make him relax and would turn into a needy, clinging harridan who wanted more out of him than he was willing to give. Having never had much of a head for numbers, Tess could do the maths pretty quickly when it came to
this
particular scenario.
‘In fact, like I said, you’re not the type of man I would ever fall for,’ she confided.
‘I’m not…?’
‘No! I may not be experienced, but I’m not foolish enough to think that lust has anything to do with love.’ ‘You just gave your virginity to me because…?’
‘Because I wanted to. No one’s really ever turned me on like.’
‘Like me?’ Matt interjected smoothly. ‘I believe you. Lust can be powerful. Overwhelming. And maybe you came to New York looking for an adventure. Why else would you be using contraception? You’re young, you’re beautiful. Did you get bored where you lived?’
Tess was still lagging behind, wondering whether she should own up to the fact that she wasn’t actually using any contraception at all but was perfectly safe anyway. Matt’s low, seductive murmur seemed to be coming from a long way away. His clever mind was leapfrogging through what she had said and making its own deductions. She had come to Manhattan seeking adventure. She had been bored and restless. She had taken the necessary precautions not because she was desperate to lose her virginity but because she wanted to be prepared in case the situation arose. Perhaps she had been dazzled at the thought of Manhattan and everything and every
one
it could offer. That would make perfect sense to him. He was a man with a healthy sexual appetite. He would fully understand how, at the age of twenty-three, her virginity might have become an albatross around her neck rather than a treasure to be hugged until the perfect man came along. Hell, there was no such thing as a perfect soul mate anyway!
Tess half listened and made vague appropriate noises. For a man with a brilliant mind he seemed very good at arriving at all the wrong conclusions, but she knew that he had to. He had to make sense of her and slot her into a category that didn’t threaten the pattern of his orderly life because he wanted her. He wasn’t at all surprisedthat she had chosen to lose her virginity with
him.
He was supremely confident of his own sexual magnetism. His misguided conclusions and freewheeling assumptions even made sense in a weird, convoluted way.
She wasn’t sure she recognised herself as this woman who knew what she wanted, was in search of sexual adventure, and had the good sense to go on the pill, throwing caution to the winds so that she could have a no-strings-attached relationship with him.
It would have been so much easier if she
had
been that person, she thought ruefully. Instead, here she was—not too sure what she was doing or what she had got herself mixed up in.
‘So on Monday…’ He kissed her with such leisurely, thorough expertise that she forgot how precarious her life had suddenly become. ‘I’ll make sure that I’m back by six. We’ll take Samantha out for a meal somewhere. I’m hoping conversation might be back on the agenda with her. And afterwards…’
Tess felt the thrill of excitement. It flooded her veins like a toxin. It closed her mind to any question that she might be doing the wrong thing.
CHAPTER SIX
T ESS stared in the mirror at the woman she had become in the space of four glorious weeks. The changes were slight, but
she
had no difficulty in noticing them. Matt Strickland had turned her into a woman. In a series of barely recognisable stages she had grown up. She dressed differently now. The trainers had been replaced with flats. The vests were a little less clinging.
‘I don’t want other men looking at you,’ he had told her, with a possessiveness that had thrilled her to the bone. ‘Is that a crime? When you wear those tight vests men look, and when they look I want to kill them. And don’t even
think
of going anywhere without a bra. That
this
particular scenario.
‘In fact, like I said, you’re not the type of man I would ever fall for,’ she confided.
‘I’m not…?’
‘No! I may not be experienced, but I’m not foolish enough to think that lust has anything to do with love.’ ‘You just gave your virginity to me because…?’
‘Because I wanted to. No one’s really ever turned me on like.’
‘Like me?’ Matt interjected smoothly. ‘I believe you. Lust can be powerful. Overwhelming. And maybe you came to New York looking for an adventure. Why else would you be using contraception? You’re young, you’re beautiful. Did you get bored where you lived?’
Tess was still lagging behind, wondering whether she should own up to the fact that she wasn’t actually using any contraception at all but was perfectly safe anyway. Matt’s low, seductive murmur seemed to be coming from a long way away. His clever mind was leapfrogging through what she had said and making its own deductions. She had come to Manhattan seeking adventure. She had been bored and restless. She had taken the necessary precautions not because she was desperate to lose her virginity but because she wanted to be prepared in case the situation arose. Perhaps she had been dazzled at the thought of Manhattan and everything and every
one
it could offer. That would make perfect sense to him. He was a man with a healthy sexual appetite. He would fully understand how, at the age of twenty-three, her virginity might have become an albatross around her neck rather than a treasure to be hugged until the perfect man came along. Hell, there was no such thing as a perfect soul mate anyway!
Tess half listened and made vague appropriate noises. For a man with a brilliant mind he seemed very good at arriving at all the wrong conclusions, but she knew that he had to. He had to make sense of her and slot her into a category that didn’t threaten the pattern of his orderly life because he wanted her. He wasn’t at all surprisedthat she had chosen to lose her virginity with
him.
He was supremely confident of his own sexual magnetism. His misguided conclusions and freewheeling assumptions even made sense in a weird, convoluted way.
She wasn’t sure she recognised herself as this woman who knew what she wanted, was in search of sexual adventure, and had the good sense to go on the pill, throwing caution to the winds so that she could have a no-strings-attached relationship with him.
It would have been so much easier if she
had
been that person, she thought ruefully. Instead, here she was—not too sure what she was doing or what she had got herself mixed up in.
‘So on Monday…’ He kissed her with such leisurely, thorough expertise that she forgot how precarious her life had suddenly become. ‘I’ll make sure that I’m back by six. We’ll take Samantha out for a meal somewhere. I’m hoping conversation might be back on the agenda with her. And afterwards…’
Tess felt the thrill of excitement. It flooded her veins like a toxin. It closed her mind to any question that she might be doing the wrong thing.
CHAPTER SIX
T ESS stared in the mirror at the woman she had become in the space of four glorious weeks. The changes were slight, but
she
had no difficulty in noticing them. Matt Strickland had turned her into a woman. In a series of barely recognisable stages she had grown up. She dressed differently now. The trainers had been replaced with flats. The vests were a little less clinging.
‘I don’t want other men looking at you,’ he had told her, with a possessiveness that had thrilled her to the bone. ‘Is that a crime? When you wear those tight vests men look, and when they look I want to kill them. And don’t even
think
of going anywhere without a bra. That
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