Page 9 of Signed, Sealed, Married

It was impossible! Unthinkable!

She pressed her thighs together, trying to quell her body’s animal response to a man she didn’t even like.

It flummoxed her. It was so un-her. She didn’t respond sexually to strangers.

Yet it was there, real and unavoidable.

Like the words he’d dropped into the quiet of their secluded table with the finesse of a brick shattering plate glass.

His wife! He wanted to marry her!

She didn’t know what to do with herself. She wanted to get up and stride from the room, but that was impossible. She wanted to berate him for playing twisted games. To scratch her skin that felt suddenly too tight to contain all the emotions bursting inside.

It was only as his gaze flickered lower, making her realise the exaggerated rise and fall of her breasts with each constrained breath, that she managed a semblance of control.

He couldn’t know that her breasts felt swollen or that beneath her camisole and bra, her nipples were needy points. It was her shameful secret.

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you again, Adam.’ Her mouth was dry and it took all her willpower not to moisten her lips. ‘But I have no intention of marrying.’

She reached for a roll then put it on her plate, realising she wouldn’t be able to choke it down.

‘I’m sure I can persuade you, Gisèle.’

He lingered on her name and this time his husky voice gentled, turning the syllables into something richly addictive. Like luscious caramel laced with the old brandy hergrandpèreused to savour.

Gisèle blinked, telling herself it was at this man’s incredible ego. As if she’d marry a stranger. Yet she had an uneasy feeling her shock was as much about her reaction to him.

Not so ridiculous.He’s rich, powerful and intensely attractive, if you like that rough-around-the-edges style. He could probably have most women he wanted.

But not her.

‘Iknow you can’t persuade me, Adam. But why would you even suggest us marrying? It’s so...’

‘Convenient? Practical? Advantageous?’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not any of those things.’ Surely even in Australia proposing to a stranger wasn’t usual.

Not that he’d proposed. He hadn’t asked, merely expressed a wish. As if expecting her to leap at the notion.

‘I’m buying an old, respected brand. We both know that while the product is first class, the House of Fontaine is synonymous with your family. The generations upon generations who built it. The glamorous, high-profile family the world knows so well.’ He leaned back, eyes holding hers with an intensity she couldn’t break. ‘You’re an intrinsic part of that, Gisèle. Lately you’ve been the face of the company.’

Actually, a highly paid young woman from the back streets of Marseilles was currently the face of the company. Images of her sensual beauty adorned billboards, glossy magazines and every other form of advertising worldwide.

But, yes, Gisèle had been the company representative at significant events.

‘So? You expect me to give up my life as if I’m one more business asset you can buy?’

The gall of him! She’d met plenty of men who considered themselves superior but he was in a class of his own.

‘Give up your life? Hardly. Or are you saying you’re deeply involved with someone?’ He paused as if awaiting a reply. Did he know how unlikely that was? ‘In a committed relationship?’ Another pause as that damnable eyebrow lifted. ‘Or is it just a hot, heavy affair you don’t want to give up yet?’

Trust a man to reduce everything to sex!

But he hadn’t. His first guess was a committed relationship. If she stopped to think about it that might say something positive about Adam Wilde. But she was in no mood to be positive about this arrogant billionaire.

She gritted her teeth, fighting fury at his spuriously reasonable tone.

‘Besides,’ he added, ‘I’m in the market for a wife. Someone who’ll do me proud in public.’ He continued as if not noticing her death stare. He should be a pile of smouldering ashes, torched by her fury. ‘I want someone poised and perfect. Someone with class who’ll never embarrass me or put a foot wrong. Someone who can stand proud in the spotlight. Someone comfortable with the rich and famous, at home in that world.’

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