Chances & Choices (36 page)

"Go on, get ready.  There'll be plenty of time for that later; we have a lifetime ahead of us."

Delighting in his last comment, Claire slipped from the bed, bringing the sheet with her to cover herself.
 She was far from shy in his presence; but from the clothes he designed, she knew his preference for seeing women draped in material that suggested what lay beneath, and she wrapped the sheet clingingly close and threw him a flirtatious look.

He had risen to his feet, but at her contrived movements, passion darkened his eyes and he reached across the bed for her.
 Eluding his grasp, she ran to the bathroom with a triumphant laugh, and locked the door behind her, eyes sparkling at her success in arousing him.

Steam seeped out from the opened door into the bedroom as Claire emerged, wrapped in a large bath towel, just as Julian re-entered the bedroom.
 He had expected her to be ready by now, but the pink flush of her skin told him she had lingered under the hot spray of the shower.  He turned to leave her alone to dress, but then he walked back in and settled himself against his dresser, crossing his arms, preparing to watch her from across the room.

Claire gave no indication that she saw him as she observed his reflection in her dressing table mirror.
 He had never watched her dress before, although she had indulged herself at his expense many times.  Bending to open her lingerie drawer, she hid a smile as her hands moved away from the utilitarian undergarments on top and dug deeper to find their quarry.

The teddy was peach satin, held together with numerous little bows in the most unexpected places.
 She had never worn it - sophisticated lingerie was not something she normally indulged in - but today, she blessed the impulse that had made her buy this little delicacy.  Retaining a firm hold of her towel, she stepped into the garment, slipping it on underneath her towel, revealing no more of her body than was already visible.

Julian found the dexterity and modesty of her action far more provocative than if she had stood naked in front of him, and it was all he could do not to cross to her there and then.
 But he didn't move, she obviously intended to give him a show and he was fully prepared to be a captive audience.

He watched as she dropped the towel in a deliberate and exaggerated gesture and turned and crossed to the closet, where she selected and donned a pair of high-heeled sandals, which were highly unsuitable for the beach, but whose height and style enhanced her long shapely legs of which he had a full view.

Still outwardly ignoring his presence, she crossed back to her dressing table and stood in front of her mirror, using the blow-dryer on her hair, while Julian speculated as to whether the garment she wore possessed any seams at all.

After drying only the wetness from her hair, she sat down and pulled it back in the style he so admired and then applied her make-up, going through the motions leisurely.
 Once finished, she walked back to the closet and selected three dresses of his design.

Laying them on the bed, she picked up one and held it against herself in front of her mirror, repeating the performance with the other two before selecting the first one once more.
  Laying it aside, she returned the others to the closet and then went back to the bed and stepped into the chosen dress, slipping it seductively up over herself.

Only then did she pay him any attention.
 Not by speaking, but by crossing over to him and turning around in front of him, indicating by her gesture that she wished him to do up her zipper.  He performed the task efficiently without lingering.  His lack of response elicited a chagrined look from Claire, which he gave no indication of noticing.  She wasn't the only one capable of playing games.

She still didn't speak until she had picked up her purse and was fully prepared to leave.
 Her attire was completely unsuitable for the outing he had suggested, but he had made no comment and finally she asked.

"Well, what do you think of my outfit?"

He smiled.  "I think you look stunning, as usual."

He pushed away from the dresser and walked towards her, running his hand along her shoulder in an erotic caress when he reached her.
 "But then, I'm the only one whose going to appreciate it, because I intend to remove it."

She gave a low triumphant laugh, delighted by the desire in his eyes.
 "You took your time!  I'm surprised you let me get this far."

"I wouldn't have dreamed of interrupting your performance."

Her eyes sparkled.  "I thought it might please you.  I'm glad you enjoyed it."

He brought her slowly against him, moulding her to him, his hand reaching behind to lower her zipper with a slow eroticism that had been absent when he raised it, his lips buried in the hollow of her neck.

"Oh, I did," he murmured.  And now, I am going to please and enjoy you."

Claire shivered with anticipation as his hands slipped the dress from her shoulders and it slithered to the floor around her elegantly shod feet.
 Holding her close against his length, he lifted her out of the circle of material and carried her across to the bed, stretching her out and placing a drugging kiss on her lips before moving down to undo and remove her sandals.

"Are those bows all that's holding that thing you're wearing together?"

"Thing.  Is that any way for a designer to talk?"

"I design dresses, not lingerie."
 He paused.  “Are they?"

Claire half-sat up, supported by her elbows.
  “I don't know.  Why don't you find out?"

Dropping her sandals to the floor, he trailed his tongue along the inside of her leg, until he reached one of the bows that nestled at the top.

"I think I will," he murmured, huskily, before undoing it with his teeth.

As it turned out, the garment did have a few seams, but by that time, neither of them was interested anymore.
 They never did go to the beach that day, or anywhere else, except to the sacred place they could only travel to together.

THE END

Hi,

Hope you enjoyed the book.  I am so happy to be back in the world of Julian and Claire and
Choices
magazine that I don’t want to leave it.  I am attached to the people in it and I want to follow them some more.  I am particularly intrigued by Stella and her subtle softening.  I think she needs someone lovely, strong and sexy to help her complete that journey – don’t you?

Helen x

A Calculated
Choice

Stella Abbot has spent the past ten years clawing her way to the top.
  As editor of new magazine edition
Choices LA
, she needs to make this venture this work.  When mid-west, small-town boy Aidan Carmichael arrives to audit
Choices LA
’s finances, Stella finds herself both exasperated and seductively charmed by the lanky, gauche young accountant.

Aidan had been warned about Stella Abbot’s legendary frosty glare, but experiencing it first hand was nothing like he’d been told.
  No-one mentioned those smudged, chocolate brown eyes or silky, mahogany tendrils escaping from her business like twist. 

Or those moist, kissable lips.
 

From his vantage point on one knee, he could almost feel the famous glare bore through the back of his head.
  Gathering  up the papers that had flown all over the floor when he did his usual klutzy act of knocking them off her desk, his gaze strayed surreptitiously upwards.  Man - she sure had a sexy set of pins as well!

 
A Calculated Choice
-
Aidan and Stella –
Choices
Book 2

COMING SOON!