A Taste of Sin

‘So you won’t even take a risk and try it?’

Unable to glance away from his mesmerising gaze, she felt her breath hitch. ‘No...I won’t...’

But even as she refused a look of heated longing drifted across his irises and she sensed her resistance indisputably melting. Underneath their polite words, somehow a much more sensual conversation was taking place. Rose couldn’t deny it. That impossibly irresistible look of Gene Bonnaire’s was captivating her, stirring her own longing into life, and right then all she wanted to do was to fulfil it...

Gene moved to stand in front of her, his mesmerising blue eyes smouldering like simmering fires... In the next instant the businessman had firmly caught hold of her arm and pulled her against his chest.

Rose’s blood pumped hard. All she could do was helplessly stare back at him. It was undeniable that he excited her, but his sheer physical presence disturbed her too. It only took a glance to see how supremely fit and strong he was.

Low-voiced, he murmured, ‘God forgive me, but...’

The time that elapsed between his words and his next action was brief...too brief for her to stop him.

His urgent, initially demanding kiss stole her breath and made her sink against the hard wall of his chest. Her senses were utterly besieged by him. And as his hot silken mouth moved over hers and became more and more seductive Rose didn’t have the faintest inclination to end the passionate caress.

Then somehow it filtered through to her fogged brain just how dangerous her compliant actions were and she came hurtling back to her senses. Shocked and shaken, she freed herself from the Frenchman’s embrace and wiped her hand over her already aching lips.

Staring back at him, she declared, ‘Your arrogance, Mr Bonnaire, has to be seen to be believed! I don’t know what you thought you were doing, but I think you’d better just leave.’

Her heart pumped even harder. The heat from his body and his velvet mouth had seared her indelibly, and she already knew she wasn’t easily going to forget it.

‘I didn’t intend to kiss you, Rose, but somehow the desire overwhelmed me. I am as disturbed by it as you are. I apologise. If you really won’t come to dinner with me then I can do no more than tell you about the amended deal I have come up with.’

He paused, as if to take a moment to straighten his thoughts. There was a slight crimson tint beneath his tan that bore out his declaration that desire had overwhelmed him. Rose didn’t know what to make of it herself. She was just an ordinary girl, and he was—he was a living, breathing Adonis...

‘I already know how much getting the best deal for your boss means to you, and I have spent quite some time thinking about how I can make that a reality for you both. This is my new offer.’

His hand dived into the inside pocket of his jacket and he drew out a slim sheet of paper. Unfolding it, he handed it to Rose.

Her jaw all but hit the floor when she saw how much he was prepared to pay for the privilege of owning the building. His initial offer had practically doubled. For dizzying moments she was literally lost for words.

‘This amount of money can be a real life-changer for Philip, Rose. That being the case, why on earth would you turn down the opportunity to help make things better for him? If you were to persuade him to see the sense in selling to me, then I’m sure he would be nothing but relieved. If he accepted my offer then he would have the worry of the business off his hands and earn himself a more than healthy profit. No doubt you would be happy too, Rose, because his ill health would undoubtedly be restored and, last but not least, I don’t deny I would be pleased, because I’d get the property I’ve long desired.’

‘And the name of the game is always that you get what you want, isn’t it, Mr Bonnaire? There’s nothing altruistic about this scenario, is there? You don’t give a fig about my employer’s health, or whether I’m happy or not happy. Why should you? You know nothing about us! You’ve seen something you want and you’ll do anything...pay any price...to get it. Isn’t that how people like you operate?’

To Rose’s consternation, he chuckled. It was a rich, gravelly sound that sent shivers running up and down her spine.

‘Touché...you’ve got it in one. You’re a bright woman...’

‘Don’t patronise me!’

Sighing, he folded his arms over his chest and studied her. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it. I’d much rather have you on my side than make you my enemy, Rose. By the way, your eyes are an incredible colour... I don’t doubt you’ve been told that many times before. What’s the shade? I’d say they were violet...’

Rose was hardly prepared for his remarks suddenly to become personal, even though he’d so passionately kissed her, and for several disturbing seconds it threw her. She could hardly think, let alone come back with a retort to put him in his place.

‘The colour of my eyes is neither here nor there. This conversation is completely futile. Now, I really need to close the shop and you have to go.’

‘Not yet. You haven’t told me what you intend to do.’

‘What do you mean?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you going to talk to your boss about accepting my new offer?’

Rose was still holding the piece of paper he’d given her and she carefully folded it and slipped it into her skirt pocket.

Returning her gaze to his, she said, ‘I’ll show him what you’re offering—of course I will—but if you’re asking if I’ll try and persuade him to take it, then, no...I won’t. Philip makes his own decisions—always has and always will. I neither have nor want any influence over him.’

‘I don’t believe you.’ Dropping his hands to his hips, Gene smiled. ‘I can sense that you’re a sensitive woman, Rose. I’m sure that Philip must appreciate that. If he knows that you care about his feelings then I’m sure he must respect any opinions you have about the matter and know that you have his best interests at heart.’

‘Even so, it would feel wrong for me to persuade him to just sell the building, and some of the antiques, when he dearly wants to sell the business as a going concern.’

‘But surely he must know by now that his beloved business clearly isn’t viable any more?’

‘Do you think I want to tell him that? When I know it’s been his life’s work and he’s lying ill in hospital?’

‘You would find a way to put it compassionately, I’m sure. You obviously care about him very much.’

‘I do...’

‘Then he is a lucky man.’

‘I’m the lucky one. If he hadn’t taken me on and taught me the trade I’d never have found the work that I’ve grown to love.’

‘I’m sure he must have found it a pleasure to teach you, Rose. What sentient man wouldn’t? Not only does he get a beautiful woman with captivating violet eyes and patrician cheekbones to work for him, but she becomes quite devoted to him too.’

Rose sensed her cheeks flush red. ‘I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Philip isn’t attracted to me, if that’s what you’re implying, and neither am I to him. For goodness’ sake—he’s an elderly man, past retirement age!’

Gene was instantly apologetic. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve caused offence. I thought he must be middle-aged, but I didn’t realise he was elderly. I’m afraid I confess I was a little jealous when I heard you talk about him in such glowing terms.’

Dry-mouthed, Rose hardly knew what to say. The way he’d complimented her looks just now was unbearably seductive, and saying that he’d been jealous of her admiration for Philip was crazy. Coming from a man who could have any woman he wanted, it was plainly ridiculous.

Realising that for a dangerous moment she’d been more flattered than she should, Rose gritted her teeth. Gene Bonnaire was even more of a threat than she’d thought...

‘Look...I think you’d better just go. I mean it. I’ll be in touch if I get any news from Mr Houghton for you.’

For a surreal moment Gene honestly forgot what he was about—because he suddenly found himself even more mesmerised by the brunette. Those violet eyes of hers were strangely bewitching, and he’d fallen into a bit of dream staring back at them.

He’d known when he kissed her that he wanted to seduce her...it was just a matter of when...but his sudden fierce attraction was honestly a revelation—because Rose Heathcote certainly wasn’t the usual type of woman he was attracted to. She was not blonde, statuesque or shapely. She was small and slender, with black hair cut boyishly short. Yet the passionate spark in her eyes that he’d just witnessed, along with her feisty nature and her determination to protect her boss at all costs, made her surprisingly alluring.

It was another first, because Gene usually liked his women to be more compliant. He liked to be the one in control.

Quickly returning to his senses, he realised he was just going to have to bide his time and wait for Rose to speak to her boss.

Moving across to the door, he glanced out at the now teeming rain and then back at the diminutive brunette. ‘All right, then. I won’t press you any further. But tell me... Is there anything I can do for you, Rose? Does someone as generous as you are, with your regard for others, ever have her kindness reciprocated? For instance I’d be very interested to know if you have a personal heartfelt desire. If you do, then all you have to do is say the word and I’ll do my utmost to help you get it.’

‘Why would you want to do that? I suspect it’s because you have some devious ulterior motive...’

Gene laid his hand over his heart and grinned. ‘You wound me deeply.’

‘If you could give me my “heartfelt desire” then you’d be much more than a mere man. Has it never occurred to you that not all heartfelt desires are material ones?’ Rose challenged him.

He shrugged. ‘I can’t say I spend much time thinking about it. I prefer to deal with the tangible, not the abstract.’

‘So in your world feelings are abstract, are they?’

‘Why don’t you have dinner with me and we can talk about it?’

She grimaced. ‘I’d rather have dinner with a boa constrictor! At least I’d know for sure what I’d be dealing with.’

In spite of his disappointment that Rose didn’t seem to believe he might just want to give her something that pleased her, and at not immediately strengthening his chances to buy the property, Gene found her answer undeniably amusing. To his surprise, he also found it indisputably seductive...

‘I can’t say I’m flattered, Rose, but that’s funny!’

‘You should stop calling me Rose. It’s Miss Heathcote to you.’

Gene smiled. ‘I can see that I’ve really got to you, haven’t I? All right, then—I’ll go. But you haven’t heard the last of me...not by a long chalk...Rose...’

He opened the door and, with a resigned grimace, walked out into the rain.

* * *

The phone rang in the early hours of the morning and a brisk-sounding nurse from the hospital informed Rose that Philip had taken a turn for the worse and asked if she could she please come in. Feeling numb with fear, she dragged on her jeans, T-shirt and Mackintosh and practically flew out the door.

When she got to the hospital and was directed to a ward she drew in a deep breath as she saw him. White-faced and fragile, he was lying in bed breathing through an oxygen mask and wired up to the kind of medical paraphernalia that told her this was serious.

All her worst fears crashed in on her at the same time. It hadn’t escaped her notice that her boss had been transferred to the same ward that her father had been in when he died. He’d had a fatal coronary whilst in hospital for investigation into something relatively minor, so it had come as the most terrible shock. Was this how Philip was destined to leave her as well? Rose could hardly bear the thought.

The doctor on call had diagnosed pneumonia and he told her that it was crucial they stabilised the condition and that he got plenty of rest. To that end they would be keeping him in longer than they’d first envisaged, and would be treating him with antibiotics and extra oxygen.

As she sat by his bedside holding his hand, Philip opened his eyes just once, to acknowledge that he knew she was there, and she gently assured him that everything was going to be all right, that he wasn’t to worry. But even as she said the words Rose didn’t entirely believe them. Suddenly the man who had been such a firm friend to her and her father looked worryingly old and haggard...and very, very ill.

Having tried so hard to hold back the tears during her visit, as soon as she got home she threw herself onto the couch and the floodgates opened.

* * *

They weren’t the last tears she cried over the testing week that followed. One day Philip was rallying encouragingly, looking a little better, and the next it seemed he was worse. Managing the shop as well as talking to an array of healthcare professionals about his aftercare, Rose was on a rollercoaster of emotion that one moment had her feeling hopeful for his full recovery and the next fearing the unthinkable...

She had all but forgotten her recent encounter with Gene Bonnaire. But one evening after work when she visited the hospital Philip told her he wanted to discuss something important. She had an uneasy feeling that the billionaire’s offer to buy the antiques shop was on his mind. A couple of days earlier she had shown him Gene’s offer. She was right. He clearly hadn’t felt ready to discuss it then, but he did now.

‘Rose...I want you to contact Mr Bonnaire and tell him that I’m going to agree to the sale.’

There was a flash of what looked to be deep regret in his pale blue eyes, and his expression was apologetic.

‘I’m disappointed that he doesn’t want to buy the business and that it won’t continue as I’d hoped, but in my present situation beggars can’t be choosers. Seeing as I haven’t had any other offers, and I’m advised I’m going to be housebound for quite some time after this, I’ll need to pay for private care. As you know, I don’t have any family, but at least I have some material assets that I can realise to help me—the main one being the antiques shop. The man’s offer for the building coupled with the antiques is more generous than I could have hoped for. He left me his card, didn’t he? Can you contact him and arrange a meeting?’

Fighting to regain her composure at the idea that she was going to have to talk to the Frenchman again, Rose replied ‘I’ll do whatever you want me to do to help, Philip, but surely you can’t meet with him to discuss things until you get out of hospital?’

Once more he was apologetic. ‘I’m afraid I can’t risk waiting that long. I need to sell the place as quickly as I can to free up some money for my care. I’m asking you to handle the sale for me, Rose. I’ve contacted my solicitor and he’ll draw up the necessary papers. This is his name and number.’

He opened the bedside drawer, took out a single sheet of vellum that he’d written on and handed it to her.

‘Anything you need to know, he’ll explain.’

‘It seems that you’ve made up your mind, then.’ Frowning, Rose felt her muscles clench tight at the idea of once again coming face to face with Gene Bonnaire and knowing that this time he would be the one who had the advantage and would undoubtedly use it for all he was worth...

‘Yes, my dear...I have.’

‘Then I’ll see to things right away. In the meantime you should try and rest as much as possible. The last thing you need is to be stressed about anything.’

Smiling fondly, Philip patted her hand as it lay on the counterpane. ‘I should have told you this before, Rose... I don’t know how I would have managed these past ten years without you. Without question, your loyalty, friendship and hard work have been invaluable and if I had been a much younger man I don’t doubt I would have fallen a little bit in love with you.’

Feeling her cheeks glow warmly, Rose smiled back—even as she remembered Gene Bonnaire’s ridiculous implication that her relationship with her boss might not be just a working one. What she’d give to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off his handsome face when next she saw him! Only she couldn’t. She had to be nice to him because Philip urgently needed this sale. The last thing she would do was jeopardise things just because the man had rattled her.

But then, as she recalled that he’d asked her if other people ever reciprocated her kindness to them, she knew that the man had much more sensitivity than his very public persona suggested and thought that it would be intriguing to discover more...

‘It’s sweet of you to say so,’ she answered Philip, ‘but to be frank I think I’m destined to stay single. I’ve only been in love once in my life and it wasn’t the happiest of experiences. I’m not eager to do it again.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. Don’t you believe that it might be different the next time? Not so painful, I mean?’

‘No, I don’t. I don’t because—present company not included—I don’t trust men. I think I’d be better off on my own.’ She shrugged. ‘Besides, I’m far too independent, and men sense that. It would take someone pretty exceptional to get me to change my mind and I haven’t yet met anyone who fits that particular bill.’

‘Not yet, you haven’t, Rose, but you will...you will.’

With a knowing smile, the man in the hospital bed closed his eyes and, leaving him to doze, she folded the sheet of notepaper he’d given her, slipped it into her bag and discreetly left...

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