Romance In Paradise: Flirting with the Forbidden / Hot Island Nights / From Fling to Forever

скачать книгу бесплатно


‘Okay... Look at this one, Ri! Such a gorgeous red, with black inserts, and the feathers make a teeny-tiny skirt. If we teamed it with those striped thigh-highs...dynamite! Let’s dress a mannequin in an outfit, choose the corresponding jewellery and mask, photograph it and do the next one. And where on earth did you find all these outfits?’

‘A burlesque show that lasted six weeks on Broadway. Apparently the costumes were fabby, the performers not so good.’

Noah put his wine down, stood up and picked up a mannequin, looking it over.

‘What on earth are you doing, Noah?’ Morgan asked.

‘Seeing where we can place a motion sensor so if the jewels are moved once they’ve been put in place it will trigger—’

‘A silent alarm.’ Morgan and Riley chorused.

‘Smartasses.’ Noah dropped the mannequin and thought that he badly needed some testosterone before he started to grow breasts. ‘I’m going to watch some manly sports on ESPN. Have fun playing with your grown-up Barbies, girls.’

Noah’s hand drifted over Morgan’s hair as he passed her. He wasn’t sure if she noticed because she was frantically scrabbling through the piles of multi-coloured, beaded and luscious garments to look for...who knew what?

Concentrating on sport was a nightmare when he couldn’t stop imagining Morgan in a tiny black and red corset sparkling with diamond-like beads, black striped thigh-high stockings, red ‘screw me’ heels and an elaborate Mardi Gras mask...straddling his hips, his hands on the smooth, warm, bare flesh above those heart attack-inducing stockings...

He dropped his head back against the arm of the couch and adjusted his jeans. Could a man die from lack of sex and frustration? He was convinced that it was a distinct possibility.

NINE (#uf6c227df-31e3-5de5-a4f8-0bf30a950bc2)

Morgan knocked once on the conference door and popped her head in. Noah, on a video conference, flicked a glance at her, smiled, and looked back at his screen.

‘I sent off the quote for that corporate security analysis in Hungary, Chris. I think we might—’

Morgan leaned her shoulder into the doorframe and waited for him to finish his conversation. Look at him—so sexy with his tousled hair and wire-rimmed reading glasses. Morgan felt the usual rush of lust, quickly followed by the warm and fuzzies. She suspected if they ever got to have sex he’d be an amazing lover: sweet and tender, hot and fast, slow but hot... She suspected that, like the many facets of his personality, the variations to his lovemaking would be endless. But right now she loved talking to him over the first cup of coffee in the morning, over a glass of wine at night, arguing about the fact that she was the untidiest person he’d ever met. She couldn’t imagine him not being in her life and knew, with or without sex, that she could, if she wasn’t very, very careful, fall chaotically, crazily in love with him.

She couldn’t, shouldn’t...wouldn’t. Some day soon the situation with the Colombian mine would be sorted out and he’d go back to London, to his life and business there.

‘Hey, what’s up?’ Noah asked, pulling his glasses off his face and resting his forearms on the table. A cup of cold coffee, his mobile and his wallet were placed in a neat row on the other side of his laptop and his sidearm was snug against his shoulder.

Morgan placed her hands behind her back. ‘It must be really difficult, trying to run your business from here, Noah.’

Noah looked around. ‘It’s not so bad. I’m plugged into the server at work—it’s practically the same as if I was working in my office and Chris in his. The only difference is arguing face to face instead of over Skype.’

‘Well, I’m still sorry if guarding me is an inconvenience.’

‘Better than the alternative of you being kidnapped. Or dead.’ Noah placed his arms behind his head. ‘How was your day? Still battling with the Barnado piece? Has she settled on a design yet?’

She was currently dealing with an ultra-picky client with the concentration span of a cricket. ‘Nope. I’ve been wading through cost projections for the ball and my eyes are crossing.’

‘Need some help?’ Noah asked.

He asked it in the same voice he used when he wanted to know whether she wanted coffee. As if she was so very normal...and to Noah she was. Her dyslexia was just another part of her—like her untidiness or her freckles.

‘Morgs, do you need help?’

Noah repeating his question pulled her back.

‘I’ll make time if you need me to.’

‘No, I’m good. I heard from James; we’ll be flying out at five tomorrow afternoon and we’ll be in Cape Town mid Friday morning. I told Merri about you. She said that it’s a garden wedding and one more person won’t make a difference, so she’s insisting that you attend with me.’

Noah raked his hand through his hair. ‘If the security seems okay then I’m quite happy to leave you there, Morgan. I really don’t feel like attending another stuffy function, talking to people I have nothing in common with.’

Morgan walked over to him, laid a hand on his arm and felt his warm skin beneath her fingers. He’d rolled up the sleeves on his casual duck egg blue button-down shirt and she could feel the raised veins in his arms. ‘It won’t be like that, I promise. Merri is a hoot—stunningly beautiful, but utterly laid back. And the rest of my good, solidly normal friends will be there... Ellie, Jess, Clem and their men. You’ll like them.’

‘Jeez, Morgan, I don’t know.’

‘Please, Noah?’

‘Does anyone ever say no to you when you flutter your eyelashes and do your Puss-in-Boots look?’

Morgan’s lips twitched at the corners. ‘Not often, no.’

‘Didn’t think so. Do I have to wear the tux again?’

‘It’s a garden wedding. No tux needed.’

‘Finally a sensible bride.’ Noah glanced at his watch. ‘Are you ready to go home?’

Morgan shook her head to clear it. ‘Actually, I wanted to tell you that I need to go into Moreau’s Gems to see a customer. He’s demanding a second opinion on a valuation Carl has given him and insists on getting one from a Moreau. Idiot. He made a scene earlier, and Carl made an arrangement for me to meet him after-hours—which is now.’

Noah frowned. ‘Is that normal? Meeting clients after-hours?’

Morgan shrugged. ‘Yeah, we meet with clients at the time that suits them, not us. Anyway, he’s there now and waiting for us.’

‘Security?’

‘They aren’t allowed to leave until Carl does,’ Morgan said, cocking her head at them. ‘It’s a client, Noah, and it happens all the time. Fifteen minutes, in and out, and then we can order Thai for supper.’

Morgan saw the look he sent to his screen and the frustration that flashed in his eyes. ‘I can ask one of the security officers from the lobby to see me there and back if you’re busy. Fifteen minutes, tops.’

Noah seemed to be considering the option for a minute, but he eventually stood up and pulled on his jacket. ‘Nope. Let me just send an email delaying my next conference call and I’ll come down with you.’

He bent over the screen and his hands flew over the keyboard. He hit ‘enter’ and picked up his mobile and wallet. Then his eyes met hers and her heart spluttered, misfired and coughed to life again.

Morgan held her breath as his strong hands encircled her jaw and throat and watched wide-eyed as he tipped his head and his lips hovered just above hers. She saw something in his eyes that she hadn’t noticed before: something soft, almost tender. Morgan gripped his wrists with her hands and kept her eyes locked on his, waiting for him to swoop down and claim her lips in a kiss that she knew would blow her socks off.

She wanted to sink slowly into the hot whirlpool of his mouth. He would be more delicious than she remembered, far tastier than her imagination suggested. Noah caressed the side of her neck and she inhaled the intoxicating scent of his skin. If she moved a fraction closer she would feel the thrust of her breasts against his chest...their skin would only be separated by his shirt and her silk T-shirt.

Worse than the thumping lust that pooled between her legs, the rapid beat of her heart, was the thought that she was one step closer to losing her heart. It was slipping further away from her and she knew that if she allowed it to fall out of her hand it would be his for ever.

Noah stepped back, but his big hand still grasped the side of her neck and his thumb touched her jaw and tipped her head up.

He muttered an obscenity and her eyes widened.

‘One of these days—hours—minutes—I’m not going to be able to step away from you.’ Noah moved back and gestured towards the door. ‘Let’s get this done. I’ve still got work to do tonight.’

So did she—really important work, Morgan thought, troubled.

Like figuring out how to ensure she didn’t fall in love with him.