Page 35 of Signed, Sealed, Married

Hurting and furious because Adam made her feel vulnerable again after all these years, shewasn’trelieved to be alone.

She wished he’d come inside, wrapped his arms around her and seduced her into losing herself in the passion she’d denied herself so long. The passion he alone ignited.

She was in deep, deep trouble! And he was to blame.

CHAPTER SEVEN

FORADAM,the period following that party in Nice was fraught with frustration.

Not because there were problems with the takeover. That progressed smoothly. Partly because he’d insisted on Gisèle’s presence at every meeting. He’d done it to keep her close. But there’d been benefits as he grew to know her better.

Far from being the society darling who flitted between high-profile social events, or a mere mouthpiece for the House of Fontaine, his fiancée was something else.

Her understanding of the company was solid. She could answer most questions and, if not, always knew where to go for an answer.

The ethical sustainability unit which he’d viewed as one of the jewels in the company’s crown was forward-focused and innovative. He understood now that some of that drive came from her.

He was impressed. But every attempt, no matter how mild, to acknowledge her skills was met with stony silence and narrow-eyed suspicion.

Whatever had happened that night had set their relationship back to ground zero.

Relationship! You should be so lucky. She looks at you like you’re a snake in the grass. And who can blame her when you’re forcing her into marriage?

But Adam refused to heed his conscience. He was in too deep. Both with the takeover and with her, the woman who kept him awake at night.

Sadly not because they shared a bed, but because they didn’t. Adam rubbed his jaw, hearing the sandpaper scratch of stubble.

Is that why she recoiled from him? Because she thought him uncouth? He looked in the bathroom mirror, the sight of his broken nose eliciting a grunt of amusement. Prince Charming he’d never be, despite the perfectly tailored dinner jacket and handmade shoes.

Probably she preferred men with a cultured air.

Or at least men who didn’t blackmail her into marriage.

It would take more than shaving to become the sort of man she was accustomed to.

He ground his molars. That brought him back to his reason for acquiring Fontaine’s. To prove Adam Wilde had made it to the very top. That there were no doors closed to him now. No exclusive club that wouldn’t accept him.

After a lifetime proving himself against the petty prejudices of those who saw him as a brash upstart and did all they could to keep him down, it was satisfying to have the world at his feet.

Except Gisèle. Not that he wanted her at his feet.

Though, considering it, the idea conjured possibilities. Inevitably his body hardened. He was constantly on the edge of sexual arousal these days.

Very soon they’d marry. He should be pleased. Instead he had the sinking sensation that, despite his plans, things spiralled out of control. His plan to seduce her had gone haywire when he’d stepped back from her that night and something, maybe his conscience, maybe her rigid control, made him hold back.

Adam had no taste for an unwilling lover. He wanted Gisèle to come to him.

He’d tried to discover what had gone wrong at the party but she’d frozen him out. That, he could cope with. But looking into drowned, haunted eyes, as she accused him of fake concern for the camera, had flattened him.

The Gisèle he knew didn’t do self-pity. To see her so lost made him feel useless. He’d wanted to make things right. But his concern had been like petrol to flame, only making her more emotional.

The world would laugh at the idea of Adam Wilde as sensitive. But he’d been raised by a single mother, his only sibling a sister. He knew when he’d pushed a woman too far.

Why had he thought Gisèle Fontaine didn’t have a breaking point? Because he got his kicks from her feisty responses? Because he saw them as a substitute for the physical passion they had yet to give in to?

What a piece of work he was.

He turned from the mirror rather than face its reflection.

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