Roslyn rolled her eyes and gave a half grin.
“That’s better,” he murmured with a smile. “But, seriously, having a fear is nothing to be ashamed of. Why didn’t you ask me to sit with you and hold your hand?”
“I’ve never asked anyone to hold my hand when I’ve been afraid,” she countered. “Talk about humiliating.”
“Everybody is afraid of something.”
She quirked her brow and leveled his gaze. “And tell me what your fear is? Besides your grandmother.”
Nigel laughed, but she wasn’t far from the mark. He’d never discussed his true anxieties or insecurities with anyone before.
“Failing my family,” he finally admitted. “They were all stunned when I wanted to move to New York and start my own brand and work in television. I need this show to continue to succeed not just for me but for them. And then there’s my personal side. Settling down, marrying, and starting the next generation of little Townshends is actually expected of me and I know my family is disappointed that I’ve waited this long. I could always find a woman and start a family, but that’s not what I want. My parents were married a long time before my mother passed from a stroke. I want love. I’m just not sure when it will find me. I’m just so swamped with work and growing the brand.”
Nigel stopped himself before he went on too much. He already sounded like a fool for believing in love. Roslyn had already said she wasn’t sure the emotion truly existed and he wasn’t so sure there was someone out there for him, either.
At what point should he give up and just find a woman he’d want to be the mother of his children? Did he actually have to love her in a way old romances said a husband should love a wife? What was even normal these days, anyway?
“Family really means that much to you.”
Roslyn’s murmured words pulled him back.
“Family is everything,” he stated. “That’s why I’m going to all this trouble to bring a date.”
Her wide smile made her eyes sparkle. “And here I thought it was because you couldn’t stand being away from me.”
Nigel moved closer, settling his hands on either side of her hips until she had her back pressed against the leather couch.
“That, too,” he said before he slid his mouth over hers.
She moaned against his lips, sliding her hands over his shoulders and threading her fingers through his hair. Just the simplicity of her touch had his arousal pumping through him. He had to remind himself that she was still innocent, but he also couldn’t ignore how passionate she was.
When Roslyn arched that curvaceous body against his, Nigel slid his hands beneath the hem of her silky blouse and found warm satiny skin.
Roslyn tore her mouth from his and dropped her head back, his name coming out on a whisper from her lips.
“Tell me what you want,” he demanded.
He wasn’t going to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with, but he wanted her more than he wanted his next breath...and they certainly had plenty of time on this flight for him to show her just how much he needed her.
“Tell me,” he repeated, easing back to watch her face, to look for any hesitation that might indicate she wasn’t ready for more.
Her eyes met his and she smiled...and his body responded. There was nothing in her eyes but hunger, desire and anticipation.
His hands shook as he slid her shirt up and over her head. When he tossed it to the side and reached for the straps of her lacy black bra, she reached up and framed his face with her hands.
“You’re nervous,” she stated with a soft smile. “That’s adorable.”
Adorable. Not a word anyone used to describe him since he’d probably been a toddler.
And nervous? Nigel wasn’t about to admit any such thing...no matter how true the statement. They both needed this. They both had been dancing toward this moment since she sashayed into his office in those hip-hugging jeans and killer heels, dazzling him with her beauty and impressing him with her knowledge and her mind.
Instead of answering, he dipped his head to graze his lips over the swell of her breasts just above the outline of that sexy-as-hell bra.
Roslyn eased down as he reached behind her back and unhooked the garment. She jerked it from her arms and lay on her back, staring up at him, her eyes silently pleading for him to take her.
Definitely no hesitation here. This woman knew what she wanted, knew whom she wanted. Nigel may not understand why she’d waited so long to give herself to a man, but he was damn happy she’d chosen him.
He didn’t know what this said about her true feelings, but he couldn’t analyze that right now. He wanted her and she sure as hell wanted him.