Secret Heirs: Baby Bargain. Эбби Грин

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СКАЧАТЬ thought running through her head with his finely tuned antennae. She had an expressive face. So much of him was tempted to give her the benefit of the doubt, to believe that she was as straightforward as she claimed to be, and yet...

      Her appearance at the restaurant, the startling red dress, the ease with which she had accompanied him back to his place despite protesting that she wasn’t that sort of girl...those random hugely expensive trinkets dotted around her flat...

      ‘I’m not your type...’ She looked at him narrowly, licked her lips. He was...formidable—lounging back there on her sofa in all his dark, dangerous, sexy glory.

      ‘I’m willing to break the mould...’

      But she didn’t go in for short-lived affairs—never had. She might have broken up with her last boyfriend but it had been a relationship born from optimism that it would stay the course. Quite different from indulging in something that didn’t stand a chance...

      To even think about...anything at all with the man now looking at her with those midnight-blue eyes would be downright reckless.

      ‘You told me that I wasn’t your type either,’ he reminded her in the same soft, speculative voice that felt like a caress. ‘Maybe it’s just a case of opposites attracting...’

      He’d never had to work so hard with any woman before, and he wondered whether it was the irresistible lure of a challenge.

      ‘You’re not my type.’

      ‘So why the hesitation? We can both go into this with our eyes wide open and enjoy one another or I can walk out through that door—and I promise you that there won’t be a next time as far as I am concerned. This is the most I’ve ever had to do when it comes to chasing a woman. I’ve exhausted my interest in active pursuit.’

      ‘You make it sound so...so cold...so businesslike...’

      ‘I could wrap it up in pretty paper if you’d prefer,’ Sergio said drily. ‘But would that change anything? We’re attracted to one another. I can feel it between us like something alive... And if you come a bit closer and touch me you’ll certainly feel just how attracted to you I am and just how much I want to make love to you right now...’

      Her heart skipped a beat. She remained where she was. He was right. There was a spark of electricity between them that crackled and there was no point denying that. And so what if he was...practical about whatever this was...? So what if he was blunt when it came to doing something about it?

      The romantic in her might want to hear all the flowery stuff that came at the start of a relationship—but that flowery stuff didn’t amount to very much most of the time, did it? He was giving her his own unvarnished view of what they had.

      Mutual, physical attraction—take it or leave it.

      ‘Are you so...so cold and detached with other women?’ she asked. Or was he like this only with her because he’d known from the get-go that she wasn’t the sort of woman who would ever be able to hold his interest for very long?

      ‘You talk a lot...’

      But he grinned and a little more of her melted. He had the most amazing grin. It altered the harsh contours of his beautiful face and made him seem suddenly, wildly accessible and even more mind-blowingly sexy. Did he have a turn-on switch for that smile? Was he even aware of how powerful it was?

      She blushed, chin resting on her knees, her brown eyes unwavering.

      ‘Okay!’ Sergio flung his arms wide in a gesture that was a mixture of frustration and amused resignation. ‘So I’m realistic in my approach to relationships? I never make promises I’m in danger of not keeping. I don’t encourage slumber parties. At this stage in my life I’m not interested in playing for keeps...’

      ‘And you’re always on the lookout for anyone who wants to get too close just because you’re rich...?’

      ‘That’s right.’ His expression cooled.

      ‘Because you’ve had a bad experience?’ Susie mused.

      ‘You could say that,’ he drawled, relaxing. ‘And now is the question-and-answer session over?’

      Susie didn’t answer. She was staring into space. He’d been hurt—badly hurt—by someone he’d trusted who had turned out to be after his money. She wondered what this mysterious woman looked like, had been like... It didn’t matter in the big picture, because she wasn’t going to get involved with him, but she was curious nevertheless.

       Had he been madly in love with her?

      Her stomach gave a little flip, because she couldn’t imagine him being madly in love with anyone. Even after only her brief contact with him he struck her as a man in total control of every aspect of his life.

      What woman had had the power to bring this big, powerful man to his knees? She must have been quite something. Hence his learning curve...

      ‘Stop trying to work me out.’

      ‘Huh?’ Susie blinked and focused on him.

      ‘You’re trying to piece me together,’ Sergio said wryly. ‘Don’t. We can enjoy one another without too much in-depth analysis. Come and sit closer to me. It’s driving me crazy, seeing you and not being able to touch.’

      Susie stood up, flexed her muscles, which had stiffened. and glanced at the roses taking up half her flat.

      ‘You’re going to have to take most of these back to your apartment,’ she said, buying time—because there was still a stubborn part of her that didn’t want to fall into his arms at the snap of his fingers. She felt like someone with one foot hanging off the edge of a cliff, even though she didn’t know why because, as he’d said, mutual lust didn’t involve the depth charge of a proper relationship...

      This was going to be an adventure that would take her right out of her comfort zone.

      She had tried the online dating in search of a soul mate and had found three losers and a would-be loser. She had been out with guys who had been the last word in fun, who had been laid-back and full of creative spark, and she had only been tempted to get close to one of them—and that one had ended up being just a little too much fun for her liking.

      Sergio Burzi occupied a place of his own. He had laid his cards on the table. He wanted sex and nothing more. She wasn’t even really sure what he thought of her. Did he still think that she was after what he could give her?

      It sounded so weirdly clinical—even though sex was the least clinical thing on the face of the earth.

      She didn’t do clinical—not when it came to emotions—but...

      What he aroused in her was so overwhelming. She just had to look at his cool, handsome face, just had to hear the deep timbre of his voice, and all her reservations flew out of her head.

      She felt his eyes follow her as she strolled towards the window and then turned to look at him.

      ‘When you do, I’ll help you put them in vases. Or something...’

      Sergio relaxed. He hadn’t СКАЧАТЬ