Second Chance Proposal: A Man Without Mercy / Bring It On / Rancher to the Rescue

Thankfully, he let go of her hand once they reached the sun-drenched balcony, and Vivienne was quick to put some distance between herself and Jack, walking swiftly over to stand at the iron railing, which she gripped with both hands as though her life depended on it. And it did, actually, there being a considerable drop from the balcony onto the rocky hillside below.

Not that she gazed down for more than a split second, her eyes soon returning to admire the view, which was as spectacular as Jack had promised.

In truth, Vivienne had never seen a view like it, not just for its natural beauty but for the sheer size and expanse of the panorama. It felt like she was standing on a mountaintop looking out over treetops at the bay beyond. She had no idea how large Port Stephens was but it looked enormous! And so beautiful and blue. Of course, it was a cloudless spring day, so the colour of the water reflected the blue of the sky. Perhaps on a rainy day it might not look so spectacular. But today, Mother Nature was on show and it took Vivienne’s breath away.

Though not quite to the degree that Jack’s holding her hand a minute ago had taken it away.

Vivienne still could not get over the intensity of her physical response to something as simple as hand-holding. Her mind boggled at what she might do if Jack ever kissed her, or touched her in a more intimate fashion.

Not that he was likely to, so she was safe on that score. But just thinking about it sent an erotically charged shiver trickling down her spine. Her hands tightened on the railing when Jack moved to stand beside her.

‘Well?’ he said somewhat smugly. ‘It is an incredible view, isn’t it?’

Vivienne gritted her teeth as she turned to face him. ‘“Incredible” hardly describes it, Jack,’ she said, proud that she could sound so calm when she felt anything but. It was as well, however, that she was wearing sunglasses. They gave her a degree of safety. ‘I guess, if I had the money, I’d be tempted to buy this place too. That is one seductive view.’

‘It’s even better from the top floor,’ he said. ‘Shall we go take a look?’

What could she say? No, I don’t think so, Jack. And no, I’m sorry, but I won’t be taking this job after all. He’d want to know why and she couldn’t tell him the truth, could she? Couldn’t confess suddenly to lusting after him with a lust to rival what Paris had felt for Helen of Troy. He’d think she’d gone barmy! Which, of course, she had. Totally, tragically barmy!

‘Shouldn’t you show me the downstairs apartments first?’ she said.

‘That can wait. Come on.’

‘You lead the way,’ she said quickly before he could reach for her hand again. ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

Being behind Jack wasn’t totally without trouble; Vivienne was having difficulty keeping her eyes off his very nice butt, especially once he started up the stairs. In desperation she dropped her gaze to her feet until she reached the upper level which opened out into a spacious semi-circular landing, over which hung a very elaborate crystal chandelier.

‘I gather this was once Francesco’s private art gallery,’ Jack said. ‘But, as you can see,’ he went on, waving a hand towards where several paintings obviously had once hung against the heavily embossed wallpaper, ‘All the pictures are now gone.’

‘Would you like it to be an art gallery again?’ Vivienne asked, doing her best to refocus on business.

Jack shrugged. ‘I’ll leave that decision up to you. I know I’ll like whatever you do with it.’

Oh dear, Vivienne thought with some dismay, only too aware that she was slowly being sucked into a situation from which there was no escape. Because in truth she really wanted to do this job, wanted to transform Francesco’s Folly into the type of home Jack would love. His faith in her abilities was extremely flattering. And the house itself was a fantastic challenge. It was impossible to say no. And yet she knew she should. Nothing good was going to come out of working side by side with Jack. She could feel it in her bones—and several other parts of her body as well!

‘This way,’ he said, and walked over to the double doors in the centre of the semi-circular wall, throwing them both open and waving her inside with a flourish of his right arm.

Vivienne walked past him into a massive rectangular-shaped living room, which she knew instantly would look fabulous if and when it was properly refurbished. Her designer’s eyes were picturing the room with its hideous wallpaper stripped off, the walls painted white and the dated furniture replaced by more modern pieces. The marble fireplace at the far end of the room could stay, but the rest would have to go, especially the heavy brocade curtains which framed the glass doors leading out onto the balcony, and which were simply horrible.

‘I can see that decorating head of yours is already ticking away, Vivienne,’ Jack said, smiling as he headed over to the glass doors. ‘But first things first, madam. The view!’

Even from where she was standing Vivienne could see that the view from up here was even more spectacular than from the lower balcony. But to get there she had to brush past Jack, who was still standing in the half-opened doorway, waiting for her. She somehow managed to move past him without actually making bodily contact, hurrying over to the railing like the hounds of hell were after her. But as she closed her fingers over the top rung, leaning her weight against it at the same time, the whole thing suddenly shifted.

CHAPTER NINE

JACK SAW THE railing give way a split second before Vivienne screamed. With a burst of fear-fuelled adrenaline, he covered the distance between them with a speed which would later amaze him, grabbing at Vivienne as she began to lose her balance, her arms flailing wildly, her sunglasses flying off her face into the valley below. All he got hold of at first was the back of her suit jacket but it was enough to stop the momentum of her fall. Finally he managed to wind one firm arm around her waist and pull her back from where she was still teetering on the edge of disaster. She fell back against him, her scream silenced as she gasped for air. By the time he dragged her body back further from the edge of the balcony, her shock had turned to an almost hysterical sobbing.

This time, Jack didn’t hesitate to comfort her, turning her trembling body in his arms and holding her close.

‘There there,’ he murmured, one of his arms wrapped tightly around her lower back whilst the other gently stroked the nape of her neck. ‘Stop crying. You’re safe.’

But she didn’t stop crying. She wept on and on, Jack suspecting that her close brush with death might have released more emotions than just relief. Possibly she was crying over what had been happening in her life recently.

Whatever, having her pressed hard against him was not conducive to his peace of mind. Or the peace of his body. Despite willing his sex-starved flesh to stay calm, it did not. Common sense demanded he push her away from him. But to do so whilst she was still sobbing so disconsolately seemed heartless. All he could hope for was that she wouldn’t notice he was getting an erection.

Things went from bad to worse, however, when she moved her arms from where they’d been jammed between their chests and wound them tightly around his back, her head nestling into the crook of his neck. Now he could feel the soft fullness of her breasts, not to mention the warmth of her breath against his skin. When her crying finally stopped, he tried moving his lower half away from hers but it was almost impossible with the way she was clinging to him.

‘Vivienne,’ he said a bit brusquely.

Her head lifted, her tear-stained face no less beautiful, her lovely green eyes searching his with a strange intensity. And then she did something which shocked him. She planted her hands on his shoulders, reached up on tiptoe and kissed him full on the mouth. When he jerked his head backwards, her hands fell away and she sank back down on her heels, her face crumpling.

‘I’m sorry,’ she choked out. ‘I thought...I thought...Oh, it doesn’t matter what I thought. Obviously I was wrong.’ And she staggered back from him, her shoulders slumping, her eyes wretchedly unhappy.

‘No. You thought right, Vivienne. I’ve been struggling with my desire for you since I saw you naked in that bath yesterday. It’s come as a surprise to me, I admit, but I want you, and I’d like to take you to bed more than anything. But not like this, Vivienne.’

She lifted startled eyes to his. ‘What do you mean, not like this?’

Jack sighed as he pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head. ‘Your kiss just now. It wasn’t for me, not really. It was just a reaction to your close call with death. An instinctive wish to feel still alive.’

‘No,’ she denied quite fiercely. ‘That isn’t true. It was for you.’

Jack stared at her, shock rendering him speechless.

‘I’m not sure I understand this sudden sexual attraction I have for you any more than you understand yours for me,’ she swept on. ‘Since we’re being brutally honest here, till yesterday I never even liked you, let alone fancied you. It was weird, the way I started having these wicked thoughts about you.’

‘What kind of wicked thoughts?’ he asked her.

Vivienne shook her head. ‘I...I’ve tried to work them out because they don’t make sense. All I know is that I want you to make love to me. Very much so.’

Jack did his best to stay cool. Despite dying to put her words to the test, he suspected that if he wanted any kind of relationship with Vivienne—as opposed to just a quickie—then he needed to show some sensitivity to her present, highly vulnerable state. If he rushed her into bed right at this moment—there was a king-sized one in the nearby master bedroom, he recalled—she might regret it afterwards. At the same time, the temptation to do just that was almost irresistible.

‘Hell, Vivienne, you shouldn’t say things like that.’

‘Why not? It’s true. Crazy, perhaps, but true.’

He didn’t like the ‘crazy’ bit.

‘Kiss me, Jack,’ she begged. ‘Please.’

Oh God, he thought as his groin twitched painfully. ‘If I kiss you, I won’t stop at kissing,’ he told her bluntly.

She didn’t say a word, just closed her eyes and parted her lips in the most provocative fashion.

Jack groaned, then pulled her back into his arms—hard—his head swooping down at the same time.

It was not a tender or loving kiss. It was rough and ravaging, his hands lifting to hold her face solidly captive so there was no escape from his merciless assault on her mouth.

Not that she tried to escape; Vivienne moaned her surrender the moment his lips crashed down on hers. Her body melted against his, the soft swell of her stomach pressing against his erection. This only inflamed Jack further, his teeth nipping and tugging at her lips until they felt swollen and hot. She gasped when he ran his tongue over their burning surfaces, moaning when at last his tongue darted deep into her mouth.

Jack’s gut tightened when her lips closed tightly around him, sucking him in even deeper. He immediately started imagining what it would be like when she did that to other parts of his body. Which she would at some stage, he was sure. Although a cool character on the surface, Vivienne was obviously a wildly passionate woman underneath. A woman who liked sex and needed it. The perfect candidate to become his lover. Or even girlfriend, if that was what she wanted. He didn’t much care, as long as he could have her in his bed on a regular basis.

When he tore his mouth away from hers, she moaned again, her green eyes glazed when they opened to stare dazedly up at him.

‘Don’t say a word,’ he bit out. ‘I’m not stopping altogether. Just till I get a couple of things straight.’

She didn’t say a word. He suspected she was almost beyond talking, a fact he found rather flattering.

‘I don’t want this to be just a one-night stand,’ he said. ‘Or should I say, a one-day stand. I like you, Vivienne. Very much so. I want more from you than that. Tell me now if this idea doesn’t appeal to you, then I won’t start making plans for afterwards. If you say you don’t like me enough to consider a relationship with me, then after this once, we’ll have to go our separate ways. Because once we cross this line, sweetheart, there will be no working together unless we’re sleeping together.’

Jack hoped Vivienne didn’t see his ultimatum as a form of sexual harassment, or even blackmail. He was just telling her as it was. He wasn’t her boss. Yet. But by God he wanted to be, especially in the bedroom.

Hot images danced in his head of her obeying his every command and demand; of her going down on him wherever and whenever he wanted; of her being tied naked to various pieces of furniture, totally at his mercy. All silly fantasies, he suspected. Because, as passionate as Vivienne seemed to be, she wasn’t the submissive type. Though who knew? Maybe she would enjoy being dominated in the bedroom.

His earlier fierce arousal, which had subsided somewhat with his talking, came back with a vengeance.

‘You don’t need to give me your answer right now,’ he ground out to a still silent but flushed Vivienne. ‘Afterwards will do.’ Unable to wait another second, Jack swept her up into his arms and headed for the master bedroom. When his sunglasses fell off the back of his head in the process, he didn’t bother to stop and pick them up.

CHAPTER TEN

VIVIENNE’S HEAD WHIRLED with conflicting thoughts as she clamped her hands around Jack’s neck and burrowed her face into the base of his throat. What remained of her sense of decency demanded that she stop him right now. She liked Jack somewhat better than she had, but to have sex with him wasn’t right—surely?

But the voice of decency wasn’t nearly as powerful as the voice of desire. It obliterated and overwhelmed all objections with its promise of excitement and pleasure. Jack’s impassioned kiss had given her a taste of what was to come. Not just excitement and pleasure, but abandonment and satisfaction. The kind of abandonment which she’d always secretly craved. The kind of satisfaction which she’d never really enjoyed.

Somehow, Vivienne knew that in Jack’s arms she would become a different woman from the one who’d kept her virginity until she was twenty-one, and who’d remained a shy, timid lover in the years since that first, uninspiring initiation into sex. With Jack, she would be wild and wanton. Maybe even wicked. Already her lips were opening to kiss his neck. Though it wasn’t a kiss for long, more of a slow, sensual sucking at his skin, her heartbeat quickening at the sheer audacity of her action.

When he groaned and tipped his head to one side, her mouth clamped him more tightly, as if she were some rabid vampire.

This time he wrenched his head away before setting her down abruptly in the middle of a large room, which was devoid of all furniture except for a huge bed, which looked new, its striped red-and-white bedding totally at odds with the pale blue shag-pile carpet and faded floral wallpaper. The air in the room was a little musty but surprisingly warm, probably because the sliding glass doors which led out onto the east-facing balcony would have caught the morning sun. Jack left her to go over and open one of those doors before turning and shaking his head at her.

‘Do you have any idea what kind of teasing I’ll get at work with a love bite on my neck?’ he said, and rubbed at the spot on his neck that she’d been ravaging.

Vivienne tried to summon up some shame but it seemed she was beyond it. ‘I can’t imagine any of your employees daring to tease you.’

Jack chuckled. ‘In that case, you don’t know men very well.’

‘Perhaps not,’ she murmured, the thought occurring to her that she didn’t know herself very well either. Certainly not this new uninhibited self, the one who was much more daring—and a lot more exciting—than the Vivienne she was used to.

‘Not to worry,’ Jack said and took off his jacket, tossing it onto the carpet with typical male nonchalance. ‘I’ll wear a shirt with a collar for a few days. But please,’ he added as he stripped off his T-shirt, ‘try to confine that sexy mouth of yours to areas of mine normally covered by clothes.’

‘Yes, boss,’ she said as she ogled his quite magnificent male body. His shoulders were impressively broad, his arms bulging with muscles, his chest superbly sculptured and nicely tanned with surprisingly little body hair, just a smattering of curls in the centre, plus a narrow line of them arrowing down past his six-pack, ending at his navel. His hips were slender but his thighs looked massive in those tight jeans.

So did something else...

Vivienne had always thought she would never be attracted to a big man; that their sheer size would intimidate her.

Well, guess what, Vivienne? You were dead wrong!

Her breath caught when he snapped open the waistband on his jeans, her heartbeat suspending as he ran the zip down.

‘Why aren’t you getting undressed?’ he threw over at her as he peeled off his jeans, revealing a huge bulge in his black underpants. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve gone all shy on me. Come now, Vivienne, you and I both know that the uptight image you project at work is not the real you at all. You’re hot stuff, sweetheart.’

Vivienne certainly felt hot at that moment. Her face flamed as she gulped then sucked in a much-needed breath.

Jack smiled a decidedly smug smile. ‘Ah, I get it. You like to watch. Fine by me,’ he said, and took off his remaining underwear.

Oh my... And she’d thought Daryl was reasonably well-equipped.

Compared to Jack, Daryl was... Well, he just didn’t compare! No wonder Jack wasn’t shy about showing off his body; he was incredible, Vivienne thought as her admiring gaze ran over him once again from top to toe.

‘You do like to watch, don’t you?’ he said as he reached for his discarded jeans and extracted his wallet from the back pocket. ‘Can’t say I’m much of a watcher. But with you, lovely Vivienne, I’m going to make an exception.’

Vivienne was taken aback when, after taking a condom out of his wallet and tossing the wallet back down on his jeans, Jack walked over to the bed. He stretched out on top of the duvet, dropping the small foil packet he was holding onto his chest before looping his hands behind his head and acting for all the world like he wasn’t stark naked with an erection the size of the Eiffel Tower.

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘I’m ready to watch. Take your clothes off. But very slowly, please. I want to savour every moment.’

When she just stood there, dry-mouthed and motionless, he shot her an intense look. ‘Come now, Vivienne, what are you waiting for? You know patience is not one of my virtues.’

When she hesitated further, her new, wicked self started whispering in her ear.

Yes, Vivienne, what are you waiting for? You want to take your clothes off for him. You know you do. You want to see him look at your breasts the way he did yesterday. You want to see those hard blue eyes glitter with lust for you. More than anything, you want to abandon every inferior feeling you’ve ever had about yourself when to comes to sex. Jack thinks you’re hot stuff. Then be hot stuff, girl. It’s now or never!

Her hands still shook as she took off her jacket slowly—very slowly—the way Jack had ordered. She hated the thought of dropping it on the floor, such an action going against Vivienne’s compulsion to keep everything neat and tidy. But, since there weren’t any chairs in the room, she really had no option. In a weird kind of way, actually letting the jacket drop from her fingers onto the carpet produced a strangely liberating buzz. By the time her hands went to the top button of her shirt, Vivienne was surprised to see that they were no longer shaking. Her breathing had quickened, however. Not from nerves; from excitement. She watched Jack’s eyes as she flicked open each button. They weren’t on her face, of course. They were riveted to her chest.

It did bother Vivienne slightly that she was wearing a white cotton minimiser bra rather than the kind of lacy half-cup push-up number Jack was probably expecting. After all, he’d made it clear he believed that underneath her cool, career-woman surface she was a seriously sexy babe, the sort of woman who would wear seriously sexy underwear.

As much as she liked that idea, Jack was, unfortunately, mistaken. All she could hope for was that he wouldn’t care once she took the darned thing off. He’d obviously liked the look of her breasts yesterday so she wasn’t shy about showing them off to him. Frankly, she no longer felt at all shy. Amazing!

His eyes remained glued to her chest whilst she peeled her blouse back off her shoulders and let it flutter down to the floor. His expression didn’t change at the sight of her cotton bra, though Vivienne was quick to remove the less-than-flattering garment from her body. Now his eyes narrowed, his lips parting slightly as he drew in a ragged breath then let it out slowly. Finally, his eyes lifted to her face.

‘Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful breasts in the world?’

‘No,’ she replied truthfully. Daryl had said how beautiful she was all the time, but he’d never singled out her breasts for his compliments.

‘I find that hard to believe. They are incredible. I could look at them all day. But I’d infinitely prefer to touch them.’ he said as he removed his hands from behind his head.

Vivienne’s nipples responded to his declaration of intent by standing to attention in the most flagrant fashion. Obviously they wanted to be touched as much as Jack wanted to touch them. She removed the rest of her clothes in one brisk movement, thereby hiding her rather unflattering white cotton briefs. On top of that, it didn’t allow time for her mind to fill with negative thoughts about her wide hips or soft stomach, or the many other physical flaws which worried her from time to time. Jack might think her breasts perfect but not all men liked full breasts, or hourglass figures.

Her first serious boyfriend—the insensitive creep—had told her that he actually preferred skinny girls. But he’d loved that she was a virgin. Needless to say, their relationship hadn’t lasted, and Vivienne had taken some considerable time before she’d risked her heart—and her body—a second time.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about her heart this time, since she wasn’t in love with Jack.

‘You are one seriously beautiful woman,’ he said thickly, his hot gaze reflecting his admiration. ‘Now get yourself over here, Vivienne. I’ve done enough watching for one day.’

Never in her life had Vivienne felt as sexy—or as excited—as she did at that moment.

‘Coming, boss,’ she said in a low, sultry voice, sashaying over to stand at the side of the bed.

Jack looked her slowly up and down with a decidedly lascivious gaze. ‘Mmm. I like it when you call me that.’

For some weird and wonderful reason, she liked calling him that too. Strange, when normally she found his bossy ways extremely irritating.

‘Okay, Vivienne,’ he went on. ‘Take this condom here and put it on me. I don’t think I can manage after that wicked striptease of yours.’

Vivienne wasn’t sure that she could manage, either. She’d never put a condom on before. But no way was she going to tell him that. Any self-respecting sexually experienced woman should be able to slip on protection with their eyes closed. ‘Truly,’ she said with just the right amount of droll exasperation as she picked up the foil packet and ripped it open the way she’d seen Daryl do. ‘Are you sure this will fit?’ She stared down at the small circle of rubber.

Jack sighed. ‘Here. Give it to me.’

She happily handed it over. ‘Yes, boss.’

‘Truly,’ he said, copying her earlier droll tone to a tee.

When she laughed, he did too.Their eyes met, her heart squeezing tight as her stomach flipped over. The old Vivienne might have imagined there was more going on between them than just sex. The new Vivienne knew exactly what was causing her physical responses. Her eyes dropped to where Jack was expertly rolling the condom over the full length of his amazing erection, her mouth drying as she tried to imagine how it would feel inside her.