Rumours: The Secret Billionaires. Дженнифер Хейворд
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Название: Rumours: The Secret Billionaires
Автор: Дженнифер Хейворд
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon M&B
isbn: 9781474097697
isbn:
‘If that is what you want.’ The granite hardness of his voice more than matched hers and she glanced at him as she stood up, obviously preparing to leave.
‘It is. Our marriage was only ever about Leo.’ Her words sliced through him, slashing the memories of the day he’d confided in Sebastien that Sadie was the only woman who’d made him want to open his heart to softer emotions, the kind which weakened even the hardest man. But he wasn’t weak and he would not be weakened. Whatever they’d once had was obviously long gone. All that remained was the spark of sexual attraction, which could easily be doused. Experience had taught him that.
‘Our marriage was about uniting for Leo’s sake, about enabling me to be there for my son.’ He couldn’t allow his thoughts to focus on what had once been. He had to remain firm. She’d accepted his terms of marriage—terms he’d made for the little boy for whom he’d do anything.
‘And how long will you be there for him?’ Finally she turned to face him, the censure clear in her voice and sparking in her eyes, even in the dim light of the evening. ‘A few days? A week or two?’
‘I intend to be there for ever for my son, so you had better get used to having me in your life.’ He bit down on the anger her words provoked but kept his gaze firmly fixed on her beautiful face.
‘I don’t believe you are up to that particular challenge.’ She glared angrily at him and he wondered if she had any idea just how he worked, how he could never envisage anything but success—in everything he did.
‘So it’s a challenge, is it?’ He couldn’t stem the amusement which rushed over him watching her expression change to one of shock when she realised what she’d done, that she’d issued a challenge to him.
‘You seem to thrive on them.’ The haughty and distinctly flirty reply fizzed in the air as the sexual tension notched up another level.
‘I do indeed.’ He couldn’t help teasing her. The only problem was that it increased his desire to kiss her, to make her his once more.
‘And, of course, getting me back in your bed is yet another challenge.’ The pointed retort found its mark, snuffing out the burn of desire which was escalating within him.
He laughed. The truth of her words made anything else impossible. She met his gaze, the green of her eyes sparking with anger. Anger which only lit the fuse of desire once more. He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted another woman, but then he wasn’t accustomed to being turned down by a woman—or wanting her all the more for that rejection.
He stood up and stepped closer to her, so close he could smell her perfume as it mixed with the heady scent of the array of flowers beyond the terrace of the villa. The urge to pull her against him, to feel her body pressed against his only exacerbated the confusion of emotions running riot within him. ‘If I wanted you in my bed, that is exactly where you would be and I wouldn’t need a challenge to achieve that objective.’
She glared at him, but, before she could say anything, he took her hand and raised her fingers to his lips. She didn’t resist as he pressed a kiss onto her fingers, his dark gaze locked with the sexy green of her eyes.
‘But I will wait for the time when you can no longer deny what still exists between us.’
SADIE’S FIRST NIGHT as Antonio’s wife had been restless and lonely. True to his word, he’d honoured her request to sleep alone, but the challenge he’d clearly laid down still sounded in her mind. She had spent much of the night staring into the semi-darkness, questioning if she’d done the right thing marrying Antonio and wondering if he would keep his word and allow her to sleep alone. Was everything, including their marriage, all part of a challenge?
Leo had been up for a while, exploring his new home with Antonio. As she stood now, at the edge of the olive grove beyond the immaculate grounds of the villa, and watched Leo and Antonio as they explored their new home, she felt herself being drawn closer and closer to the man she’d married. He didn’t look like the power-hungry billionaire she knew he was; he appeared content and happy with Leo.
Antonio glanced up and, on seeing her, took Leo’s hand and led him back towards the terrace. She expected Leo to clamber onto her lap, but he didn’t. It seemed his new home and father figure had instilled confidence in him, made him more independent. He ran across the immaculate lawn to explore further as Antonio stood beside her.
‘Leo has settled well. He is an inquisitive child.’ Antonio’s voice was gentler than normal. Was he succumbing to Leo’s charm? If so, how long would it last?
‘I am more than aware, thanks to Sebastien, that our marriage is some sort of challenge, but please remember your son is only a child.’ She looked up at Antonio, who seemed as surprised as she was by her sudden emotional outburst. ‘Don’t ever hurt him, Antonio.’
She wanted to look away from that dark and questioning gaze, behind which she knew simmered the same kind of sizzling desire she too was wrestling to control. What would happen if she allowed that attraction, that needy desire to show itself? All she had to do was go to him, tell him she wanted him, but she was resisting, protecting her fragile heart.
‘You don’t think very highly of me, do you, mia bella?’ Antonio’s voice was thick and heavily accented, his eyes darkening, the intensity within them making her pulse leap.
‘Can you blame me?’ she replied firmly, desperate to hide the way just a look could send her senses spiralling out of control. ‘You married me for a challenge. Was that what those two weeks at the garage were all about? A dare?’
Still he didn’t enlighten her and she walked away from him, sighing in frustration, berating herself inwardly for being such an easy target, for allowing herself to become just part of a dare.
‘Sì, I was at the garage as Toni Adessi. It was a challenge.’ Antonio leaned casually against a pillar on the terrace, arms folded and with that arrogant expression on his face, looking far too sexy and dangerous. How could he so calmly stand there? ‘But I had no idea I would find you there—or my son.’
‘And you expect me to believe Leo and I were not part of the challenge, which looks very much like it was set by Sebastien?’
He pushed his body away from the pillar and walked towards her and although her heart thumped in her chest she refused to be intimidated. She had agreed to marriage partly to give Leo the father he needed, but also out of a misguided romantic idea that there was something from their weekend affair still simmering between them, something that might give the marriage a chance of success. Now, as he stood and looked down at her, so very close she could smell the fresh scent of his morning shower, she knew she’d made a big mistake. She might still have feelings for him, but Antonio was immune to that and certainly didn’t have any feelings for her, other than blatant lust. Nothing had changed.
‘You may believe what you wish, mia bella.’ For a moment she thought he was going to reach out and touch her face, the look which crossed his softening the hard angles, making her breath catch in her throat.
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