From Boardroom to Bedroom

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.

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

that

murmured words pulled him

why I’m going to all this

sparkle. “And here I thought it was because you couldn’t

closer, settling his hands on either side of her hips until she

before he slid his mouth over

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

his hands beneath the hem of her silky

tore her mouth from his and dropped her head back, his name coming

you want,” he

wanted his next breath...and they

to look for

his and she smiled...and his body responded. There was nothing