Page 61 of The Invitation

“Do you like it?”

I drop my arse to my heels. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“And the knickers?”

I breathe out, resting the bra on my thighs and pulling out the knickers. They have a matching gold and pearl disk on the front.

“You struck me as a bikini-style kind of woman.”

“You certainly know your female underwear.”

“Did I get it right?”

He wants my approval? This is happening, and it’s happening in the wrong order.

Or is this the right order?

“Something tells me you’re a man who rarely gets things wrong, Jude Harrison.” I pick up my phone, stand, and go back to the window, greedy for another look at him in his glorious semi-nakedness. Reaching the glass, I get as close as I can, my small smile unstoppable as I admire him. His hair looks darker wet, the damp waves flicking out adorably messily. His shoulders. His smooth chest. Those perfectly formed hips, his tight stomach.

My hands all over every bit of him.

“You’re stunning, Amelia Lazenby, even more so when you smile.”

And now I blush. This isn’t me. And yet I’m completely in the moment. Drowning in Jude Harrison’s world. “I have to get ready for my massage.”

He nods slowly, pushing off the frame of the window, taking the towel and holding still for a moment as I brace myself. Then he pulls it off, dropping it to the floor, and I exhale so sharply, my upper body folds forward as I stare at his semi-erect cock. “Don’t miss me too much.” He hangs up and backs away, every glorious naked inch of him shimmering under the hazy glow of the moody lighting in his room.

“Missing you already,” I whisper, my phone lowering, my mouth watering.

My knees weak.

I take myself to the nearest chair and sit, dazed, knowing beyond anything I’ve ever known that I’m being drawn into something huge.

The question is, can I handle it?

Handlehim.

Chapter 16

When I make it to the spa in my robe, a lady wearing a green tunic and a friendly smile is waiting for me. “Miss Lazenby,” she says, standing. “I’m Maria, one of the therapists here at Arlington Hall. I’ll be looking after you today. Please, take a seat.”

I lower into the chair beside hers as she joins me, my eyes naturally darting, the vision of Jude standing unapologetically naked in the window unshakably stuck in my mind. Confident. A man who knows he has a body to die for, wields it like a lethal weapon.

And I want to die by that body.

“I’m just checking over your information. Has anything changed since your last visit?”

“Nothing,” I say, distracted, looking up when someone enters the spa. An elderly lady in a fifties swimsuit and swim hat.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Hodges,” Maria says as she passes.

“Morning, dear.”

“She’s here every day without fail for her swim,” Maria tells me. “Now, are there any areas I should pay particular attention to?”

I roll my shoulder blades in, feeling the stiffness there. Feeling stiffnesseverywhere.

Maria smiles and makes a note. “I hear you,” she says. “Let’s get you settled. We’re in treatment room four, at the very end.” She leads me down the glass-walled corridor, the gym on one side, a workout studio on the other. Clean, calming air hits me when she opens a door,the dim lighting not achieving what it’s intended to achieve. Calm. At least, not for me.

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