Rumours: The Legacy Of Revenge. Cathy Williams

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СКАЧАТЬ dismissed the thought, pushing it back behind the door in his mind, leaning his resolve against it to make sure it was closed.

      ‘Can you choose me a tie?’ Flynn said.

      Kat went back to his wardrobe and selected a tie. ‘Will this one do?’

      ‘Perfect. Can you put it on for me?’

      Her lips pursed. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’re making the most of this situation?’

      He smiled as her hands looped the tie around his neck. This close he could smell her winter flowers fragrance as it danced and flirted with his senses. The temptation to press his mouth to hers was like a tug of war inside his body; every organ strained at the effort of keeping his willpower under control. ‘Why do I get the feeling you’d like to strangle me?’

      Her gaze went to his mouth. Her fingers worked on his tie but he could feel them tremble as they inadvertently touched the skin of his neck. His blood leapt at the contact, pulsing through his veins like rocket fuel. She took her bottom lip between her teeth in concentration—or was it because she was fighting an urge, the same urge he could feel barrelling through his body? She completed his tie and gave his chest a quick pat. ‘There.’ She gave him the briefest flash of a smile. ‘All done.’

      His gaze locked on hers, watching as the dark ink of her pupils in that sea of bewitching green widened. Watching too as the tip of her tongue came out and darted over the surface of her lips, the top first and then the bottom, leaving them moist, shining and tempting. His blood headed south, his groin swelling and tingling with the promise of contact. Any contact. He couldn’t think of a time when he had wanted a woman more than her. But he wanted her to make the first move. She was oscillating; he could tell. The same battle he was fighting in his body was being played out over her features. Her gaze slipped again to his mouth. Her tongue did another circuit of her lips. Her breathing hitched just loud enough for him to hear it. He saw the rise and fall of her slender throat. He ached to press his lips to the thrumming pulse he could see hammering there. ‘What have you got riding on this celibacy pact?’ he asked.

      She swallowed again. Audibly. ‘Wh-why do you want to know?’

      ‘Just wondering what’s keeping your self-control in check.’

      Her chin came up, her mouth pulled tight again. ‘You think you’re so damn irresistible, don’t you?’

      Flynn smiled at her. ‘You want me so bad.’

      Her eyes fired a round of ire at him. ‘I. Do. Not. Want. You.’

      ‘How many times do you reckon you’ll have to say that to believe it?’

      Her breath came out like a small explosion. ‘You’re unbelievable. You think just because every other woman you’ve ever smiled at fell at your feet that I will too. Well, guess what? I won’t.’

      ‘That’s what the silly little celibacy pact is all about, isn’t it?’ Flynn said. ‘You knew from the moment we met that we would end up in bed together so you thought of a plan to prevent it from happening. Cute plan, but it’s doomed to fail.’

      She laughed but it didn’t sound authentic, more like someone acting as though they were amused when deep down they were anything but. ‘No wonder those bones broke in your foot. They were probably weakened from carrying around your ego.’

      ‘Speaking of my broken foot,’ Flynn said. ‘Can you carry my briefcase downstairs?’

      She gave him a mutinous look, but then her gaze went to his crutches and she gave a tiny swallow. ‘How will you get to work? You can’t drive, can you?’

      ‘Unfortunately, no.’

      She bit her lower lip and glanced at his bandaged foot again. ‘I could drive you if you—?’

      ‘No.’

      She gave him a steely glare. ‘There’s no need to be so emphatic about it.’

      ‘I’ll take my chances with a cab,’ Flynn said. ‘But don’t worry—I’ll keep the receipts for you.’

       CHAPTER SIX

      FLYNN WASN’T HOME when Kat arrived later that day to take Cricket out for his evening walk. She refused to acknowledge the little slump in her spirits. What did she care if he wasn’t home? It was better if she didn’t see him, especially after seeing him all but naked this morning. Every time she thought of coming across him in his bedroom in nothing but a towel hitched around those lean hips her stomach somersaulted. His body was as attractive as his mind. Toned and tanned with muscles in all the right places. And his sexy frame was sprinkled with just enough masculine hair for her hormones to start fanning themselves.

      But, when she walked back from the park with a panting Cricket at her side, she noticed more lights on in Flynn’s house than she had left on when she had let herself in earlier. The front door opened before she could use the key Flynn had given her but it wasn’t him standing there—it was Miranda Ravensdale. Gulp. Her half-sister. Kat knew it was Miranda as she had seen numerous photos of her and her brothers when the news of her existence had broken.

      Miranda smiled shyly. ‘Hi. I’m Miranda. I hope you don’t mind us dropping in like this but when we heard Flynn broke his foot Jaz and I thought we’d better drop off a casserole or something. We won’t stay long. We’re just going, aren’t we, Jaz?’

      Before Kat could think of anything to say, another young woman appeared. ‘Hiya.’ Jasmine Connolly gave a beaming smile. ‘So, we finally meet. Hey, Cricket.’ She bent down and cuddled the dog, who was in a paroxysm of delight. ‘What do you think of your new neighbour, huh? Isn’t she a sweetheart to take you out for walkies?’

      Why had Jaz made it sound as if Kat had taken the dog out as a Good Samaritan favour? Kat couldn’t stop looking at Miranda, searching the young woman’s elfin features for any likeness to her own. Her half-sister. A relative. Someone to belong to. Family. ‘Erm...nice to meet you.’

      Miranda bit her lower lip. ‘Is it too awkward for you? I mean, we can leave now, can’t we, Jaz?’

      ‘But I thought we were going to stay and have dinner with Flynn?’ Jaz said.

      Kat saw the two exchange glances. ‘I’m just dropping off Cricket,’ she said into the little silence.

      ‘Oh, won’t you stay and have dinner with us?’ Miranda’s gaze was a wide, enthusiastic, welcome-to-the-family one. ‘We made enough to feed an army. Two armies, the navy and the air force, actually. Julius and Jake aren’t here, if that’s what’s worrying you. Julius and Holly are in Argentina just now and Jake’s out with Leandro, my fiancé, at a work thing.’

      Kat knew it would look churlish of her to refuse. But meeting her half-sister without warning had thrown her completely. No doubt Flynn was behind this impromptu meeting. Her fury at him boiled in her blood like caustic soda until her veins felt like they were going to bust. How dared he engineer a meeting she didn’t want? Wasn’t emotionally ready for? What if he’d invited her father? The whole freaking family? ‘Where is Flynn?’ she said.

      ‘In the sitting room with his foot up,’ Miranda said. ‘I insisted СКАЧАТЬ