Page 62 of Signed, Sealed, Married

‘I do.’ It was there in his gravel-edged voice. ‘You were inexperienced so I tried to be considerate. I wasn’t sure if I’d already hurt you—’

‘You didn’t hurt me! It was just...surprising.’ More intense than she’d expected, but wonderful. ‘I liked it.’

His hand covered hers, squeezing. ‘Good. But you were untried. Even if I didn’t hurt you then I might have later. My need was...great.’

She shifted again, blood singing at those simple, devastating words. ‘So was mine. I’d waited a long time to have sex.’

‘I’m sorry, Gisèle. I should have explained. But it seemed easier to pretend to be asleep. Easier to withstand temptation.’

Typical man, avoiding difficult conversations.

But there was no rancour left in the thought. She was too caught in the graphic description of what he’d wanted to do with her. It was a torch flame in the darkness, lighting her up from the inside.

‘And in the morning?’

‘Much the same. You marched into my room in that tailored skirt and heels and all I wanted was to tumble you onto the bed and to hell with our meeting. But it was more than that.’

He lifted his hand from hers and accelerated slowly down the drive. In profile his features looked sharper than usual. ‘That night you revealed how you’d been abused by your lover and it shone an unwelcome light on my behaviour. It made me review how I’d pushed into your world, cornering you into marriage. It didn’t make me feel good.’

She’d wanted honesty but hadn’t expected this. Adam’s words made her head spin. ‘You feltguilty?’

Though could she really be surprised? She’d seen another side to him at work. While he had no time for incompetence, Adam had surprised with his patience and kindness when dealing with employees worried about the future. And the sweet way he’d looked after her that night, putting no pressure on her, yet caring for her when she had an emotional meltdown...

‘I gave you a choice with the contract and you accepted. I don’t feel guilty about the takeover.’ His words slowed. ‘But to hear you’d been abused by a lover...’ He shook his head. ‘The fact is I wanted you from the first. You got the idea it would be a paper marriage but I never intended to settle for that. Then, the night we began to make love you told me what had happened to you and I felt guilty at having taken advantage of you, pushing you into marriage.’

Her eyes widened. She’d never thought to hear such an admission.

She heard the truth in his words and knew it would be easy to feed his guilt. But she couldn’t do it.

For all his ruthless powerplay, Adam was honest, startlingly so. He didn’t lie and cheat or demean her like the man who’d aimed to seduce her then share the footage of him taking her virginity.

Adam provoked and badgered her. He’d pushed her into a corner. Yet these past weeks he’d made her feel stronger, better about herself, aboutthem. He’d brought her unexpected joy and shown tender consideration when she needed it.

‘You behaved appallingly, appearing out of nowhere and making outrageous ultimatums. But it’s nothing like whathedid. You didn’t trick me. Iwantedyou, Adam.Iinitiated sex, knowing who and what you were. You’re not a sexual predator.’

‘That’s what I told myself. But I still felt uncomfortable. I needed space to think.’

Her emotions see-sawed. Amazement, excitement, puzzlement. Was he implying he couldn’t think around her?

‘So you took off to New York.’ Her mind was a jumble. ‘Yet you came back for the wedding. Your conscience didn’t bite hard enough to forget that.’

He shrugged as he turned a curve and pulled up before a small but perfect château of pale stone. Floodlights glinted off long windows, massed flowers spilled from planters on the stairs that swept up from the gravel drive, and round pepper-pot towers at each end turned it into a place of whimsical fancy.

She wouldn’t have been surprised to see a pumpkin coach drawn up before the grand entrance. Anything seemed possible tonight.

Adam killed the engine and turned to her. ‘I want this marriage, Gisèle. Of course I wasn’t going to give it up. I wantyou.’ The silence stretched, broken only by the tick of the cooling engine. ‘And I believe you want me.’

He was right. There was no point denying it. Yet she hesitated.

Coward.You weren’t so reticent the night you demanded sex.

That truth was an itch under skin that grew too tight around her. It was infuriating that what he said was true. Despite everything shedidwant him. She’d been furious and hurt, arriving for their wedding. But never once had it occurred to her not to turn up. To use his absence as an excuse to break their agreement.

Because you want him. You want how he makes you feel. The way he sees you as no one else does.

‘Of course you want this marriage,’ she blustered. ‘You needed a Fontaine—’

‘You and I know it’s not that simple any more. I wantyou. I’ve watched you at work, Gisèle, and away from it, and it’s been a revelation. It’sexcitingdiscovering the woman you are, with more depth and integrity than I’d imagined in the beginning. It’syouI want, not a cipher whose name happens to be Fontaine. And before you say it again, this isn’t about the business. This is personal.’

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