‘Yes. I am attracted to you,’ she said stiffly, reckoning that there was no longer any need to pretend otherwise.
A wide appreciative grin slashed Zac’s mouth. ‘No more lies, then.’
‘No more lies,’ she agreed ruefully. ‘I’m saying yes to your proposition because you’re the only hope I have of keeping Eloise and Jack and I’ll do whatever I have to do to facilitate that.’
‘Venha aqui...come here,’ Zac urged.
Stiff as a plank of wood, Freddie rose from her seat and approached him. He swept her up like a doll and held her high with the kind of controlled physical strength that shook her. ‘You won’t regret this decision,’ he told her and then he kissed her.
Hotly, extravagantly, passionately and with all the energy that drove him, he crushed her soft lips beneath his, both arms banded so tightly round her narrow ribcage that she could barely breathe. But she didn’t want to breathe, she just wanted to fall deeper into that kiss. His tongue ravaged the tender interior of her mouth and a shower of sparks flew up inside her, tingling along every nerve ending in her slender body. His tongue teased and flicked and darted and with a gasp she closed her arms dizzily round his neck.
‘We could get this project off to a flying start right now,’ Zac suggested thickly.
And Freddie froze and let go of him, pushing him away until he had to let her down to stand on her own feet again.
‘Problem?’ Zac quipped very drily, his eyes luminous and coolly enquiring in the dim lights.
‘I’m not getting into bed with you until we’re legally married,’ Freddie spelt out in a defiant rush as she fought for what little security she could retain, which to her meant staying safe and uncommitted to the last possible moment. ‘You could still be shooting me a crazy seduction line. After all, you are the guy who bets sports cars away! I won’t take the risk of getting pregnant until you’ve proved your commitment to our agreement.’
Zac stared at her in astonishment. ‘You think this could be a scam?’ he breathed incredulously, astonished by the level of her distrust. ‘I’ve never had to seduce a woman in my life!’
Freddie backed away another few steps, embarrassed now that she had voiced her reservations. ‘I’m naturally suspicious—’
‘Of men,’ Zac slotted in boldly. ‘You don’t trust my sex.’
‘My past experiences have not been good,’ Freddie conceded reluctantly.
‘Then tomorrow we’ll get this party started with a visit to my London lawyers. They’ll make a start on the adoption application and advise us on how soon we can get married here. Bring your birth certificate and your passport and the children’s,’ Zac advised, his lean, hard-boned face set with purpose.
Freddie groaned out loud. ‘Zac... I don’t have a passport and neither do the children. In any case the authorities wouldn’t allow us to take the children out of the UK without their permission.’
‘You’ve never been abroad?’ Zac asked in astonishment.
‘Never,’ Freddie confirmed.
‘My lawyers will deal with all the details,’ Zac pronounced with innate arrogance.
‘And I’ll have the children in tow,’ Freddie warned. ‘And they can’t go on a motorbike.’
‘Obviously not,’ Zac fielded drily. ‘Stop putting obstacles in my path, meu pequenino. When I want something, I allow nothing to get in my way...and I want you.’
Freddie went pink, disconcerted by that unequivocal statement of intent. And yet in the strangest way she found his determination to have her ridiculously flattering, because no man had ever wanted her with such stubborn, resolute intensity. Of course that wouldn’t last, she told herself ruefully, not once he realised how inexperienced and ordinary she was. No doubt he was expecting fireworks in the bedroom. How would he feel when he instead wakened to find Eloise and Jack in bed with them at some ungodly hour of the morning? Family life, she thought heavily, was likely to be a big culture shock for Zac.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘IT’S PERFECT,’ ZAC pronounced as Freddie smoothed an apprehensive finger down over the knee-length, shimmering silver sheath dress.
‘But what does it cost?’ Freddie hissed in an anxious undertone, fearful of attracting the attention of the saleswoman, who was grander than a queen.
‘I don’t see why it matters what I wear when I meet your family,’ Freddie admitted. ‘It’s not as if you even want me to meet them!’
‘I’m not close to my half-brothers but over time that could change, particularly w
hen all of us have young children. I would like the connection for our children,’ Zac admitted with emphasis. ‘Growing up, I had virtually no family and it made me a loner. I want the kids to have a different experience. And it does matter what you wear when you meet my family.’
‘How?’
‘Angel’s wife, Merry, and my father’s girlfriend, Sybil, will look as if they walked straight off a Paris catwalk. I will not have you look less than them in any way,’ Zac completed grimly, his pride on the line. No way would he allow Freddie to be patronised or labelled unfit for such exclusive company. Without effort she would outshine all of them, he thought with satisfaction, surveying her delicate triangular face and her warm brown eyes.