In the Market for Love - By Nina Blake Page 0,22

out of his wallet and left them on the table.

She knew he’d follow her.

* * *

Jake was behind her as she bounded out of the restaurant and up the stairs, the taut muscles of her calves twitching above her strappy heeled sandals, her skirt swaying as it brushed against her legs.

He was quicker and stronger as he stretched one arm out to hold the door closed at the top of the stairs. He wanted to prolong their time together and steal whatever moments he could.

Rachel gazed up at him through lowered lids. “You’re not thinking of breaking your promise, are you?”

“Whatever gives you that idea?”

He could see she was enjoying this, revelling in the power he’d inadvertently given her with that promise.

He pulled his arm back from the door. He wouldn’t stop her from leaving, nor would he attempt to kiss her, no matter how much he wanted to.

At the top of the darkened stairs the air was cool but between them it was a humid haze, a barrier Jake dared not cross.

He took in the rich crimson of Rachel’s top, her neckline exposed so enticingly, the bare ivory skin pale and smooth. The top showed off her collarbones before the sweep down to the swell of her breasts. He wanted to reach out. He wanted her.

Jake took a step back and pulled the door open. If she stood before him any longer he’d no longer be a man who kept his word.

“I keep my promises,” he said.

Rachel stood her ground and looked him up and down.

She lifted one hand and brushed it gently against the small area of tanned skin at his neck where his shirt was slightly open. With a touch that was barely there, her fingertips moved upwards to cup his jaw in her hand. She arched her neck and pressed her lips against his.

“I didn’t make any promises,” she said, her mouth still close to his.

Then she left.

A bolt of excitement burned inside him. That woman knew exactly how to play with him. Tease him.

What was he doing? He hadn’t told her about his marriage yet he’d found the chance to tell her about his mother and grandmother.

Rachel certainly had a lot in common with the women in his family. She’d had more than her fair share of trials with the death of her husband and the debts he’d left her. There was more to that story than she was letting on. Yet she didn’t dwell on it morbidly or wallow in self-pity. Instead she was filled with a radiant vitality.

Jake shook his head. He’d wanted her to show some interest in his son. He’d mentioned Connor’s name several times, waiting for her to respond but she didn’t. Was it possible she wasn’t interested in children? Or in a man with a child?

He didn’t care. He seethed in a blaze of longing he’d never before experienced. He would have her.

And now, what could possibly stand in his way?

Chapter seven

Rachel had never known a man who made her feel the way Jake did.

A tingle shot up her spine as she remembered the way he’d kissed her in the boardroom, the way he’d pushed her to the edge.

It had been dangerous.

And she wanted to go there again.

It was only natural that kiss should come to mind since the agency offices were only a few floors above her. Rachel’s boss had asked her to hand deliver some important documents to their company lawyers who were in the same building as Agency 66.

The agency had revised one of their concepts for the campaign and it was waiting to be collected. She was already in the building. It made sense for her to collect it now.

She handed over the legal documents, closed the door behind her and ambled towards the landing with two banks of elevator doors on either side. Reaching for the lift button, her fingers trembled as they hovered over it.

It was as though the hand wasn’t hers. It belonged to someone else.

Up or down? Up to the agency? Or down to exit the building?

Jake had stopped by her office unannounced. He hadn’t cared if she were busy or unavailable. He hadn’t thought it brash or rude. And it wasn’t. They were colleagues. And now they were something more. Surely she could be equally assertive.

“Up or down?” she asked herself softly, surprised to hear the words come out loud.

“Down please.” A deep male voice came from behind her.

Rachel spun her head around to see a tall man in a