved her? Good to know.
Lex tipped her head back and sent him a long look. Gathering her courage, she swallowed and machine-gunned her next sentence. ‘Will you take me to bed? Will you make love to me?’
‘Are you sure that’s what you want?’ he asked her, holding her chin in his big hand.
Lex nodded. ‘Very.’
‘And you understand—’
‘That you can’t give me more—not that I asked you to—and that us sleeping together won’t affect my job and it’s a brief fling in the mountains?’ Lex interrupted him. ‘Yes, yes and yes.’
Cole wouldn’t let her look away. ‘It’s just that I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings later.’
Lex released a very frustrated sigh. ‘I get it, Cole. So, unless you want me to sign a damn contract, will you please—I cannot believe I am asking this again—take me to bed?’
She caught the amusement in his eyes, underneath which was a river of desire and anticipation. ‘It would be the greatest pleasure of my life, Lex. What’s Lex short for, by the way?’
‘Yamilex,’ she replied, licking her lips. ‘It’s Arabic.’
‘Lex suits you better,’ he told her, before pushing a long red curl off her cheek with his finger. She wished he’d kiss her, simply take her mouth so that she’d forget how to speak and think. It had been so long since she’d lost herself in a man’s arms and allowed his mouth and hands to spin her away. Lex wound her arms around his neck and pulled a half-smile onto her face. ‘So...question.’
‘Mmm?’
‘Are you planning on seducing me in the pantry? Because I’m pretty sure this luxurious lodge comes with a bed or two.’
Cole wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her and held her close against his body. He told her to wrap her legs around his waist, and she did, unable to stop herself from placing her lips against his mouth, from sliding her tongue inside his warm heat. He stumbled, just a slight misstep, and he tightened his hold on her.
‘I always knew men couldn’t do two things at once,’ she teased him.
‘In a minute, and once I get you horizontal, I’ll prove just how wrong you are,’ Cole promised her on a sexy growl, walking her out of the pantry and into the kitchen.
When he stepped into the great room, Lex noticed the warmth. He’d lit the fire in the bigger of the two fireplaces and the hiss and crackle of dry wood burning made her smile. That sound, along with rain hitting a tin roof and a howling wind roaring around the house, was one she associated with winter.
Then Lex looked out of the double volume window and gasped. Sleet had turned to proper snow and huge, soft, powdery flakes fluttered down, bright and white against the last of the day’s light.
‘Cole, it’s snowing!’ she squealed, pointing to the window. He gave the snow a cursory glance and nodded.
‘Yep, well, that’s not unexpected.’
‘Let’s go outside!’ she suggested, sliding down his body and hopping from foot to foot. ‘I’ve never seen snow before and I want to know what it feels like.’
‘It’s cold and wet,’ Cole told her, sliding his hands up and under her jersey, his fingers tap-dancing on her ribs and sliding over her breasts. ‘I, on the other hand, am hot and dry.’
Right. She really wanted to make love to Cole but... ‘The snow might stop and I want to catch a snowflake on my tongue,’ Lex told him in an agony of indecision.
‘You’re kidding, right?’ he demanded, incredulous.