don’t want me to throw you on the sofa and make love to you, then you had better stop looking at me like that.”
“Is that a challenge?” she asked, her heart lifting at the intensity in his brilliant eyes.
He smiled and then bending his head, kissed her gently on the mouth. “For all our nasty words to each other, you have to admit we have great difficulty in controlling this lustful attraction. For me it’s been there from the moment I first saw you on that quayside, looking so proud.”
She colored delicately under his scrutiny. Had he really wanted her then? She responded to his teasing. “Well, I was smitten with you when you were steering Jezebel away from the dock and I couldn’t put on my life jacket. You looked like a dangerous pirate on the high seas and I fancied you like crazy.”
“Hmm. I would never have guessed. You were a pain in the butt.” He grinned and then kissed her again, his tongue pushing her lips apart. It was a kiss for her tired body to melt into and she responded to his tantalizing persuasion with demands of her own, her arms curving around his neck as she pressed against his hard body.
“Whoa. Whoa.” Jack was the first to break away. “We need to cool it, sweetheart. I guess it would be smart to wait until we’re married.”
“Married?” Her mouth opened in shock as she looked up into his face. “Who said anything about getting married?”
“Your parents, actually. At the meeting we had earlier they were happy for us to be married.”
Her heart pounded as if to suffocate her. “And you accepted?” Her throat tightened around the words making her voice sound odd and raspy.
“They offered me a deal and I said obviously you would have to agree first. In fact, I wasn’t going to ask you tonight but thinking about it, I believe we could make a go of being married, don’t you? You want me physically, I know you do Lara, and in time, you could learn to care for me.”
Jack groaned inwardly. Damn it. He was making a mess of this. He had only meant to tell her about the possibility of investing money into Challoner and that he was considering it. And what did he do? Blurt out a marriage proposal.
But, he wanted her—how he wanted her. She had become an obsession. His magnificent obsession. Holding her in his arms a moment ago, so wanton, so passionate, had sealed his fate and he’d made his decision.
Yeah, he would give their majesties the money but he didn’t want any title and as part of the deal, he would lay down some rules of his own to protect Lara. He would take her to Australia to live with him in Port Margaret away from all this royal hype. She was unhappy here, as she had tearfully explained. As for producing an heir, that wouldn’t be a problem. He could hardly wait to make Lara his wife in every sense.
“What sort of deal?”
He should have been quicker at hearing the suspicion in her voice and seeing the doubt in her eyes. He could see she was lining up for a major rejection of him. What an assumption he had made in thinking she would leap at the chance of being his wife. What arrogance on his part. He had misread her completely and was treading on very dangerous ground.
“You know Challoner’s economy is suffering at the present time,” he began.
“I’m aware we could do better but we aren’t a poor country by any means.”
“If you would let me finish, Lara. Your parents asked me to invest some funds into Challoner’s treasury.”
“How much?”
“Half a billion dollars.”
“What?” Lara looked thunderstruck. “Well, well,” she gasped. “What was the rest of the deal, Jack? That for your money you would get a royal bride thrown in for good measure? To make it a little more attractive?” Her green eyes sparked with fire as she glared at him.
“That’s about right. Lara, I’m so sorry if this is a shock to you but they want to hold a royal wedding here in Challoner, which they say will lift the tourism markets. Believe me I’m just as surprised as you.” Jack hesitated then continued, “They even mentioned they hoped we would eventually have a baby who will be heir to the throne, if Carl doesn’t get married and have children.”
“What was your reply?”
He hesitated. He could see she was holding on to her