LEAH FLED BACK to her room, rushing over to Gabriel’s crib, her heart thumping as she peered into it, as if something terrible might have already happened to him.
But of course he was fine, sleeping peacefully, his mouth open in a soft O, the sweep of his long lashes dark against his soft skin.
It was a source of constant surprise and fascination to Leah that she could have produced something so wonderful, so perfect as her son. But, gazing at him now, she was forced to acknowledge once again that she wasn’t the only one responsible for this little miracle, this warm bundle of life wrapped up in squidgy pink skin.
Jaco’s DNA was very much in evidence in the dark curls, the almond shape of Gabriel’s eyes, even in the set of his little mouth that had a sort of no-nonsense purse to it. There was no doubt about it—he was going to grow up to be his father’s double.
In looks, anyway. Leah lightly ran the back of her finger over his downy cheek. She would fight with her dying breath to stop Gabriel from turning into the kind of man his father was. A devious, cheating manipulator. Someone who was totally ruled by money, power and greed. Who was prepared to put his own child at risk for the sake of some shady deal. Prepared to kidnap him—and her, for that matter—just to swell the coffers of his rotten empire.
And as for his sexual morality... There was yet another example of the depth of Jaco’s depravity. What sort of man could conduct a passionate affair with her, take her to his bed, make love to her, treat her as if she mattered to him, when all the time he had another woman on the go? How could he have kissed her that night, held her in his arms, and then less than half an hour later been on the computer, telling someone else—that poor Francesca woman—that he loved her?
A cheating, low-life scumbag kind of a man, that was what. And no matter how much Leah tried to tell herself that finding out had been a blessing in disguise, that at least she now knew the kind of man he really was, it still felt like a blade plunged into her heart. A heart that would never recover.
Turning away, she looked for something to do. She might as well unpack her case. Moving to the wardrobe that ran along one entire wall, she hung up the couple of dresses she had brought with her, almost laughing at how ridiculous they looked in the enormous space. Sliding open the chest of drawers, she laid out their clothes—Gabriel’s little vests and sleepsuits in the top drawer, her tops and underwear below.
Well, that hadn’t taken long.
She put her hands on her hips and looked around. With Gabriel down for his morning nap, obviously totally unperturbed by the situation they found themselves in, it seemed she had time to spare and nothing to do with it. She had no phone to look at, and no computer or tablet to browse—her usual form of entertainment when she had a few snatched moments to herself.
She stared out of the window at the bright sun beating down on the landscaped garden. Such heat was almost unheard of where she came from. The west coast of Scotland was very beautiful in its own way, but more prone to stormy skies and rainbows than blistering summer days. It seemed a shame to waste all this sunshine.
Her thoughts turned to the swimming pool she had seen outside—inside too, come to that. Who would have a pool running underneath their villa? Jaco Valentino, that was who. Although she had to admit it was a pretty cool idea.
She felt foolish now, for being frightened of walking across the glass floor. But it had taken her by surprise—and water was something of her nemesis. Since nearly drowning in a freezing Scottish loch at the age of five she had had a deep-rooted fear of water, and had never learned to swim. As a child she had screamed blue murder when her parents had tried to teach her, and as a teenager—when she might have found the courage to do something about it—her kidney problems had meant that she was either too sickly or medicated to be able to face it.
Now, though, she had no such excuse. Not that she was planning on jumping in the deep end, literally, but there was a beautiful pool out there and a scorching day to go with it. Better still, she had noticed that at the back of the villa, far away from where Jaco was working, the pool was nice and shallow, with gentle steps leading down into turquoise water. It had looked so inviting, and the thought of getting in there to cool off, to unknot some of the tension that had been gripping her ever since Jaco had stormed back into her life, was too tempting to resist.
She’d seen a bikini mixed in with the underwear she’d just put in the drawer and, decision made, quickly pulled it on. Picking up the baby monitor and throwing a towel over her shoulder, she was ready...
Stepping into the blissfully cool water, Leah gingerly waded in up to her waist. The pool was actually deeper than she’d realised, but as long as she was still well within her depth she’d be fine. With the sun beating down strongly on her shoulders, she decided to cool them off under the water too. She hadn’t put any sunscreen on, and as she had the sort of complexion that would burn before you could say biscuit, she knew she had to be careful.
She waded in deeper, so that the silky water ran over her shoulders. She bobbed up and down for a bit, then moved over to the side of the pool and, anchoring herself with one hand over her shoulder, let her legs float up in front of her and stared up into the blue, blue sky. This was heaven. Or at least it would be if her entire life wasn’t such a mess.
Not for the first time, Leah wondered why it was that everything seemed to happen to her. Why she couldn’t just live a normal life, like a normal person: get married to a nice man, settle down, have a couple of kids, a decent job. Why was it that she always seemed to lurch from one disaster to the next?
Her twin sister, Harper, was a prime example of doing it right. Brilliant at school, never any trouble, she had always been the clever one, the responsible one, taking care of everyone after their mother died and then, the most amazing thing of all, saving Leah’s life with her gift of a healthy kidney.
Whereas Leah... Her illness and her mother’s death had affected her very differently, making her want to rage against the injustice of it all, and against her father too, for turning to drink when he should have been looking after them. Her schooling had been constantly interrupted by illness, so Leah had left with virtually no qualifications. Not that she cared. Who needed stupid qualifications, anyway, when there was a whole world out there to explore, and so many adventures to be had?
But most of her adventures had just landed her in trouble—usually because they involved deceitful men. She’d lost count of the number of scrapes poor Harper had had to get her out of—her last mishap being a classic example. Although that one had had a very happy ending for Harper, so Leah now decided to view it as a triumph.
Working in a nightclub in Manhattan, she had struck a deal with the handsome owner—one Vieri Romano—to act as his fake fiancé for a generous payment. Which would have worked out okay if she hadn’t been stupid enough to give the money to some guy who’d promised to triple it at the casino, only to lose the lot.
So it had ended with Harper stepping in, yet again, to sort out her mess. Except this time the mess had taken an unexpected turn, with Harper and Vieri falling madly in love and living happily ever after. For once, she had inadvertently done something right.
But from now on she was done with making mistakes. Getting involved with Jaco Valentino had clearly been another classic error, but she had been blessed with the gift of a son, and having Gabriel meant she could never regret what had happened between them. She just regretted that Jaco wasn’t the man she had thought he was. She grieved for the man she thought she had known.
Letting go of the side of the pool, Leah twisted round on her tummy and spread her arms out before her. How hard could this swimming malarkey be, anyway? It was high time she learnt. Apart from anything else, as a single mum it was her duty to learn for Gabriel’s sake. Supposing she ever needed to rescue him?
The thought was too awful to contemplate. But it did spur her on to try. Launching herself forward, she kicked her legs and tried to keep herself afloat with flapping arms. But it just wasn’t happening. As she started to sink she reached for the bottom of the pool with her toes. It wasn’t there—she was out of her depth. Her head went under, then came back up, and she gasped and spluttered in panic before going under again.
This was it. She was drowning.
* * *
Jaco knew exactly where Leah was. He’d made it his business to know. From the other side of the villa he had watched through the twin walls of windows as she carefully waded into the pool, taking her time, as if she wasn’t too sure she liked it.
Jaco liked it—he liked it far too much—and his body immediately responded to the sight of her clad in nothing but a skimpy bikini.
Her figure had changed, he realised. She had a more curvy shape now—her hips more rounded, her breasts fuller, straining against the triangles of bright blue fabric. Jaco swallowed. He had always found Leah an incredible turn-on, but now...
He dragged his gaze away. Lusting after Ms McDonald was not going to do him any good. They were in enough of a mess as it was. And yet his body refused to obey him, the kick of sexual need still making its presence very much felt.
He turned back, relieved to see that her siren’s body was now covered up by the water. He would leave her to it, go back and do some work—try and put this wretched woman out of his head for a couple of hours.
But he had no sooner opened his laptop again when he heard what sounded like a faint shriek. Leaping to his feet, he dashed to the window to see Leah’s head disappearing under the water. Dio! What the hell was she doing?
Tearing off his jeans and vest, he plunged into the pool, diving underneath the villa and emerging on the other side, colliding with Leah’s thrashing body as he resurfaced. Grabbing hold of her, he swam them both backwards into the shallow water. The whole thing had probably taken less than a minute.
Leah struggled to her feet, spluttering madly, water streaming from her face. She coughed violently, then took a gasping breath deep into her lungs. Only then did she turn to face her rescuer. Staring at her with a mixture of concern and astonishment, Jaco stood before her in a pair of black boxers that the water had shrink-wrapped against his magnificent form. She hurriedly looked away.
‘So.’ Jaco caught her chin and lifted it gently, so she had no choice but to meet his eyes. ‘Would you like to tell me what that was all about?’
‘It wasn’t about anything.’ Leah pushed the hair that was plastered to her face out of her eyes. ‘I was just teaching myself to swim.’
‘You can’t swim?’ Jaco stared at her incredulously.
‘No, not as such.’ She turned away and started to wade out of the pool. Her foot was on the first shallow step when she felt Jaco’s hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him again.
‘Then why would you put yourself in danger like that?’
‘I wasn’t in danger.’ Leah gave a contemptuous laugh. ‘I would have been perfectly all right.’ She shrugged his hands off her.
‘Like hell you would.’
‘If it boosts your massive male ego to come plunging in here, thinking you’re rescuing a damsel in distress, then by all means go ahead.’ She desperately tried to claw back some composure. ‘But the fact is I could have coped perfectly well by myself.’
‘Ha!’ Jaco shook his head, glittering droplets of water flying from his hair, incredulity in his scowl. ‘You are something else, Leah McDonald. You know that?’
But, as dismissive as his words were, irritation setting his jaw tight, his eyes were telling a different tale. Drawn to her semi-naked body, they seemed to travel rapidly over every inch of damp skin. Leah’s stomach flipped beneath his blatant scrutiny, her nipples hardening as he lingered on the swell of her breasts before he finally raised his eyes to her face. With nowhere to hide, she could only glare back at him, heat flaring across her cheeks as she hastily adjusted the fit of her bikini top.
It was far too small—she knew that. Since having Gabriel, her modest breasts had swollen dramatically—something she hadn’t fully realised until she’d looked down at herself now, at the bikini that had fitted fine when she’d bought it a couple of years ago, now struggling to contain her new shape.
Something that Jaco had clearly noticed too, judging by the very male gleam in his eye. She saw him swallow, turn his head away for a moment, then look back.
‘You know what? I wasn’t exactly expecting profuse declarations of your undying gratitude, but a simple thank-you might have been nice.’ He fixed her with a lingering stare. ‘Do I not even deserve that?’
‘Very well.’
Leah pushed back her shoulders, clearing her throat. She would say anything if it meant she could get away from him. Away from the torment of his glorious body. From the way he was looking at her, making her feel.
‘Thank you.’ She pouted at him. ‘There—is that good enough?’
‘Not really, no.’ Jaco’s eyes glittered dangerously. ‘I can see I’m going to have to extract my own reward.’
With a flash of bronzed muscle he breached the small space between them, towering over her, blocking out the sun. And as his hands came to cradle her head, his fingers working their way through her dripping tresses, Leah froze, all breath extinguished and her lungs gripped by the same primal need that kept her rooted to the spot.
His head lowered and suddenly his mouth was on hers, his lips so silkily seductive that it was all she could do to stifle a whimper of longing. She had wanted this for so long—dreamed about it, railed against it, but had never, ever been able to ignore it. And suddenly she was returning the kiss, as if on some destructive automatic pilot, her whole body succumbing to the erotic sensations that his expert skills so easily aroused.
Moving his hands around her back, he pulled her closer to him, crushing her cold, damp breasts against the broad expanse of his chest, the slick of moisture sealing them together. As he caught the tip of her tongue with his, Leah responded, and the kiss grew more fervent, more passionate with every highly charged second. Such was his expertise, his sensual masculine power, the sheer perfection of him, that her senses were ripped apart, lost in the mad thunder of her heart.
Jaco slid his hands over Leah’s wet skin, running them down her sides until they stopped at the curve of her waist, where they possessively spanned her midriff. Dio, this kiss felt so good. She felt so good. Holding her tight against him like this, he was at a loss to remember why she was so forbidden, why he couldn’t just sweep her up into his arms, march straight back into the villa and make mad, passionate love to her.
He wanted her so badly it hurt. And not just in his groin, where the force of his erection pressed painfully against his boxers. His whole body thrummed for her, as if he had been struck with a tuning fork and the resonations had spread to every cell within him.
The thumb of his left hand felt the ridge of Leah’s scar, and he softly traced the length of it, feeling Leah flinch beneath his touch. He knew she was self-conscious about the diagonal slash that ran south from her hip bone—the result of her kidney transplant operation. The first time they had been naked together she had tried to hide it, draping the sheet around her, but Jaco had gently removed it, wanting to see all of her, to learn everything her body had to tell him. In his eyes the scar was part of who she was, and it only made her more beautiful.
He shifted his position, breaking the kiss to alter his stance, as if that might somehow bring him to his senses. But it did no such thing. He pulled back far enough to look into the swirling depths of her tawny eyes, and what he saw there only served to throw more fuel on the blazing fire. There was wariness, a drugged sort of surprise, and there was something else—a deep, dark intensity that held all the promise and wonder of what might happen, what might be, if they let it. It was more than enough to tip him over the edge.
He lowered his head to cover her soft pink lips again, to lose himself in more of the heady pleasure of her mouth. His hands strayed over her behind, the skimpy fabric that barely covered her rounded buttocks clammy beneath his touch, sticking to her skin.
His breath hitched into the kiss. Leah had always had a fantastic body, model-slim, with legs that went on for ever. But now that body had taken on a new dimension, with soft curves replacing taut lines, the jut of her hips cushioned against his swollen groin and her breasts so plump, so full, that he longed to see them naked so he could fully admire their new, seductive shape. To see all of her naked, in fact. Because if Leah had been lithely sexy before—now she was irresistibly, off-the-scale, scorching hot.
Her arms had circled his neck and her fingers were laced, holding him firmly to her. It was all the encouragement Jaco needed. Moulding the hard planes of his chest against the cool, damp smoothness of her body, he reached for the knot of her bikini behind her back.
A distant moan permeated his consciousness. Was that Leah, or some guttural noise he had unwittingly made himself? He felt Leah start to move beneath the ring of his arms and reluctantly loosened his grip, realising that the sound was coming from neither of them, but from the baby monitor by the side of the pool.
Putting her hands against his chest, Leah pushed herself back, quickly looking down to check that her bikini was still intact.
Their eyes met briefly, Leah adopting a murderous scowl that was too little, too late. She had already given herself away. Jaco dropped his arms to set her free. But he refused to free her from the frenzied pull of desire between them. If he had to acknowledge the power of it, then so did she.
A highly charged second flashed between them before Leah turned away, hurrying back towards the villa as if her heels were on fire. Jaco stared after her, the sashay of that pert little derriere doing little to cool the blood that was still pumping manically through his veins.
The volume of noise coming from the monitor had ramped up considerably now, building to a full-blown throaty yell by the time Jaco had walked around the pool to pick it up and see a string of red lights flashing across the top. His son had a good pair of lungs.
Carrying it back towards the villa, he suddenly heard Leah’s voice coming through, soft and reassuring, and the crying subsiding to a couple of snuffly grunts. Jaco stood where he was, listening to Leah’s sing-song tone. There was something oddly compelling about eavesdropping on the tender exchange. But unsettling too. Because it made him feel like an outsider—as if he would never be able to achieve even a fraction of the close and loving relationship that Leah and his son obviously already had.
Switching the monitor off, he strode into the cool of the villa and carelessly tossed it onto the nearest surface. When the time was right he would work out how to form a bond with his child. The enormity of being a father had yet to fully sink in, but the idea was slowly growing on him. Right now, however, he had too many other things on his mind. D-day was fast approaching. He had to keep his focus.
Going into the kitchen, he went over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of iced water. As the ice cubes rattled down he picked one out and ran it over his lips to cool their raging heat. Looking down at himself, he realised he’d need to sit in a bathtub full of the stuff the way he was going on.
He raked back his hair, silently growling with irritation. The riotous way his body had reacted to the sight of Leah’s bikini-clad form was a distraction he could well do without. He was going to have to get that under control, and fast, or the next couple of weeks were going to get very complicated indeed.