The Millionaire's Inexperienced Love-Slave
The wine’s arrival brought that confident smile back to his handsome face, reminding her not to drink too much. She’d gone through a stage a year or so back when she’d drunk far too much. Nowadays, she limited her alcoholic intake, having been advised that alcohol was not good for depression, which she fell into every time her thoughts dwelled on all that she had lost.
It had been too much to bear. First her husband, and then their baby. Oh, God…
‘Penny for your thoughts.’
Sharni gritted her teeth as she glanced up, then reached for her glass of wine. To hell with being sensible, she thought, I need this drink today.
Adrian watched her sweep the glass up to her lips and take a deep swallow.
‘They’re worth a lot more than that,’ she replied. Somewhat bitterly, he thought.
‘I’m not sure what you mean there.’
She took another gulp of wine before answering. ‘I was thinking about the compensation I received from the Rail Authority.’
‘I hope they gave you a decent amount.’
Her laugh was very definitely bitter. ‘They weren’t going to. So I got myself a lawyer and sued them.’
‘Good for you.’
‘I was very lucky. My lawyer was brilliant. A woman. She was so incensed by my case that she gave me her services, pro bono.’
‘That doesn’t happen too often.’
‘Jordan was wonderfully kind to me.’
Adrian’s eyebrows arched in surprise. ‘Jordan as in Jordan Gray of Stedley & Parkinsons?’
Sharni’s wineglass stopped in mid-air. ‘Why, yes. Do you know Jordan?’
‘She’s married to Gino Bortelli, the Italian businessman who commissioned me to design this building. It’s called the Bortelli Tower.’
‘Good heavens! When did all this happen? Jordan wasn’t married when she represented me.’
‘About a year or so back. It seems Jordan and Gino knew each other years before and ran into each other again by accident when Gino was up here on business. Just in time, since Jordan was about to become engaged to another man. Anyway, to cut a long story short, true love won out. They’ve not long returned from an extended honeymoon in Italy. But they don’t live in Sydney. Their home is in Melbourne.’
‘What a shame. I would have loved to catch up with Jordan.’
‘I can give you their home phone number, if you like.’
‘Oh, no. No, I wouldn’t impose like that. I was just a client after all, not a close friend. But I’m glad to hear Jordan’s happily married. I presume she is happy?’
‘Very. She and Gino have a baby already. A boy. They called him Joe.’
‘How lovely,’ she said, her eyes going all misty for a moment. ‘I’m so glad for her.’
‘How much compensation did she get you?’ Adrian asked. ‘Or is that a rude question?’
‘Three million.’
He whistled. ‘That’s a nice tidy sum. I hope you’ve invested it wisely.’
‘It’s safe.’ Safe, sitting in a bank account that paid a reasonable rate of interest and had absolutely no risk at all.
‘Do you still live in the Blue Mountains?’ he asked her.
‘Yes. On the outskirts of Katoomba.’
‘So you’re just down here in Sydney today to shop?’
‘Not exactly. My sister thought I needed a little holiday. She gave me a weekend package at one of Sydney’s boutique hotels as a birthday present.’
‘You mean it’s your birthday today?’ What a perfect excuse to take her out this evening. If he could persuade her to go, of course!
‘No. My birthday was quite a few weeks ago.’
‘And you were?’
She slanted him a sharp glance. ‘Now that is a rude question. You should never ask a woman her age.’
He smiled. ‘I thought that only applied when they reached forty.’
‘Not in my book.’
‘Fair enough. So what do you do? Or don’t you work any more?’
‘I’m a veterinary assistant. But I’m only working part-time these days.’
Why was that? he wondered. Because she didn’t need the money, or because she was still traumatised by the tragedy of her husband’s death, or perhaps the subsequent trial?
There was something in her eyes when she mentioned the compensation that told him the trial had been just that. A trial. Adrian was well aware of how stressful it was to go to court over anything. He himself had had to sue a client once, and it hadn’t been pleasant. How much worse when it involved the tragic death of a loved one.
Her air of sadness touched him. But so did her Madonna-like beauty. It was damned intriguing, the effect Sharni was having on him. He could not recall ever feeling quite like this. She brought out the gallant in him. More than anything he wanted to make her smile. Wanted to give her pleasure.
More like give yourself pleasure, a sarcastic inner voice piped up. You want to get her into bed. That’s the bottom line. That’s always the bottom line with you, Adrian.
Adrian frowned. Normally, he would agree. But not this time. This time, something was different. He didn’t want to seduce Sharni so much as have the opportunity to spend more time with her. He wanted to get to know her. Really know her, not just in bed.
‘I wanted to become a vet,’ she went on, ‘but my marks at school weren’t good enough. I never was one to study. I’m a practical, hands-on kind of person.’
‘I don’t think it matters what you do in life, as long as you enjoy what you’re doing.’
‘You obviously enjoy being an architect,’ she said, and he smiled.
‘Does it show?’
‘You seem a happy man.’
‘I love my work,’ he said. ‘Too much, some people would say.’
Even his own mother thought he was way too obsessive.
But that was his nature. Adrian could never do things by half. When something interested him, he became consumed, body and soul.
This woman interested him, in ways no woman ever had before.
This in itself was intriguing. What was it about her that made her so interesting to him? Yes, she was very pretty, but he met lots of pretty girls. She wasn’t super-clever, or super sophisticated, or super sexy, as Felicity had been.
Aside from being a brunette, Sharni was different from every woman he’d ever dated. They’d all been highly educated career girls whom he’d met through his work. Felicity had been a top interior designer. Before that, there’d been a female architect or two, a corporate lawyer, a computer expert and one super-smart marketing manager.
There’d not been one veterinary assistant who lived in the bush and blushed when caught in the act of looking at a man.
‘You’re staring at me,’ she said in a low voice.
Adrian smiled. ‘Well, that makes us even. You’ve stared at me a good deal today.’
His counter-attack clearly flustered her. ‘Yes, but you know why.’
‘Are you saying you only find me attractive because I remind you of your husband?’
She blinked her surprise at his directness. ‘Who said I find you attractive?’
‘Your eyes told me. The same way my eyes are telling you I find you attractive.’
Her cheeks went pink. ‘Please don’t flirt with me, Adrian.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I…I can’t handle it.’
‘Are you saying I’m the first man to pay you this kind of attention since your husband died?’
‘I haven’t been with another man since Ray, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t go out. And I don’t date.’
Her admission stunned Adrian. Five years of living by herself. Five years without male company, or sex of any kind. It wasn’t natural. Or healthy.
‘I find that terribly sad, Sharni.’
‘Life is sad,’ she said, and took another sip of wine.
‘You are coming out with me tonight,’ he stated firmly.
Her eyes widened before meeting his over the rim of her glass.
‘Am I?’
There was enough wavering in those two words, and in her eyes, to satisfy Adrian.
‘Absolutely,’ he said, just as their meals arrived.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘COFFEE or tea?’ Adrian asked.
Sharni looked up from where she’d been devouring the last bite of the simply delicious almond and plum tart.
Roland was standing by their table, patiently waiting for her decision.
‘Coffee, please,’ she said after dabbing her mouth with the white linen serviette. ‘Cappuccino.’
‘I’ll have a short black,’ Adrian told the waiter who swiftly departed to do their bidding.
Sharni could see why Adrian came here often. Not only was the food great, but the service was very quick.
‘So where would you like me to take you tonight?’ he asked.
Sharni sighed. She should have known he’d come back to that sooner or later. He’d very cleverly lulled her into a false sense of security over their meal by stopping the flirtatious talk and steering any conversation onto more impersonal topics such as food, politics and the weather.
Now, his eyes were back on hers again, their focus disturbingly intense. But oh-so-flattering.
He was right. She did find him attractive. How could she not? But Adrian’s charm for her was not just physical. It was the way he made her feel, as if he found her the most fascinating female in the world.
There was no use pretending she didn’t want to go out with him tonight. But the prospect was accompanied by a measure of fear. What if he tried to seduce her? What if he succeeded?
For the last five years Sharni had lived a sexless existence, that part of her body having totally shut down. She hadn’t had a period since she’d lost her baby, various doctors suggesting her lack of hormonal activity was caused by shock and grief. To be honest, she hadn’t given sex a second thought in ages.
Now, suddenly, she was very definitely thinking about it.
Was the wine over lunch to blame, or this man’s amazing resemblance to Ray?
She’d been sexually attracted to Ray from the moment. But they’d dated for several weeks before they’d slept together. Even then, it had been left up to her to make the first move, Ray having been chronically shy in the bedroom department.
Not so this man, she thought as she glanced across the table. He would know all the right moves.
If only he didn’t look so much like Ray…
‘We could have an early dinner then go to a show afterwards,’ he said, breaking into her ongoing silence. ‘Or a show first and supper afterwards, if you’d prefer. Have you seen The Phantom of the Opera? The musical, not the movie. They say this latest revival is better than all previous productions.’
Sharni had always loved the story of the phantom. She thought it highly romantic. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music was marvellous too, echoing the uncontrollable passions that consumed the main character.
‘No, I haven’t,’ she admitted. ‘But—’
‘No buts, Sharni,’ he broke in. ‘Your sister gave you this weekend in Sydney so that you could enjoy yourself. It’s not much fun sitting in a hotel room by yourself, especially on a Saturday night. If you’re still worried about my being a stranger, then I’ll ring Jordan right now so that she can vouch for me.’ To show he meant it, Adrian pulled a silver mobile phone from his jacket pocket and flipped it open.
‘No, no, you don’t have to do that,’ she said hurriedly. ‘I can see you’re not some kind of creep.’
His handsome face showed shock. ‘I should hope not.’
‘I suppose it wouldn’t be much fun sitting in the hotel room tonight all by myself.’
‘So you’ll come?’
‘You’ve talked me into it.’
‘Fantastic,’ he said, smiling.
Her heart fluttered. So did her stomach. He really was utterly gorgeous when he smiled like that.
‘What about The Phantom?’ he asked. ‘Is that a goer, or would you prefer a different show? A play, perhaps.’
‘No, no, I love musicals.’
‘Would you like me to book dinner before or supper afterwards?’
‘I think supper afterwards.’
‘That’s great,’ he said with a satisfied glint in his bright blue eyes. ‘Now, after we finish our coffee, I’m going to take you across the street to a spot where you can have a proper look at my pride and joy. Then, after you’ve been suitably impressed with my brilliance at designing the outsides of the building, I’ll give you a quick tour of the inside.’
‘It’ll have to be very quick,’ she told him. ‘I’ll need some time before the shops close to buy a suitable outfit to wear tonight. I only bought casual clothes this morning.’
‘I could come shopping with you, if you like?’
Sharni could see he was very much a takeover type of person. ‘Don’t you have something else you should be doing this afternoon?’
‘Not really,’ he said. ‘I finished my latest plan to my satisfaction late yesterday. I always give myself a complete break between projects.’
‘For how long?’
‘At least a day,’ he said, laughing. ‘So what do you say? I have good taste in women’s clothes.’
‘I hate taking anyone clothes shopping with me,’ she said quite truthfully. ‘I prefer to trust my own taste.’
‘And an excellent taste it is, too,’ he complimented, his gaze admiring as he looked her up and down.
Sharni could not help smiling. ‘I think you are an incorrigible charmer.’
‘And I think you could do with a bit of charming. Ah, our coffee’s coming.’
‘Just as well. I need sobering up. I think I’m a little tipsy.’ It wasn’t like her to feel this light-hearted. Or this happy.
Once they’d finished their coffee, Adrian saw to the bill whilst Sharni picked up her shopping bags and stood up.
Oh, dear, she thought when her head whirled alarmingly. There was no doubt about it. She’d had way too much to drink!
CHAPTER FIVE
‘OH, MY!’ Sharni exclaimed. ‘That is one magnificent building.’
They were standing together on the pavement across the street, Adrian holding her shopping bags whilst Sharni shielded her eyes from the sun’s rays and gazed up at Bortelli Tower.
‘I never imagined anything this big, or this beautiful!’ she said with ego-stroking awe in her voice. ‘I love the grey colour of the glass you’ve used.’
‘The manufacturer calls it smokescreen. Naturally no UV rays can get through. Or heat, or cold.’
‘It’s gorgeous. And the hexagonal shape is just so unusual.’
‘I like it.’
She smiled up at him. ‘I dare say you do, since you designed it. How many floors are there?’
‘Twenty-five. The first ten are devoted to office space. There’s a health club and heated pool on the eleventh floor. After that, it’s all privately owned apartments, with lots of balconies to take advantage of the views.’
‘I bet they’re very expensive.’
‘They are. But Gino sold every one of them off the plan.’
‘Wow! That’s incredible. So what floor do you live on?’
‘The twenty-fifth.’
‘The twenty-fifth.’ She frowned momentarily before gaping up at him. ‘You live in the penthouse?’
Adrian loved her sweet surprise. ‘It was part of the contract I made with Gino when he commissioned my services.’
‘But a penthouse right in the middle of Sydney has to be worth millions! I didn’t realise architects got paid that much.’
‘Some of us do,’ he replied, thinking of the seven-figure fee he usually commanded for this type of job. ‘But Gino asked me to oversee the construction of the building as well, so the penthouse came as a bonus.’
‘Do you do that kind of job often?’
‘Sometimes. It’s great watching my designs take shape. But projects of this scale take a special sort of commitment. That’s why I was able to negotiate such a good deal with this one. Come on, let’s go back over the road and I’ll take you up onto the rooftop. The view from up there is incomparable on a clear winter’s day.’
‘Will that take long?’ she asked. ‘It’s getting on for two-thirty.’
‘I could have you up there in five minutes,’ he said. ‘And back down here shopping in fifteen, tops. All the lifts are the latest high-speed design.’
She still hesitated.
Adrian understood why. Sharni was a nice girl. And nice girls didn’t swan up to a man’s apartment within a couple of hours of meeting him. Not even if that apartment was a penthouse worth millions.
‘I promise I won’t make a pass, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ he reassured her. ‘I just want to show you the view.’
This was only partly true. What he actually wanted, more than anything, was the opportunity to spend a little more time with her. She delighted him as no woman had ever delighted him. It was a serious shame that she wouldn’t let him go shopping with her. He would have loved helping her choose the right outfit for tonight. A sexy little black dress, perhaps. With long tight sleeves, a short, bottom-hugging skirt and a low-cut neckline. Very low. The kind of neckline that needed a decent bust to show it off. Like the one Sharni had.
Adrian gave himself a mental shake when his train of thought began transferring messages to his body. Highly arousing messages.
Thank goodness it was winter and he was wearing a jacket.
His sudden upsurge in testosterone, however, urged him to take more control of this situation.
‘Come on,’ he said firmly, cupping his free hand around her elbow and steering her back towards the pedestrian crossing at the corner.
She didn’t protest, he noted, going along with what he wanted. As a woman sometimes did when a man took the helm.
‘This way,’ he said once they reached the kerb, and led her along the street frontage towards the main entrance of the building. On the way, they had to pass two shops, one of which was a very exclusive ladies’ fashion boutique.
As luck would have it, there, on a mannequin in the window, was an outfit that was absolutely perfect for going to the theatre. It wasn’t totally black. Only the skirt, which fell in floaty folds to mid-calf length. The top was purple, and beaded, with three-quarter sleeves and a deep, crossover neckline, which was subtly sexy.
Not so subtle were the black five-inch heels that the window-dresser had put on the model’s feet.
‘Oh!’ Sharni exclaimed, and ground to an admiring halt in front of the window.
‘You’d look good in that,’ Adrian said straight away.
More than good, but he didn’t want to gush. Women didn’t like men who gushed.
‘You really think so?’
‘I really think so,’ he said coolly. ‘Let’s go inside and you can try it on.’
CHAPTER SIX
SHARNI looked at herself in the dressing-room mirror and thought, Wow, I really do look good, just like Adrian said I would.
Not just good, Sharni amended as she turned this way and that, setting the black chiffon skirt swinging around her legs. I look sexy.
And I feel sexy.
Was it the wine she’d drunk over lunch? Or because the salesgirl had suggested she take off her bra?
Sharni’s curves rarely went without support, despite their not being saggy in any way. She’d never been inclined to show off her breasts in public, Ray having always liked her conservative way of dressing.
What would he think if he saw you in this top? Sharni wondered as she stared at her exposed cleavage.
He’d be shocked, she knew. Shocked and disapproving.
She felt shocked, too. Not by the way she looked, but by the way she felt.
Unbearably excited.
A tap on the dressing-cubicle door sent a nervous gasp punching from her lips. ‘Yes?’
‘Your husband wants you to come out and show him what you look like,’ the salesgirl called through the door.
Sharni should have denied he was her husband. But she didn’t.
Instead, she swallowed, then opened the door.
‘Oh, no,’ the salesgirl said, glancing down at her stockinged feet. ‘You can’t go out there like that. I’ll get you some shoes. What size are you?’
‘Seven.’
‘In that case the ones on the model should fit you. Wait here. I’ll go get them.’
The shoes were produced, with Sharni having to sit down to put them on. They were cripplingly high and sinfully sexy, each having a narrow strap across the front, with two more straps attached at the back which wound round her ankles and tied in a bow. She’d never in her life worn anything like them.
Sharni teetered at first when she stood up, having to keep her steps small as she made her way very slowly out to where Adrian was waiting, leaning against a counter in the middle of the boutique.
He straightened on seeing her, his blue eyes narrowing as they raked over her from top to toe.
Never had any man looked at her in quite that way before, not even Ray. The intensity of his gaze overwhelmed her, making her knees go to jelly.
‘Walk up and down a few times,’ Adrian commanded in that masterful way that made Sharni’s stomach flutter wildly.
Not a totally unknown state for her these days. But her nervous tummy was usually due to anxiety, not excitement.
Once she found her balance, her hips surprised her by developing a decidedly sexy sway. The effect on her psyche was amazing. Suddenly, she was a femme fatale; a temptress who commanded all male eyes be upon her.
But there was only one male Sharni wanted looking at her at that moment. And he very definitely was, with glittering blue eyes that evoked a heat in her that felt both shameful and shameless.
‘I told you you’d look great in that,’ he said, his voice low and sexy.
Sharni’s heart quickened its beat.
‘She’ll take it,’ he told the salesgirl before Sharni had a chance to come to a decision.
‘The shoes as well?’ the girl asked Adrian.
‘Absolutely,’ came his crisp reply.
‘You…you do realise I’ll probably never ever wear these shoes again,’ she said, even as she admired them.
‘Of course you will,’ he countered. ‘Every time you wear that fantastic outfit. Now go get changed, like a good girl, while I fix up the bill.’
Sharni flushed with the weirdest mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. ‘I can’t possibly let you pay for my clothes, Adrian,’ she protested. ‘It’s not right.’
‘What’s not right about it? I can well afford a few hundred dollars.’
‘That’s not the point!’
He smiled, then reached out to stroke a tender fingertip down her nose. ‘All right, sweet Sharni,’ he said, his eyes soft on hers. ‘You can pay for your own clothes. But this is the last time you get to pay for anything when you’re with me. Off you go and change now. But don’t be too long. Now that you have something suitable to wear tonight, you don’t have to waste the afternoon shopping. We can spend it together, doing something more interesting.’
He was like a steamroller, Sharni thought as she changed back into her trousers and jumper.
But it was exciting, being swept along like this.
What did he have in mind for this afternoon? she wondered momentarily before deciding she wouldn’t wonder. Or worry. About anything. Not even what it was about her that interested him.
After all, a man like Adrian would have no shortage of women—more beautiful than herself—throwing themselves at him.
This last thought did give Sharni something to worry about. Surely Adrian must have a girlfriend. Surely!
Should she ask him and risk bringing an abrupt ending to their time together today? Or avoid the question altogether?
Sharni was still dithering over this dilemma when she emerged from the dressing room.
Adrian’s satisfaction at the way things were going was temporarily derailed when he saw the expression on Sharni’s face.
He didn’t like whatever was going on in her mind, but didn’t say a word whilst she paid for her purchases. Experience had taught him never to tamper with a woman’s mind. They were minefields that could blow up in your face when least expected.
‘Let me take a couple of those,’ she said when they left the shop with him carrying all her parcels.
‘If you insist,’ he returned, thinking he would need a hand free to extract his key-card for the lifts.
‘I insist,’ she said, and took the two bags from the boutique.