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Chapter Twelve

B ella was about to get very inventive indeed.

But not because she was bored. Far from it. She and Will had been seeing each other every night for the last fortnight. Some lunchtimes too, and she was loving every minute of it. Deciding to have an affair with him was without doubt the best idea she'd ever had.

They'd been out for dinners and met up for walks in the park.

They'd stayed in and she'd cooked. Last week he'd dropped by her shop.

He hadn't even said hello, had just flicked the sign on the door to closed, then fixed her with a gaze that had her heart thundering, taken her hand and pulled her into the workshop at the back.

He'd lifted her onto her workbench, bunched her dress up and given her the quickest, hottest sexual experience of her life.

When she'd finally managed to get her breath back, she'd dragged him up to her flat and they'd spent the rest of the afternoon there, testing out the strength of various pieces of her furniture and discovering that while her sofa was sturdy, the bar stools in her kitchen were less so.

So she was far from bored.

No. The reason she was marching through Soho, heading in the direction of a very specific shop, was while the sex was fabulous and more thrilling than she could ever have imagined, Will's reluctance to talk about himself, the reasons for his aversion to commitment in particular, was driving her nuts.

On the rare occasions she had broached the subject, or any subject of a personal nature for that matter, he'd employed more effective countermeasures than an intercontinental ballistic missile.

If they were out, he'd shoot her a dazzling smile that scrambled her brain to such an extent that she forgot what she'd been asking.

If they were in he'd give her a look that had her horizontal and writhing beneath him within seconds.

She'd tried to work it out for herself but had drawn a blank.

That something had caused it was obvious.

It was all very well not wanting to be tied down at the age of, say, twenty-one, but to be single at thirty-six, when Will was gorgeous and intelligent and sometimes really quite funny, simply wasn't normal.

Under normal circumstances he'd have been snapped up years ago.

But what was at the root of it remained a mystery. He was as reluctant to chat now as he'd been keen to before the launch party, and that she found strange.

Arriving at the shop and pushing the door open, Bella reminded herself yet again that it shouldn't matter.

Their fling was temporary so she had no need to know why Will was so averse to commitment.

But knowing that she had no need to know anything that personal about him didn't stop her wanting to know.

It didn't stop her wanting to know what made him the man he was.

What had caused the shadows in his eyes that she caught glimpses of from time to time.

Wanting to know everything about him, in fact.

Her heart stumbled and she jerked to a halt in front of a display stand. She frowned while her head swam. Uh oh. That didn't sound too good. That sounded kind of dangerous. Emotionally dangerous.

And then she pulled herself together and told herself not to be so absurd.

She wasn't in any danger, emotionally or otherwise.

She hadn't lost track of what she ultimately wanted.

And she hadn't fallen into the trap of hoping that Will might be able to provide it, or that, despite her assurances to Phoebe to the contrary, she might be able to change him.

No, she thought, eyeing up the racks of merchandise as heat began to race through her veins and desire hummed in the pit of her stomach.

It was curiosity. Simple as that. And as she was pretty sure Will was never going to tell her what she wanted to know of his own accord, she was going to torment him into talking.

It was just as well he had a reliable capable team running his business over in the Cayman Islands, thought Will, striding along the pavement towards Bella's shop, his body tight with anticipation and desire pounding through him.

Because if it had been solely down to him, he'd be heading for bankruptcy.

Work? What a joke. Since their affair had started he'd barely been able to focus on anything other than Bella and when he'd next be seeing her.

She was amazing. Insatiable. Utterly intoxicating, and he couldn't seem to get enough of her.

She had him thinking about things he couldn't have and behaving totally out of character.

Why else would he have ditched the meeting he was supposed to be having in response to her phone call an hour ago?

Why else would his body have leapt to attention when she'd suggested he meet her here in half an hour?

Why else would he have made himself sit on his chair and coolly tell her to make it an hour when every cell of his body urged him to make it five minutes?

What on earth had he been trying to prove by doing that?

That he did in fact have some sort of masochistic streak?

That he was in some sort of control over this?

Will stopped at her front door and pressed the buzzer.

That was even more of a joke. He'd lost control over this the minute she'd stared up at him at the museum and told him she wanted a fling with him.

Which could well be why the idea of her not being around for his birthday in March was beginning to feel distinctly unappealing.

Why he was beginning to get the feeling that at the end of the month he might not be able to let her go.

Will froze as something punched him in the stomach. His heart skipped a beat. And then he gave himself a quick shake and forced himself to relax.

Not be able to let her go? That was ridiculous.

Of course he'd be able to let her go. Because that was the agreement.

That was what they both wanted. And basically because he didn't have any choice.

And come March he'd be…well, who knew where he'd be?

But wherever he was Bella definitely wouldn't be with him.

Whatever was going on in his poor perplexed brain, one thing was clear. They only had another two weeks and he intended to make the most of every minute.

'Come on up.'

Starting now. Her voice, lower and more sultry than he remembered from this morning, had lust pounding through him so hard and so fast that all thoughts of where Bella might be in March vanished. All he was interested in was where she was right now.

He pushed the door open and attacked the stairs two at a time. He got to the top to find the door to her flat ajar and for some reason his pulse began to race.

'Bella?' he said, stepping over her threshold, shrugging out of his coat and dropping it on the chair.

'In here.'

Her voice came from the direction of her bedroom and Will strode along the passageway and threw open the door.

And nearly passed out. He stopped, his breath shooting from his lungs and the bolt of lust thundering through him almost slammed him back against the wall.

Bella was lying on her bed, reclining against a bank of pillows and wearing nothing but a kind of black lacy corset, black stockings, black high heels and a very sultry smile.

All he could do was stare at her, desire punching him from the inside out, his mouth dry as his eyes roamed over her.

'Hi,' she said huskily, her eyes dark and inviting and promising things that made his stomach clench.

Will swallowed. Coughed. Wondered if he'd ever be able to speak again. 'Hi.' Hmm. Barely.

She rose off the bed and swung her legs to the floor and stood up. The corset pulled in her waist and made her breasts swell over the top. Her heels made her legs look endlessly long. She sidled over to him, her hips mesmerising him as they swayed from side to side.

Unable to take his eyes off her, Will couldn't move.

His feet seemed to be glued to the floor.

He clenched his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching for her and thrust them into the pockets of his jeans just to make sure.

She'd clearly put a lot of thought into this seduction routine and who was he to spoil it?

'So how's your day been?' she said, standing right in front of him, placing her hands on his chest and planting a hot wet kiss on his mouth. 'Fine,' he said raggedly when she eventually drew back. 'Getting better by the second.'

'I do hope so.'

Glancing up at him from beneath her lashes, she gave him a smile that wiped his mind and then set about undoing the buttons of his shirt.

As she slid his shirt from his shoulders, down his arms and off, she pressed a kiss to his chest, flicked her tongue over his nipple and Will shuddered.

Achingly slowly she unbuckled his belt and undid his jeans and sank to her knees as she pushed them down his legs.

Her hair brushed over his throbbing erection and he had to clasp his hands behind his head to stop himself from burying his hands in her hair and guiding her head and her mouth to where he desperately wanted her.

His legs feeling weirdly weak, Will stepped out of his jeans and kicked off his shoes and then Bella was sliding her hands over his calves and the backs of his thighs and he closed his eyes in desperation.

Her breath whispered over his skin and then she was brushing her mouth up his thigh and over his erection and then higher, across his stomach, his chest until she was standing up and he was a moment away from dragging her to the floor and burying himself inside her.

'Lie on the bed,' she murmured, her voice low and husky.

'Bossy.'

'I'll make it worth your while, I promise.'

'In that case,' he drawled as a series of thrills raced through him, 'why would I even want to try and argue?'

'Sensible man.'

God, he thought as he did as she'd ordered and watched a satisfied smile curve her lips, he'd never felt less sensible. 'What next?'