‘I want lots of things,’ he said pleasantly, ‘but chiefly I’d like to send you packing.’
Carly squared her shoulders. He would not get the better of her this morning. ‘Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Mr James?’ she said, walking past him.
Dare grabbed her wrist. ‘Money-grabbing little tramps should not be left to take advantage of doddery old fools.’
‘Really?’ Carly glanced down at her wrist as if she couldn’t care less that he was holding it. ‘For your information your grandfather is not doddery at all. He’s completely in charge of his faculties and if he wants to make a fool of himself I’d say that’s his business, not yours. In fact, given your attitude, I don’t know why you care. Unless it’s self-interest.’
His gaze sharpened. ‘You think I want you, is that it?’
Carly noticed the sting of colour that ran along the edge of his high cheekbones as his grip on her wrist tightened. He might want her to think he was completely in control but he was very far from it. Not that she cared. She was glad to be able to annoy him the way he did her.
‘I meant,’ she replied with relish as she peeled his fingers away from her skin, ‘Rothmeyer House.’
Dare saw the light of victory in her eyes and could have cursed himself for revealing just how much he wanted this woman. Last night he’d brooded well into the early hours of the morning, imagining her with his grandfather. And since he’d already had his hands on her—albeit innocently—it was more than easy to picture her naked. Picture her breasts, high and round, falling into his hands as he cupped them and brought them to his lips, picture her thighs parting, the silky triangle of red-gold hair guarding her femininity from his gaze.
He had a violent urge to strip her running shorts down her long legs to find out if he was correct about her colouring, to press her up against the cement column behind her and wrap those long silky legs around his hips right before he pumped himself into her.
The image was so visceral he was already at full mast and he knew if she looked down she’d see it.
God, how he disliked this woman. Disliked her cool sensuality and greedy little heart. Disliked the fact that he wanted her to choose him over his grandfather.
What the...?
The wayward thought did nothing to tamp down the primal aggression running like a live wire inside him. He wasn’t the possessive type. Not where women were concerned. In fact he couldn’t think of anything worse than becoming so enamoured of a woman that he thought about her outside the bedroom, but this woman was like a nagging itch he couldn’t scratch. Which was most likely the attraction. She was forbidden fruit.
Knowing it was a mistake but doing it anyway, Dare stepped into her personal space, forcing her to tilt her head back to look up at him. ‘I don’t need Rothmeyer House or any other of my grandfather’s effects,’ he snarled, ‘but, mark my words, you won’t get them either.’
She inhaled a sharp breath, the sound shooting along his nerve endings.
‘Fortunately that won’t be up to you,’ she said, breathing fire. ‘And if your grandfather has any sense he—’
Dare grabbed her by the shoulders, effectively cutting off her words. ‘He’ll what?’ he rasped. ‘Disown me?’
Carly’s eyes widened in surprise before she could school her features. ‘Take your hands off me,’ she ordered with icy precision.
A feral smile appeared on Dare’s face, raising goose bumps along her skin. ‘You don’t look the worse for wear after last night. Sorry. Did I put my grandfather off his game?’
Carly held herself rigid. ‘I said—’
‘I noticed you have separate rooms, which tells me the old man can’t want you that much.’
Carly sucked in a sharp breath, his words hurting, even though they were incongruous. ‘Spying, Mr James?’ she mocked.
‘Call me Dare.’
‘No.’
‘Feisty.’ His thumbs stroked her collarbones. ‘Does my grandfather like that?’
Carly stiffened. ‘Doesn’t it bother you that you’re so preoccupied with your grandfather’s sex life?’