Tall, Dark & Rich: His Christmas Virgin / Married by Christmas / A Yuletide Seduction

Mac gave a firm shake of her head. ‘I hate even the idea of spending Christmas on a beach.’

Jonas had no idea why he was even pursuing this conversation. Except perhaps that he wanted to know if Mac’s invitation for him to spend Christmas with her family had been out of the pity he suspected it was, or something else…‘What if I were to suggest we went to a ski resort instead of a beach?’

She smiled slightly. ‘I can’t ski.’

‘I don’t recall saying anything about the two of us actually going skiing. I seriously doubt I would have any desire to leave our bedroom once we got there,’ Jonas admitted wickedly.

Once again her cheeks coloured with that becoming blush. ‘Wouldn’t that rather defeat the object?’

He gave a shrug. ‘Surely that would depend on what the objective was?’

Mac looked up at him and frowned. ‘I believe we had this conversation three days ago, Jonas. At which time, I believe you made it more than clear that you’re not at all interested in becoming my first lover.’

He hadn’t been. He still wasn’t. Except he had realised these last three days that he didn’t like the thought of some other man being Mac’s first lover either! ‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind,’ he replied guardedly.

‘And maybe you just enjoying playing games with me,’ Mac said knowingly.

‘Mac, I haven’t even begun to play games with you yet!’ he teased. Although whether that teasing was directed at her or himself, Jonas wasn’t sure…

He wanted to make love with this woman. He actually wanted it so badly he could taste it. Taste her.

Dear God, there were so many ways he could make love to this woman without actually taking her virginity. So many ways he could give her incredible pleasure. And she could give him that same pleasure in return.

But would it be enough to sate the ever-rising hunger inside him? Would touching Mac, caressing her, making love to her but never actually taking her, being inside her, ever be enough for him? Did he really have that much self-control?

Where she was concerned? Somehow Jonas doubted it! The only reason they hadn’t already become lovers when she had been at his apartment was because of the realisation of the seemingly insurmountable barrier of her virginity.

Jonas moved away abruptly. ‘You’re right, this conversation is pointless. Christmas is still two weeks away—’

‘And we may not even be talking to each other again by then!’ Mac put in with black humour.

‘Probably not,’ he admitted. ‘But even if we are, we still both know that you will be spending Christmas in Devon with your family and I will be sitting on a beach somewhere improving my tan.’

Mac didn’t think that Jonas’s tan needed improving; his skin was already a deep gold. And from the calluses on his hands and those defined muscles in his shoulders and chest, she didn’t think that tan had been acquired sitting on a beach anywhere!

In fact, if she had arrived home a little later than she had this morning, then she was pretty sure that she would have found Jonas up that metal tower outside her home beside Ben and Jerry as he helped to paint over the graffiti. Jonas might now be rich and powerful, the owner of his own company for some years rather than an employee, but his rugged appearance and weather-hewn features were testament to the fact that he still enjoyed getting his hands dirty occasionally.

‘I was totally sincere in my invitation for you to spend Christmas with my family, Jonas,’ she said huskily.

His eyes were a hard and mocking blue. ‘And what do you think your family would have made of you bringing a man home for the holidays?’

Mac’s cheeks warmed as she easily imagined her father’s teasing, and the whispered speculation of her aged aunts, if Jonas had accepted her invitation and accompanied her to Devon. ‘Oh.’ She grimaced. ‘I hadn’t really thought of that.’

‘Exactly,’ Jonas said, drinking the last of his wine before placing the empty glass on the table. ‘It’s probably time I was going.’

Mac blinked. ‘It’s still early.’

As far as Jonas was concerned, it was seriously bordering on being too late!

She looked so damned beautiful, so desirable with the coloured lights on the tree reflected in the glossy curtain of her long black hair, her eyes a deep and misty grey, her skin like a warm peach, and her lips—dear heaven, those full and pouting lips!

Jonas wanted to take those lips with his own, devour them, to kiss her and explore the hot temptation of her mouth until she felt the same need he did. If he didn’t leave here soon, in the next few minutes, he wasn’t going to be able to withstand that temptation at all.

‘You didn’t get to see my studio earlier; would you like to see it now?’

Jonas was jolted out of that rising fiery haze of desire to focus on Mac. ‘Sorry…?’

She shrugged narrow shoulders. ‘Obviously the studio is pretty empty at the moment with most of my recent work being at the exhibition, but you’re welcome to take a look. If you would like to,’ she added almost shyly.

Did he want to do that? He had evaded taking up the invitation earlier because he didn’t want to find himself being drawn into Mac’s world any more than he already was. To see where she had created the amazing paintings like the ones he had seen at the Lyndwood Gallery the previous week, and to feel himself being pulled even deeper into the intimacy of Mac’s life.

He still wanted to avoid doing that, didn’t he?

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