Second Chance Proposal: A Man Without Mercy / Bring It On / Rancher to the Rescue. Miranda Lee
of the paper serviettes which came with the meal and dabbing at the corners of her mouth.
‘Then you thought wrong,’ he said.
Vivienne glowered at him. This was why she’d never liked working for Jack. He was far too bossy. It was always his way or the highway. She used to have to put up with it when she was an employee of Classic Design. But she didn’t have to put up with it now.
‘Don’t I have any say in the matter?’ she asked with a toss of her head.
He looked taken aback for a second. But then he smiled. ‘Of course you do. Far be it from me to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do. I have too much respect for you for that. So which would you rather do, Vivienne? Look around this house for a dreary hour or so, or go have some more fantastic fun in bed?’
Vivienne sighed. ‘You are a clever, conniving devil, do you know that?’
He grinned. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘Then you’d be wrong!’
‘You mean you’re opting for the grand tour?’
She shook her head at him. ‘You know I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I’ll always do whatever you want.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
She wasn’t. But no way was she going to admit it. ‘The trouble with you, Jack Stone, is you are way too used to getting your own way.’
‘I have to confess I like being the boss, especially in the bedroom.’
‘I gathered that already.’
‘And I gathered you liked it that way.’
Vivienne rolled her eyes. He really was terribly arrogant. And super-confident when it came to sex. She wondered if that was due to his impressive equipment, or wealth of experience. Whatever the reason, Vivienne had no intention of letting him run this show entirely.
‘As a modern woman living in the twenty-first century,’ she said coolly, ‘I expect that any sexual relationship we have will be conducted as equals.’
‘Fair enough,’ he said.
‘There will be rules involved,’ Vivienne stated firmly.
His eyebrows arched. ‘What kind of rules?’
Vivienne had absolutely no idea. It was time to improvise. And quickly. ‘Firstly, you will always use a condom.’ No way was she going to tell him she was on the pill.
‘You won’t have any argument with me on that score,’ Jack said. ‘That’s why I went out and bought a dozen.’
‘A dozen!’ she exclaimed, stunned at the thought he might use so many during one short afternoon.
Jack shrugged. ‘Better to be safe than sorry. Besides, what we don’t use today will keep till tomorrow.’
Vivienne blinked. ‘What do you mean, tomorrow? Surely you have work to do tomorrow? I know you, Jack. You’re a workaholic.’
‘True. But there’s always after work. I thought I’d take you out somewhere swanky in the city for dinner, then back to my place for afters,’ he added somewhat salaciously.
‘You really are incorrigible,’ Vivienne scolded, despite secretly looking forward to being his afters tomorrow night. ‘Rule number two is that you ask me, Jack, not just tell me.’
‘Oh. Right. Okay, would you like to go out to dinner tomorrow night?’
‘Maybe. I’ll give you my answer later.’
‘Nope. That won’t do, Vivienne. I have some rules of my own—the main one being, if and when I ask you something, I get a straight answer. Because I’m a straight kind of guy. I won’t play word games. So is it a yes or a no?’
Vivienne rather liked it that he wouldn’t let her muck him around. At the same time, she wasn’t about to say yes every time. ‘It’s a yes to dinner. You’ll have to ask me again tomorrow night about afters. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about more sex so soon after today.’ And what a load of crock that was!
He looked hard at her, and then he smiled. ‘Fair enough. Any more rules?’
‘I...I...can’t think of any more right now. But I reserve the right to add to the list if something important occurs to me.’
‘Same here,’ Jack said as he reached into the plastic bag which lay next to him and retrieved the box of condoms he’d told her about. ‘Okay, now that I know your rules and we’ve finished eating, I’ll ask you again. Very politely. Do you want a grand tour of the house first, or more sex?’
Vivienne swallowed. She knew what she wanted to say but simply could not bring herself to say it.
Jack rose from the stool, ripping the cellophane off the box of condoms as he walked around to her. ‘Of course, there is a third alternative,’ he said, his eyes holding hers. ‘We could combine the two.’
Vivienne just stared up at him, her tongue no longer working.
He reached out to run a tantalising finger around her slightly parted lips. Vivienne gasped when he sent that finger into her mouth, her head spinning, as suddenly she was that new Vivienne again, with all her wild, wanton boldness. Her lips closed around his finger, her green eyes glittering as she began a slow, sensual sucking.
‘I take it that’s a yes,’ he said thickly.
‘WHAT DO YOU think you’re doing?’ Vivienne said sharply when Jack picked up her camera and pointed it in her direction. Vivienne was lying back on one of the desk chairs, dressed in nothing but her white blouse, looking sinfully sexy with only one button done up.
‘I’m taking a photograph of my beautiful new girlfriend?’ he said.
‘But I’m half-naked,’ she protested, sitting up and pushing her hair back from her face. ‘And...and my hair is messy.’
He laughed. ‘Don’t be silly. You look gorgeous.’
‘I’m serious, Jack. I don’t want you taking any photos of me like this. And I’m not your new girlfriend. Not really. We’re lovers, that’s all.’
Jack tried not to scowl. He should have been pleased that Vivienne wanted to restrict their relationship to a strictly sexual one. It was exactly what he’d thought he wanted. But after spending the whole day with her, he realised he wanted more from her than that.
‘I wouldn’t have asked you out to dinner tomorrow night if I wanted us to just be lovers,’ he insisted. ‘I like being with you, Vivienne. And talking to you. And not just about work-related matters. I want to spend time with you out of bed as well as in it. I would have thought that was obvious by now.’ They hadn’t spent the entire afternoon having sex. Between times they’d discussed the refurbishment of the house, whilst Vivienne had retrieved her camera from the car and taken photos of everything.
‘I like spending time with you too,’ she said. ‘But—’
‘So what’s the problem?’ he broke in, and put the camera down. ‘Too soon after Daryl, is that it?’
Vivienne stared up at him. To be brutally honest she hadn’t given Daryl a thought all afternoon. But now that Jack had brought him up, Vivienne wondered again if Daryl’s dumping her so cruelly was the reason behind her amazing change of character. Maybe her turning into Vivienne the Vamp was really just a revenge thing. Or a rebound thing. Or something equally self-destructive.
Common sense demanded she step back from this whole situation for a while until she could think more clearly. All that great sex today seemed to have addled her brain, because agreeing to become Jack’s