Free Untouched by His Diamonds by Lucy Ellis Page B

beyond her experience. She just didn’t feel ready to be that out of control, and that kiss in the lift had rung some pretty significant bells. This man could very well annihilate all her inhibitions, and she really, really didn’t want to wake up tomorrow morning to a note on the pillow telling her thanks, he’d be in touch.
    She wasn’t naive. She got the impression Serge saw her as a lot more sophisticated than she actually was, and she probably needed to talk to him about that. Which made dinner an excellent idea.
    ‘Dinner and a movie?’ he echoed. ‘They’re your terms,
kisa
?’
    Clementine wanted to flap her lashes and tell him yes, but she’d been shaken up by what had just happened and it wasn’t fair to Serge to keep up the flirting when she so clearly wasn’t going to follow through.
    ‘Not terms. I just thought it would be nice,’ she offered. ‘Normal.’
    Nice. Normal. Serge was trying to get his head around what had just happened. One minute he was being lured by a siren into the bedroom, and the next he was shipwrecked on the rocks—an uncouth oaf who had come on too strong and not taken no for an answer.
    He was thrown back to that café in Petersburg, feeling like a thug for upsetting Clementine. She was either playing a very clever game or he had got this all very wrong. If he had it wrong, and this less than sure of herself Clementine who kept appearing at inopportune times was the real deal, the traditional Russian male that lurked not far below his modern sensibility was going to have a field-day. And he needed to keep that firmly in check.
    He knew which way that led.
    Either way, he wouldn’t rush her. It would do both of thema disservice. Especially if what was between them turned out to be as incendiary as he suspected it would.
    Clementine decanted her clothes into one of the guest bedrooms, wondering what on earth she thought she was doing. Serge had got changed and told her he was going down to use the gym for a couple of hours. He would return to take her to dinner at seven.
    She had hoped to spend a little time in his company beforehand, but given her actions this afternoon she hadn’t felt in a position to try and dissuade him. He’d said something about having some excess energy to work off, which she might have interpreted as flattering. Instead it had just fallen flat.
    Folding the last of her T-shirts away, she plopped down on the guest bed and smoothed one hand over the gold satin quilt. She was definitely in luxury land, with a man she didn’t know nearly enough about, but there was a huge part of her that was singing out
squeee
as she threw herself down the rocky, rushing ravine she just knew this week with Serge would be. He’d almost pulled her over into the rapids with him this afternoon, but she’d balked at the last minute.
    Cautious Clementine. She grimaced at Luke’s nickname for her and checked her watch. Serge had been gone barely an hour. Smiling to herself, she began peeling off her clothes.
    Serge repetitively drummed the gloves into the bag, feeling the shudder through his arms, relishing the impact. He couldn’t believe the scene he’d had with Clementine. It took him back to being seventeen and not sure if it was all right to put his hand under a girl’s top if she hadn’t explicitly given permission.
    Sweat blinded him and he pulled the punches, stepped away from the bag and reached for a towel, rubbing his face.As he slung it over his shoulder he reached for his bottle of water.
    ‘Is this what you’re looking for?’ Clementine stood in front of him, offering up the bottle with a little smile.
    She was wearing a tiny pair of red shorts and a white tank top, and she’d tied all that hair back in a ponytail.
    ‘Thanks,’ he said, almost by rote, as every male cell in his body sat up and saluted.
    ‘Can I have a go?’ She indicated the punching bag.
    ‘It might be a bit hard for you,’ he responded, trying not to ogle her. Something