Page 44 of Signed, Sealed, Married

The look he gave her bordered on brotherly.

She respected him for that. It was reassuring. And yet...

‘But if you’d like company?’

She nodded, feeling some tension ease from her rigid muscles and relaxing back into the cushions. ‘If you wouldn’t mind. For a little while.’

Now wasn’t the time to consider how the man she’d classed as her enemy was the one person whose company she craved after her emotional upset.

Adam rose and picked up the TV remote control. ‘You choose a channel while I call the butler for room service.’

Gisèle wasn’t hungry but didn’t argue. The idea of curling up on the lounge and watching something to distract her sounded perfect. Strangely, the idea of doing it with Adam at her side was even better.

Something had shifted between them tonight. It had begun when he’d looked at her with such naked hunger and had accelerated with his response to her trauma.

Her feelings had altered.

She trusted him, she realised. In fact, looking back, she had for some time. Adam Wilde was a tough negotiator, and utterly outrageous in his demands, but he’d never once led her to believe he was anything less than honest.

Now, experiencing the heat of his anger over Paul, and his protectiveness, she saw him in a new light.

He was still larger than life, more potently disturbing than any man had a right to be. But that didn’t seem as daunting as it once had. In fact, she found it invigorating.

‘Haven’t found anything yet?’

A soft blanket settled over her knees, plush and comforting. Where had he found that?

Without waiting for a response he took the remote from her to search the channels. He sank onto the sofa beside her, but not touching. She remembered his expression as she’d told her story and knew that was deliberate. He was respecting her space.

Suddenly, Gisèle had a burning curiosity to know all about Adam’s mother and sister. He gave every indication of being a man who respected and, to a degree at least, understood women. They’d done a good job with him.

Except he’s blackmailing you into a convenient business arrangement of a marriage!

What an impossible conundrum he was.

‘What is it about men and remote controls? Julien’s the same. He always has to take charge of it.’

Bright, moss green eyes met hers and she felt his gaze like the brush of velvet on skin. Yet there was laughter lurking there. ‘Don’t you know it’s in our DNA? Mastering the remote is a core masculine competence.’

Gisèle stifled a snicker, surprised at how easily he lightened the atmosphere. ‘I’m pretty sure DNA predates remote controls.’

Adam shrugged, drawing her attention to the fact he’d shed his jacket. Her gaze diverted to his white dress shirt, the top couple of buttons undone.

What was it about a dangling bowtie that turned a bare, masculine throat into an erotic masterpiece?

There was a rush of something effervescent in her blood as her gaze skated his big shoulders. She’d thought they looked perfect in his tailored, formal jacket. But the thin shirt accentuated the impressive lines of his strong shoulders, arms and torso. Without the extra layer of clothing he looked bigger and broader than before. And from the way he’d felt, lying above her, she guessed he was all hard-packed muscle and sinew.

Adam held out the remote. ‘Do you want to choose?’

She shook her head and pulled the blanket higher, more for something to do than because she was chilled. Safer too, to have something to occupy her hands.

‘Far be it from me to deny you the pleasure. Just no schlock horror.’

He sent her a sideways glance that she knew wasn’t sexual, yet which she felt all the way to her soles.

‘Non-stop action? Maybe not.’

By the time the butler arrived with a large tray, Adam had settled on a recent adaptation of a Jane Austen classic.

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