Bound By Her Shocking Secret by Abby Green

CHAPTER SEVEN

DANIELWASENJOYINGTHIS. Watching Mia squirm.

‘You’re right, it’s not your business. But, to sate your curiosity, no, I didn’t. Nor did she. Sophie was conscious of the serious repercussions if she was found to be having an affair with a woman, and I... I respected her too much to risk it.’

Not to mention the fact that his libido at that time had flatlined.

He shifted in his chair as his now fully refunctioning libido made itself felt. Mia’s hair was tumbling over her shoulders in wild abandon. She’d already acquired a golden glow to her skin, and freckles across her nose from the sun. The kaftan effectively covered her from neck to toe, but it was diaphanous enough to show tantalising glimpses of her perfect body.

Acting on an impulse, he found himself divulging, ‘For what it’s worth, I haven’t ever brought a lover here.’

‘Oh...’

Clearly she hadn’t expected that.

Gabriela appeared then, to take the starter plates away and deliver the main course. A traditional Costa Rican beef and bean stew, light and tasty.

Daniel watched with interest as Mia tucked in. She’d never been shy about eating. He remembered staring at her the first time they’d gone for dinner, and she’d put down her fork.

‘What? Is there something on my face?’ she’d asked.

He’d commented dryly, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman eat with so much relish.’

She’d blushed, and said a little tartly, ‘It’s a crime to waste good food.’

‘I agree,’ Daniel had said, beyond amused, and enthralled by her appetite and her defensiveness.

As if playing a cruel trick on him now, she looked up at him and swallowed her food before saying, ‘What is it? Have I got something on my face?’

Daniel shook his head, not liking the swell of something in his chest. Something close to what he’d felt earlier when he’d played with Lexi.

Yet in spite of that unnamed emotion he found himself admitting, ‘Actually, I haven’t taken a lover since you.’

Mia’s eyes went wide. Colour poured into her cheeks. She looked at him suspiciously. ‘Did you just say—?’

He nodded, looking at her carefully. ‘I haven’t had a lover since you.’

She took a gulp of water.

‘Have you?’ he asked, suddenly feeling exposed.

He’d assumed she hadn’t, because of Lexi, but maybe that had been naive. After her initial reticence Mia had been a voracious lover, and there was no reason for her not to have taken lovers in the interim.

The prospect sat like lead in his gut. But then she said, ‘I...no. No, I haven’t.’

A sense of satisfaction rushed through Daniel. He told himself it was satisfaction and not relief. She was avoiding his eye now. Her cheeks still flushed. Desire twisted in his gut.

Gabriela came out and took away the dinner plates, appearing oblivious to the crackling tension in the air. Mia suddenly appeared to be fidgety. She picked up the baby monitor and turned it on and off again, as if checking to make sure it was working.

Daniel said quietly, ‘I haven’t wanted another woman since you, Mia.’

Those huge green eyes met his. He saw her throat work. ‘I... I can’t say it’s been the same for me.’

Daniel could see the pulse beating near the base of her throat. ‘Liar.’

She sat up straight. Indignant. But no words came out. She left the baby monitor on the table and stood up and went over to the railing. Daniel followed her.

She said, ‘I’ve moved on, Daniel. I’ve had a baby. I have more important priorities now.’

‘You had my baby—which you kept a secret from me,’ he pointed out. And then, ‘And you might have different priorities, but you’re still a desirable woman. Not just a mother. In case I haven’t made myself completely clear, I still want you, Mia.’

Mia was reeling. Daniel did want her. She hadn’t been imagining the heat between them. She hadn’t been projecting her desire on to him.

As much as this made her feel somehow vindicated, it also terrified her. Because believing that Daniel didn’t want her had enabled her to stay somewhat sane. Protected.

But now...if he knew how much she still wanted him...there would be nothing between them. Literally. No walls. No barriers. Nowhere to hide.

The fact that he hadn’t slept with anyone since her was almost too much to try and comprehend. It stripped away her defences even more, leaving her dangerously exposed. Not helped by the all too seductive surroundings.

She turned to face him, feeling desperate, willing herself to say whatever it took to push him back. ‘Look, Daniel, whatever was between us died the day our—’

He cut her off, his face taut. ‘Do not say it.’

Mia swallowed her words, shocked at the stark tone in Daniel’s voice. Shocked that she’d been willing to go so far as to remind them both of that awful day in the hospital.

He said now, ‘I am sorry for how I reacted that day, but I can’t go back and change it.’

Mia felt chastened. ‘I know. I’m sorry too.’ Especially now she knew why he’d reacted the way he had.

He said, ‘Just because the relationship ended, it doesn’t mean that our desire did. And if you’re maintaining that it did then you’re fooling no one but yourself.’

Still feeling desperate, she said, ‘I don’t want you any more.’

Daniel’s eyes flashed.

Wrong thing to say.

She knew it as soon as his gaze narrowed on her mouth. ‘You really expect me to believe that?’

Mia thought of the incendiary kiss that night at the ballet in Paris. Her cheeks burned, but she forced a shrug. ‘Believe what you like, Daniel. I don’t really care.’

He moved closer. Mia forced herself to stand firm, even though she could see the darkness of Daniel’s chest under his shirt and smell his scent. Woodsy and musky and, oh, so masculine.

‘Want to put it to the test, Mia?’

Mia quivered inwardly at that challenge. But she knew the only way to persuade Daniel that she didn’t want him was to show him. He was a proud man. If he truly believed she didn’t want him then he wouldn’t push it.

She’d gone through a twenty-four-hour labour and given birth naturally—she could do this. Resist Daniel. Pretend that he didn’t affect her.

She shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Sure, knock yourself out.’

Mia fixed her gaze on a neutral spot just over Daniel’s shoulder. But then he said, ‘Close your eyes.’

Rolling her eyes a little first, Mia did as he asked, steeling herself not to react.

For a long moment Daniel did nothing. Mia cursed him. She desperately wanted to open her eyes, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. But then the air shifted around her and she felt her hair being pulled over one shoulder.

He was behind her.

Every nerve-ending pulsed with awareness. She felt his breath feather against her skin before his fingers pulled her kaftan away slightly, and then his mouth touched the spot between her neck and her shoulder.

He knew that was a sensitive spot for her. The fact that he’d even remembered—

The low-down, dirty...

Mia sucked in a breath when she felt Daniel’s tongue touch her skin. Hot. Her hands gripped the railing. She refused to let him see an ounce of the battle she was fighting.

His hands—where were his hands? So far it was only his mouth on her skin, the tip of his tongue. Then it was gone.

Mia opened her eyes. She’d done it. She’d managed to withstand him.

She turned to go—but came face to face with Daniel’s chest.

He tipped up her chin. Smiled. It was wicked. ‘You didn’t think you’d get away so easily, did you?’

Before Mia could formulate a response, and still just holding her chin with the lightest of touches, Daniel bent his head and covered her mouth with his, leaving her nowhere to hide.

It was an open-mouthed, explicit kiss. She opened her mouth to object, but somewhere in the moment of breathing in Daniel’s essence and feeling his tongue touch hers in a bold move, she forgot why she wanted to.

Being surrounded by Daniel’s heat and all that steely strength was an aphrodisiac that fatally scrambled every brain cell, until all she was aware of was that it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. Needed total immersion.

She twined her arms around Daniel’s neck, coming up on her tiptoes. Her breasts pressed against his hard chest. He shaped her waist, her upper back, hauling her closer. And then his hand was in her hair, fingers funneling deep, angling her head to take the kiss deeper, and his other hand found the curve of her bottom, caressing it through the thin material of the kaftan.

He pulled up her kaftan, baring her leg to the warm breeze. She felt his arousal press against her and moved instinctively against him. Like a needy little kitten. But still he didn’t take his mouth off hers. His hand was on her bare bottom now, caressing. Fingers were sliding under the silk and lace of her underwear, coming close to where heat radiated out from the centre of her body.

Mia broke the kiss, pulled back. Vision blurry. She was breathing heavily. A few things sank in simultaneously—chief of which was that she’d withstood nothing. Proved nothing. Except that he was right.

Hot recrimination and something far more disturbing—sexual frustration—rose up inside her, giving her the strength to push back. Her kaftan fell down around her legs again.

Daniel was watching her with a neutral expression. She couldn’t have borne it if he’d been smug.

At that moment a sound came from the baby monitor. Lexi. It jolted Mia back to reality.

She said to Daniel, even though she was aware that her dignity was in tatters, ‘I didn’t come here to be seduced by you.’

She walked back to the table on unsteady legs and picked up the baby monitor.

Daniel said from behind her, ‘You can’t deny this just happened and hide behind Lexi for ever.’

Mia fled.

Mia didn’t sleep that night, and it had nothing to do with the heat and everything to do with that kiss, and Daniel’s revelations, and the fact that he still wanted her. All together it was a powerful combination, and it left her feeling raw and gritty-eyed.

To her relief, the following morning Odile was more than happy to entertain Lexi, packing her up in the buggy and taking her for a stroll into the small town.

But then, instead of capitalising on her time off, Mia was restless. She walked down to the beach, but the surf looked too big to swim in, so she walked along the beach for a bit, and then back, trying not to consider what might happen between her and Daniel now.

If he properly set out to seduce her, as he had before, she didn’t have a hope.

She saw a movement in her peripheral vision and looked to the tree line, where a path led back up to Daniel’s house. Someone was waving at her. Daniel. Mia’s heart skipped a beat. She was wearing a bikini top and shorts and felt too bare.

Daniel didn’t come onto the beach. He waited till she was almost at the trees. He was wearing faded jeans and a white T-shirt, and he looked so ridiculously sexy that when he said to her, ‘I need you,’ she stumbled.

He reached out and caught her. And Mia thought to herself that if he kissed her right there, right now, she wouldn’t be able to say no. She was almost trembling with the need rising in her body, and she knew she didn’t have the strength to hide how he made her feel.

‘Look, Daniel,’ she said. ‘What happened last night doesn’t mean anything. I’m not interested in another affair—’

Daniel was shaking his head. ‘I’m not talking about that.’

Now she felt foolish and exposed. But then she thought of something and went cold, her hands tightening on his arms. ‘What is it? Is it Lexi?’

Daniel shook his head and tugged her further into the trees, away from the beach. ‘Lexi is fine. Odile is giving her lunch right now.’

‘Oh, okay...’ Mia became aware of Daniel’s very hard biceps under her hands. She took them down. ‘What’s up?’

Had she imagined him saying he needed her? She was losing it...

‘We have a problem with the shoot. With the model, specifically.’

‘Oh?’

‘She developed pains in her abdomen last night and she’s been taken to hospital. It looks like it could be appendicitis. She’s being flown to San José today to get checked out. And that,’ he continued, ‘means we’re now minus a model for the shoot.’

‘I need you.’

Mia’s eyes widened. ‘You can’t mean me. I don’t have a high enough profile for one of your campaigns.’

‘You’d be perfect. Trust me.’

Mia shook her head and started walking back up the path towards the house. ‘We both know I’m not a Devilliers model. I don’t even know why I was cast for that first photoshoot.’

‘Because I requested you.’

Shock made Mia stop and turn back to look at Daniel. Her heart thumped. ‘You asked for me...specially? But you didn’t even know me.’

‘I saw you on a billboard. The picture where you’re blowing a bubblegum bubble.’

Mia saw the image in her mind’s eye. It had been an ad for a teen clothing line. Youthful and playful. Hence the bubblegum.

She shook her head. ‘But that couldn’t be further from the elegance and sophistication of Devilliers. What were you thinking?’

Daniel’s eyes stayed hidden behind his shades. ‘It was an instinctive thing. Your image resonated with a freshness I wanted to bring into Devilliers. Something less...reverent.’

She’d been less reverent, all right. They hadn’t even styled her that day, and the photos that Daniel had asked her to pose for hadn’t been used in the final campaign.

But, the knowledge he’d specifically asked for her made her feel even more vulnerable now. ‘It wouldn’t take long for you to get another model here,’ she said.

Daniel shook his head. ‘This shoot is off the radar. It’s something I want to present to the board as a fait accompli. I’m trying to move them in a more modern direction, and they’re resistant to change, to say the least.’

Daniel had spoken of this before—his desire to haul the company into the new century before it became known as just a legacy brand.

He said, ‘If I have to book a new model now, the chances are they’ll hear about it. They think I’m here on a personal holiday. With you and the baby.’

Mia felt silly for not realising he had an agenda. ‘So it wasn’t just to get us out of Paris and away from the media?’

Daniel shrugged. ‘When you said you’d come, I made the best use of the situation to deflect their attention.’

Mia didn’t know why she hadn’t expected that. A man like Daniel was all about strategy. He took advantage of every angle.

‘I...’ She trailed off, realising she didn’t have an excuse to say no.

‘Please?’ Daniel said.

Mia’s mouth quirked. ‘Now I know you’re desperate.’

Daniel put a hand to his chest. ‘You have such a low opinion of me.’

A delicate moment hung between them, reminiscent of the past and the very easy banter they used to have. Mia didn’t have a low opinion of Daniel at all. In fact, from the moment they’d met he’d blasted through all her prejudices and confounded her expectations. He’d proved himself to be surprisingly humble for a titan of industry. He was arrogant, but never rude. More intelligent than anyone else she’d ever met. But he’d never used that intelligence to make someone—her—feel stupid, even if he had used to tease her for being a typical American with no appreciation for culture.

He’d hurt her, yes. Badly. But it was her fault. She’d let him in too deep. And there was no way she was going to let that happen again.

Mia folded her arms. ‘I don’t know if you can afford me.’

Daniel listed the fee they’d been paying the other model. Mia nearly fell backwards. This was another league.

She unfolded her arms. ‘That sounds...reasonable.’

‘You’ll do it, then?’

Mia looked for a smirk or a hint of triumph on Daniel’s face, but it was impassive. ‘Okay. I don’t see why not.’

In truth, Mia had never been good at relaxing. She preferred to be busy. So the thought of having something to do other than ruminate on memories or think about that kiss last night was all too welcome.

Except Daniel hadn’t alluded at all to that kiss. In fact, he’d behaved as if nothing had happened. Maybe he was already regretting it and realising that pursuing Mia again wasn’t worth it.

Which would be a good thing, she told herself now, as she followed Daniel back up to the house and tried to keep her gaze off his very taut backside.

A few hours later, Daniel was regretting his impetuous decision to ask Mia to fill in for the model. Not because she wasn’t suitable for the job—the minute he’d seen her ready for the cameras he’d known that, actually, she was better than the original model—but because right now it was taking all his control and strength not to haul her away from the small crew, tear that skimpy swimsuit off her body and ease the throbbing ache that emanated from his groin to every part of his body.

Uncannily, he’d also realised at this moment that she had been the genesis for this very shoot—seeing her play around with the jewellery dressed in her jeans and T-shirt that first time he’d seen her had sparked something inside Daniel that was coming to fruition right here.

The whole concept was sexy decadence, which was a world apart from the refined elegance of most Devilliers campaigns, and that was why Daniel wanted to keep it top secret until he knew it would work.

The original model had certainly oozed a certain type of glamorous sexiness, but now Mia was elevating it to a level of sensuality that he knew the whole crew could feel. There was a buzz in the air that hadn’t been there before.

The photographer—a woman—came up to Daniel during a change of set-up and held out her arm. She pointed to it, saying, ‘Look, I’ve got goosebumps. Who is she? How come I’ve never seen her before? She’s amazing, Daniel.’

‘Yes, she is.’

He watched now as Mia stood up from where she’d been posing on her knees. An armed security guard came over and the stylist took off the jewellery Mia had been wearing for the last photos and placed it into a box he held. Another security guard watched over the rest of the jewellery on a nearby table. Together the collective value of jewels for this campaign was worth the debt of a small country.

Mia’s deep-green-coloured swimsuit was a one-piece and perfectly modest; on anyone else. But not on her. The high-cut design made her legs look even longer, and the low-cut top edge drew the eye to her high, firm breasts.

Her skin glowed a darker shade of gold, thanks to a liberal application of false tan, and her hair was slicked back. The make-up was cutting edge. Red lips dominated her flawless face. Her eyes were huge.

The whole effect was a little lurid to the naked eye, but it was showing up on camera exactly the way Daniel and the team had envisaged—a very rich, colour-saturated, high-glamour decadent feel.

This was the backdrop for the stunning jewels that Mia was modelling. Bold, simple designs featuring big gemstones set in different metals. Silver, rose-gold, gold, platinum. It was luxe and very modern, framed perfectly by the lush green forest they were shooting in.

An assistant handed a wrap to Mia, who pulled it on. She slipped on flip-flops and came over to Daniel. ‘Can I borrow your phone to call Odile and check on Lexi?’

Daniel pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialled a number. ‘Here.’

Mia walked away with the phone held out. It was a video call, and he heard Lexi’s excited, ‘Mama!’followed by some unintelligible babble.

And then he heard Mia say, ‘Really? Wow!’

He couldn’t help but compare Mia’s obvious love and care for her daughter with his own mother’s distinct lack of care—and his father’s. He could never recall his mother talking to him with that loving tone of voice. It had always been cold. Or dismissive. Or irritated. And then angry, accusing...

‘It’s your fault, Daniel...’

Mia was coming back now, holding the phone out, just as the stylist came over.

‘Mia, we need to get you into the next swimsuit.’

Daniel took the phone and said, ‘You’re doing really well.’

She looked embarrassed. ‘I’m so not prepared for this, and I’m not sure what you’re looking for. I hope it’s okay.’

Daniel took her by the hand and said over her head to the stylist, ‘Two minutes, please?’

He led Mia over to the laptops where they were looking at the images, and the crew faded discreetly away to let Daniel show Mia what they’d done.

Eventually, she said, ‘Wow, that doesn’t even look like me.’

‘It is you.’ Her humility struck Daniel again. Her lack of ego.

She said, ‘The jewellery isn’t like anything you’ve done before. Is it a new line?’

Daniel nodded. ‘It’s a capsule collection, called Delphine. It’ll test the market to see if there’s an appetite for a more modern design along with the legacy and classic designs we do.’

‘I like it. It feels fresh and new.’

Daniel watched as the stylist took Mia into a makeshift tent to change. Fresh and new. Like their relationship. Because after that incendiary kiss last night Daniel was even more determined to convince Mia that they could start afresh.

By day two of the shoot Mia was feeling a little more comfortable and confident—helped by the fact that the photographer was female, which was still not that usual on shoots like this. It reminded her that Daniel had always appreciated talent and skill over gender. A trait she’d found surprising in someone who came from a background steeped in history and legacy.

Day one had been a baptism of fire. It was a long time since she’d done a high-fashion, high-glamour shoot, and she’d got used to the world of catalogue modelling, which was all about trying to pack in as many different outfits in one day. Whereas this was much slower and more intense, but more creatively satisfying.

Now that she knew what to expect, though, it left more room for her to be aware of Daniel. Yesterday, she’d barely noticed him, she’d been so intent on not messing up. And when he’d driven her home last night she’d been so tired it had taken all her energy just to spend some time with Lexi before putting her down for the night and following her into bed.

But now all she could feel was his eyes on her, and her skin hummed with awareness even as she listened to the photographer’s instructions, contorting her body into various shapes that felt anatomically ridiculous, but which she knew would look amazing in the photos.

When they broke for lunch, which was provided al fresco by a local catering company, the stylist gave Mia a wrap to cover up and she went over to put some food on a plate. Daniel was talking to one of the crew members, and Mia took the opportunity to go and sit on a fallen branch that was near the shoreline. They were shooting in a lush area of forest a little further down the coast from where Daniel’s house was.

Mia was enjoying the peace, but then the back of her neck prickled, reminding her that she was still finely attuned to Daniel’s proximity in a way that was seriously irritating. He came and stood beside where she sat, hands in the pockets of a pair of board shorts. In a short-sleeved polo T-shirt, he still managed to ooze a certain kind of elegance while also looking sexy enough to make Mia’s insides twist with need.

‘You’re doing an amazing job, Mia.’

Mia shrugged, feeling self-conscious. ‘Adele makes it easy to be in front of the camera.’

Daniel shook his head. ‘The two of you are creating something very special.’

‘Well...thank you.’

She risked another glance at Daniel. His sunglasses were on his head and he was looking at her, his mouth quirking. ‘Was that hard to say?’ he asked.

She scowled. She’d never been good at accepting compliments. He knew too much about her. And she’d revealed even more since she’d seen him again.

‘Lexi and Odile—’

‘Are fine,’ he said. ‘I just called them. They’re having ice-cream in town.’

Mia felt a pang, missing her baby. As if hearing her thoughts Daniel said, ‘They can come to the set one of these days, if you like.’

‘That’d be lovely, thank you. I haven’t spent much time away from her before. She’s getting so independent.’ Mia shot him a warning look. ‘Don’t say like mother, like daughter.’

But Daniel looked serious. ‘You’re a good mother, Mia.’ He shook his head, looking away. ‘My mother was not a good role model. She was cold and angry. All the time. Unhappy with my father, mainly. She viewed us children as irritations. Once she’d done her duty by giving birth, her job was over.’

Renewed guilt lanced Mia. She hadn’t been fair to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but just then Adele’s assistant said from behind them, ‘Mia? We’re ready to go again.’

She closed her mouth and stood up. Daniel took her plate out of her hands. The stylist and hair and make-up team were approaching, to make her ready for the camera again.

When Mia started posing, she tried her best to block out what Daniel had just told her and the emotions it had aroused. But that only made her focus on his physicality, and her awareness of him was even more heightened. He stood behind where the laptops were set up, arms folded, distracting Mia with the bunched muscles of his arms. Distracting her from the thought of his cold and uncaring mother.

Much to her embarrassment, she couldn’t control her body’s reaction when his eyes rested on her. It was as if a layer of skin had been stripped back, removing any armour she might have had. Her nipples peaked into hard points under the thin, stretchy material of the latest swimsuit she was wearing, and even though Adele called out for numerous minute adjustments to Mia’s poses, she couldn’t help her mind going to extreme places.

She remembered the feel of Daniel’s hands on her body, urgent, strong. His mouth moving over her skin, leaving a trail of fire before closing over the tip of her breast, sucking the peak deep into his mouth, making her bite her lip so hard she tasted blood...

‘Mia?’

Feeling dazed, Mia blinked at Adele.

The woman said, ‘One more change and then I think we’ve got it for today. You’ve been a trooper.’

Mia studiously avoided Daniel’s eye as she got up and stretched her limbs, diving into the cover-up kaftan and wishing she could dive into the sea, to wash away this burning ache in the pit of her belly. And another ache nearer her heart.

Damn Daniel Devilliers.