CHASING TROUBLE

“Then our bags are still outside in the Range Rover,” she told him pointedly, her expression turning to one of quiet satisfaction as Nicholas’ face creased into a pained grimace. He turned to look out of the window and realized he would have to go back out into the still heavily falling snow to retrieve those bags. “Have fun!” she added tauntingly as she went through the doorway marked ‘private’.

Her smile faded, however, as soon as she was alone in the hallway, and she paused to lean back weakly against the wall. She couldn’t share a bedroom with Nicholas tonight. Possibly tomorrow night too, if the weather didn’t let up. In fact, she trembled just at the thought of it.

Nicholas’ complete dismissal of the significance of the two of them sharing a bedroom wasn’t flattering, either. It had been a while since she’d been attracted to a man…. until Nicholas showed up. And slowly that insidious awareness of him had crept into her battered emotions. Even after this trip, she still had to work with him. How could any healthy, red-blooded woman work with him on a day-to-day basis and not be aware of the hard vitality of his body and the rugged handsomeness of his chiseled features?

Caroline certainly couldn’t. Which wasn’t going to help the situation at all when she found herself alone in a bedroom with him later this evening!

________

“There is only one bed!”

“And your point is…?” Nicholas came back dryly as he carried their bags into the small but comfortable bedroom that had been assigned to them for the night. A warming fire already burned in the small hearth; the only furniture in the room was a bed, a chair and a desk.

He had taken advantage of Caroline’s absence to pull his jacket back on and go back outside for their bags. The snow was still falling as heavily, and the wind just as remorseless and icy cold. Nicholas had been relieved just to make it back to the inn.

“You didn’t say anything about there being only one bed,” Caroline persisted, her cheeks flushed as she continued to stare at that bed.

Whether with temper or something else, Nicholas wasn’t sure.

“Jim and Jennie have one daughter, hence there’s only one bed.” He dropped their bags onto the carpeted floor, completely ignoring Caroline’s pained wince as they landed with a thud.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Her gaze was accusing. “You knew there was only one bed?”

Nicholas shrugged. “I guessed that might be the case, yes. Stop being such a damned prude, Care.” He scowled as she continued to look at him wide-eyed.

The heated emotions Nicholas aroused in Caroline were totally new to her, and all the more disturbing. Because, although Caroline had had boyfriends before, she had never been so completely physically aware of any of them as she was Nicholas. She was so aware of him that she trembled just at the thought of having to share that bed with him.

If Caroline had learnt anything about Nicholas in the little time since she’d met him, it was that he had absolutely no interest in a permanent relationship. The moment any woman who flitted in and out of his bed showed any signs of expecting a commitment from him, they were probably quietly and discreetly excluded from his life…. She was sure of that. She remembered the woman he’d called back then… Rachael. Did he even bother to call her back or fix whatever thing he had with her? Probably not.

“Maybe you’re worried, sharing a bed, you might be driven mad with lust for me?” Nicholas mocked softly.

“Hardly,” Caroline snapped.

“Then there’s no problem, is there?” He dismissed her unconcerned.

Caroline drew in a sharp breath. “Have you shared a bed with any woman in the last twenty years or so and not made love with her?”

“Of course I-” Nicholas broke off his instant rebuttal to give the question careful consideration instead. “No, I never have,” he finally conceded.” But I’m sure there has to be a first time for everything.”

“Does there?”

“You know, you’re really starting to irritate me now, Care,” Nicholas rasped harshly. “Okay, so you’re beautiful and you have a fantastic body- especially in those tight denims and that body-hugging green sweater you’re currently wearing-but that doesn’t mean I’m going to attempt to make love to you the moment I have you alone in a bed!”

Caroline’s thoughts were in turmoil. Nicholas thought she was beautiful and had a fantastic body… The knowledge almost made her want to groan out loud. It certainly made her completely aware of the tight denims and body-hugging green sweater she was currently wearing. “Well, that’s really helped to clarify the situation,” she muttered disgustedly. “I’ll sleep in the chair.”

Nicholas arched dark brows. “Trying to make me feel bad, Care?”

“Am I succeeding?”

“No.” He grimaced.

“That’s what I thought.” She gave a rueful nod.

Caroline looked at him searchingly, noting as she did so the lines of tiredness beside his eyes and mouth. Those sculptured lips that had surely been designed to drive a woman wild… Stop it, Caroline, she instantly instructed herself firmly. Imagining his kiss, to feel his lips and hands on her body, really wasn’t helping this already fraught situation.

Why was it that just looking at Nicholas made her so physically aware of both herself and him? She sighed. “It would have been much simpler if you had just corrected the landlord when he assumed we were a couple.”.

Nicholas shrugged, unconcerned. “Even if I had explained our working relationship to the landlord I still doubt it would have made a difference. There is only one room. Besides, you’re a beautiful woman, Care, and I’m a red-blooded man,” he explained impatiently.

Caroline’s frown did not detract in the slightest from that ethereal beauty.

Her hair had dried now, falling in silky waves onto her shoulders, those pretty eyes unfathomable; the color had returned to her cheeks, and her lips were full and inviting above her stubbornly pointed chin.

“You still should have tried to explain our real relationship,” she insisted stubbornly. “But obviously it’s too late now.” She grimaced.

“Obviously,” Nicholas drawled dismissively.

Her gaze was frosty. “I suggest we both return downstairs. Our food is probably ready by now.”

“I’ll join you in a few minutes,” Nicholas replied wearily. “Like you, I need to freshen up before we eat,” he added tersely as Caroline paused to give him a searching look. “I take it we’re also sharing a bathroom with the landlord and his wife?”