The Mistresses Collection. Оливия Гейтс

Чтение книги онлайн.

       TWO

      James Wolfe sank deeper into the decadent, erotic dream. He tasted sweet mixed with salt, felt heat and hardness contrast with softness and smiles. Saw aquamarine eyes shimmering with defiance and desire. Heard words whispered with a wild edge. He reached out, wanting to touch...

      But his hand slid over a cold sheet.

      He slowly opened his eyes, trying to drag his reluctant, relaxed mind back to the realm of reality. First thing he saw was the empty stretch of mattress beside him. Frowning, he blinked—certain his dream woman had been in bed with him.

      Then he heard the sound of running water emanating from behind the closed bathroom door. He smiled. It was okay. She was in the shower.

      But then his mind, so briefly and blissfully rested, froze. He stiffened, then sat bolt-upright as actual memory returned and shredded the remnants of fantasy.

      There had been a woman in bed with him. A woman who’d worn his shirt and nothing else. A woman he’d thought was...hell.

      His stomach curdled.

      George had said she could stay here. George never invited random women to stay. Not for more than a night and not without him. Which meant this woman was special. James rubbed his aching temples with tense knuckles as the blindingly obvious hit him.

      She had to be his brother’s girlfriend.

      George had been single a while, earning a reputation as a slayer—‘making up for lost time now he was off the leash’ as all the blogger types sniped. James knew some of George’s supposed escapades were fabrication, but not all. Still, it wasn’t impossible to believe George might’ve fallen for a blonde with soft-looking lips, and blue eyes that widened in surprise and sparkled in annoyance. Uh-huh. Why George wanted her was easy to see. She was easy to want. But letting her stay in their private condo was more than want. That meant serious.

      And what had James done? All but called her a whore and told her to leave. He winced. All class, he was. George was, rightly, going to be pissed. James was going to have to grovel. To both of them.

      The sound of running water ceased and James tensed. Maybe he could convince her to forgive and forget the whole incident? But how to convince her? Throw himself on her mercy? Explain he was so exhausted he hadn’t been thinking straight? Blame the stress of his last assignment?

      He glanced down, frowning at the white cotton sheet covering him. He didn’t remember sliding under it last night, which meant she must have—

      An entirely inappropriate image flashed in his head. An entirely enjoyable one. Hell, he wished he’d never seen her legs, or how curvy her unfettered breasts looked in one of his T-shirts.

      His clothes. His bed. His.

      If she was Goldilocks, he was definitely the bear. But he hadn’t done a very good job of chasing her away. She’d been way more defiant than that thief from the fairy tale. She’d been almost desperate to stay. He wondered why that was.

      The door to the bathroom opened. She walked out, her expression guarded. James’ innards shrivelled in excruciation. She couldn’t look less like a hooker. Her pale face peeked out above the turtle-neck roll of a giant black sweater. Baggy black jeans hung on her, hiding the figure he knew was lithe. She’d scraped her wet hair into a function-over-form ponytail, the bedraggled twist nothing like the swathe of colour that had blanketed his pillow so enticingly. Given her pallor he guessed she’d not brushed any make-up on. Cloaked with an air of wariness, she looked smaller, tired. But still determined. Still sexy.

      Yeah, part of him wanted to haul her back to his bed, strip her out of the oversized gear and help her relax enough to sleep soundly. She looked as if she needed it as much as he and he still had seven hours’ straight sleep in him. He could forget the world with her. Make her forget her own name. And George’s?

      Guilt skewered СКАЧАТЬ