Page 30 of Signed, Sealed, Married

‘I doubt Adam Wilde believes that.’

Gisèle put her hand to her forehead, where a headache built. ‘Why not accept it as a gesture of goodwill? See how things go when you’re back at work.’

There was silence for a moment. ‘How are you coping, Gisèle? I feel guilty about not being there—’

‘Enough of that! You need this time to recover.’

Though his treatment had finished, his body needed to mend from the trauma of fighting a potentially fatal illness.

‘In the meantime he’s got you running after him, at his beck and call.’

‘It’s not like that.’

Itwaslike that. But worse, far worse than Julien imagined. Some days it seemed like she spent almost every waking hour with her nemesis.

Then at night he’d feature in her dreams. Disturbing dreams she didn’t want to think about. Because in them she enjoyed being with the big, bold Australian in ways that made her blood sizzle and her sex soften.

She dragged in a deep breath and tore her brain away from that sensual, night-time torture.

How smug Adam would be if he knew.

He insisted she accompany him to every meeting at Fontaine’s, every inspection of offices and facilities. He’d been adamant and, knowing she had no choice, she’d agreed.

‘Being in the meetings has been useful.’ She’d been surprised at how much. ‘The staff trust me to be honest with them and I understand the work in a way Adam and his minions don’t.’

Often she found herself working as a kind of interpreter between the two.

‘Adam, eh? That’s very chummy.’

Gisèle was about to protest that Adam Wilde would never be her chum. But she couldn’t if she were going to convince her brother she was falling for the man.

‘You’d hardly expect me to keep calling him Mr Wilde.’

Come on, Gisèle. Surely you can do better than that.

‘I find his company...invigorating.’

That’s one way of putting it!

She was more stressed than she dared confess. Her nerves were a constant jangle. Not with fear of what he’d do to her precious company—that had abated as she saw him work—but because of his effect on her.

He took her from fury at his bluntness and outrageous demands, to admiration at his insight, and surprise at his rare moments of sympathy when dealing with anxious staff.

Then there was that other thing. The nameless bond that hung, ever-present, between them. It left her quivering and her knees like jelly when his eyes locked on hers and she swore she saw heat flicker there.

Gisèle wrapped her arm around herself.

There is no bond. You’re imagining it because for some stupid reason you find him physically attractive. He doesn’t feel the same. He has no trouble keeping his distance. The no-kissing, no-touching rule is fine by him.

She hoped he didn’t realise how increasingly hard she found it, sticking to that bargain. The fleeting touch of his hand on hers had her yearning for so much more.

‘Earth to Gisèle! Are you there?’

Julien’s voice jolted her into the present.

Her hand shook and she dropped her earrings. Because she’d just seen herself in the mirror. Her eyes had a dazed, yearning look that terrified her.

Because she’d been thinking,again, about Adam touching her.

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