‘Good morning,’ he greeted cheerfully, placing a cup of coffee in her hands.
Stacy slammed the cup and saucer down on the table so that she could hold the covers over her naked breasts. ‘I’m not sure that it is,’ she said gruffly. ‘I—Where did you sleep last night?’
He shrugged. ‘In here. I told you I would.’
She bit her lip. ‘And—er—how did I—’
Jake grinned. ‘How come you’re stark naked?’ he finished for her. ‘Well, you started ripping your clothes off in the middle of the night so I—’
‘I didn’t!’ she gasped. ‘I’m sure I wouldn’t—’
‘Apparently you thought you were being attacked again,’ he interrupted. ‘You’d ripped off quite a lot of your things before I realised what you were doing. Then you just
seemed to collapse back into a deep sleep. I thought you’d be more comfortable without your ripped clothing and under all the bedclothes. You seemed more settled after that.’
Stacy blushed at the thought of him undressing her, although he seemed unperturbed, as if he were used to undressing women. Well, maybe he was used to undressing his wife and the other women he had in his life—but he wasn’t used to undressing her.
‘I wish you hadn’t done that.’ She evaded his eyes.
He picked up the crumbled rag of her green dress. ‘I didn’t have much choice about it, you were nearly strangling yourself with this.’
‘You could have left my other clothing on,’ she accused.
‘I did,’ he grinned. ‘A pair of the briefest briefs I’ve ever seen.’
Her colour increased as she realised he was right. The thin straps and fitted bodice of her dress had made it impossible for her to wear a bra, and a slip wasn’t necessary with the underskirt. Her legs were tanned and smooth, making tights unnecessary too. Oh dear, why hadn’t she put more on!
Jake walked to the door with long easy strides. ‘I’ll leave you to shower. You’ll find a bathrobe behind the door in there.’
‘But what about clothes for when I leave?’ she halted him at the door. ‘I can’t go down in the lift wearing only your bathrobe.’
‘You can tell me what clothes you want over breakfast and I’ll go down and get them. Your flat-mate should have left hours ago.’
Stacy gave a startled glance at her wrist-watch. ‘Ten o’clock!’ she squeaked. ‘I should have been at work three hours ago!’
‘I telephoned Payne and told him you wouldn’t be down there today,’ he told her calmly.
‘You—you didn’t!’ But she knew he had by the indignation on his face at her doubt. She buried her face in her hands. ‘Oh God, what will everyone think of me! Didn’t Mr Payne ask for an explanation?’
‘He asked. I told him to talk to Paul Forbes about it.’
‘Which he won’t,’ she said dryly.
‘Probably not. He knows Forbes’ tricks as well as I do. The only reason I didn’t stop you leaving with him last night was because I thought you had more sense than to go to his room with him.’
‘I do!’ she retorted. ‘It was because we were arguing about you that I didn’t notice where he was taking me.’
His blue eyes narrowed. ‘And why were you arguing about me?’
‘Because he said you still wanted me—’ She broke off in confusion as she realised what she had said.
‘So?’ Jake raised dark eyebrows. ‘I do,’ he acknowledged simply.
‘You—you do?’ she asked breathlessly.
‘Would you like me to come over there and prove it?’ he asked softly.
‘No!’ she said sharply, clutching the sheet even more tightly to her body. ‘No,’ she answered more calmly. ‘I must get showered and dressed and down to the location. I can’t just take the day off on a whim.’