One Night On The Virgin's Terms - Melanie Milburne Page 0,41

so intense, the soft ticking of the French carriage clock on the desk sounded like hammer blows.

Louis gave an incredulous laugh. ‘You thought I was going to ask you for an extension?’

Ivy turned back to face him, her look pointed. ‘Weren’t you?’

A shutter came down at the back of his gaze, screening his thoughts, hiding his feelings, locking her out. ‘I only do one-night stands, remember?’

Ivy folded her arms across her body and lifted her right hand to her mouth, tapping against her lips as if studying a particularly interesting artefact. ‘Then why are you here now? It’s too late for lunch or even coffee. Besides, I’m flying to Paris early tomorrow, so—’

‘So am I.’

Ivy stared at him. ‘You are?’ She disguised a tight swallow. ‘Are you seeing a client or...?’ She couldn’t complete the rest of her sentence. She didn’t want to know if he planned to hook up with someone while he was in France. He often travelled for work, and was rarely in London for more than a week at a time. He would no doubt go back to his playboy lifestyle now and she would have to suffer seeing him in the gossip pages with a host of other women who were happy with the brief encounters he offered them.

‘I have a couple of projects going on in Paris that I need to check,’ he said. ‘Where are you staying?’

‘I haven’t had time to book my accommodation yet,’ Ivy said, unfolding her arms. ‘My boss normally organises it when I go away on a business trip for him, but his wife had a fall on Sunday night, so he’s been a bit distracted. I was going to find a room tonight.’

‘Stay with me at my apartment.’ His expression was still difficult to read but something about the incredible stillness of his posture made her suspect he was holding his breath.

She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, not sure what to make of his invitation. Wanting to accept it but not sure if it was wise to do so. Stay with him in Paris. The most romantic city in the world. The city of love. ‘Why do you want me to stay with you?’

His eyes darkened and he crossed the distance to where she was standing in two or three strides. He took one of her hands in his and stroked his thumb over her racing pulse. ‘You know why.’ His voice was so deep it could have come from the centre of the earth.

Ivy decided to play it cool. ‘Do I? Last time we spoke you made it clear we were a one-night thing. Are we going to be friends or lovers in Paris?’

His thumb stroked over the fleshy part of her thumb, triggering a storm of sensations that travelled from her hand to her core in a fizzing fire trail. His eyes held hers in an unwavering lock, making her spine tingle, as though sherbet were slowly trickling through her vertebrae. ‘We can be both.’

‘But I thought—’

‘How long will you be in Paris?’

‘Wednesday till Friday.’

‘Can you stay until Sunday?’ he asked.

‘I guess so... But I thought you said—’

‘Five days in Paris. That’s all I’m offering. Take it or leave it.’ His tone was so businesslike and clinical, yet his hand holding hers seemed to communicate a more desperate plea. A plea that her own body was communicating with a raised pulse and a skipping heartbeat and bated breath.

Ivy chewed one side of her lip and looked down at their joined hands. She recalled his hands on her most intimate flesh and something turned over in her stomach. One night was never going to be enough but would another five cure this sweet, torturous ache he alone triggered in her body? Probably not, but she would at least have more memories to keep when the time was over. She slowly brought her gaze back up to his. ‘I’ll come with you to Paris.’

His smile was lazy, but it ignited a flare in his eyes that made her heart skip another beat. ‘Good.’ He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her bent knuckles, still holding her gaze. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ He released her hand, his expression turning rueful. ‘I would have suggested dinner tonight but it’s my mother’s birthday. I wouldn’t want to give her the wrong impression about us.’

Ivy would have liked to meet his parents in an effort to understand him better, but she was reluctant