Claiming His Princess. Kate Walker

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СКАЧАТЬ than it had been yesterday she wouldn’t run into him this morning and would be spared the whole awkward morning-after thing.

      Feeling more like her normal self after a shower, she smiled as she crossed the marble foyer and propped her small suitcase beside the front door. Bending down, she’d retrieved the thank-you note she’d written to Anne and Gilles, which she planned to leave with Gilles’s butler, when she heard a dark voice behind her.

      ‘Leaving so soon?’

      Ava wheeled around, her hair flying over her shoulders in a slow arc. Wolfe stood in the arched doorway, ruggedly handsome in worn boots, black low-riding denims and a basic white T-shirt that drew her eye to every solid inch of him.

      Placing her hand against her chest, Ava tried to smile into his hard face. ‘You scared me.’

      He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Obviously.’

      ‘I…ah…’ God, she sounded like a silly debutante! And why did he look so angry all of a sudden? It wasn’t as if she had been the one to walk out on him before the birds had started chirping. ‘I have a busy day lined up.’

      Wolfe could tell instantly that Ava had put last night behind her. It was in the regal tilt of her head, the squared shoulders and the way her gaze didn’t quite meet his. Not to mention the small, reserved smile she bestowed on him, as if all that had passed between them last night had been polite conversation instead of intimate body fluids. It was the same smile he’d seen her give plenty of other men the night before, and to say he felt infuriated by it would be a grand understatement.

      He recalled the way she’d told him he could leave her room after sex. At the time he’d thought she had been politely trying to give him an out, but what if she’d been trying to get him out instead?

      ‘On a Sunday?’

      Her chin came up, most likely because of his sceptical tone. ‘Yes.’

      ‘And what about dinner?’ he asked casually.

      It appeared she had a guilty conscience, because her gaze cut to the left before returning to his. ‘Tonight?’

      Damn.

      Wolfe read her meaning in that single word and knew she had no intention of having dinner with him, that night or any other. He didn’t like it. ‘Yeah. You, me, a bottle of red. Or do you prefer champagne?’

      ‘Actually, I have a meeting with someone this afternoon, so I won’t be able to make tonight.’

      Someone she was sleeping with, perhaps?

      Wolfe raked her slender figure in a floaty summer dress and lightweight sandals and tried to rein in his uncharacteristically possessive response as his mind immediately stripped her naked.

      On some level he knew he was behaving completely irrationally. Really, he should be rejoicing that she didn’t want to complicate things between them by prolonging the inevitable, because—well…he knew his interest in her would wane at some point.

      ‘And it’s probably better this way, don’t you think?’ she said a little too quickly.

      ‘Better what way?’ He refolded his arms and rocked back on his heels. No way would he make this easy for her.

      Her gaze snapped irritably to his and then cast over him, lighting little bushfires in its wake. ‘Better if we forget dinner. Forget last night.’

      ‘Forget last night?’ Wolfe wasn’t sure if this had ever happened to him before. A woman waking up after a night of phenomenal sex who not only didn’t want to have dinner with him but looked as if she never wanted to see him again either.

      ‘Oh, come on, Wolfe.’ Her slender hands fitted around her hips just as his had done last night. ‘I’m sure this isn’t a novel concept for you. In fact it’s probably a relief.’

      His eyes rose to hers as he forced himself to focus. A relief? Yes, it should have felt like a damned relief. The fact that it felt more like an insult only increased his aggravation.

      ‘You think I pick women up and sleep with them every time I go out?’

      ‘I don’t know.’

      And she didn’t care, if he read her tone correctly.

      ‘But why are we arguing? Did you want more from last night than just sex?’

      He stiffened, suddenly uncomfortable as she turned the tables on him. Saying no just felt wrong, but…‘No.’

      She nodded quickly, as if she’d expected his answer. Wanted it, in fact. Did she do this all the time? Pick up men for a night of no-strings sex? The idea made his stomach knot.

      ‘Great, so we’re on the same page. Last night was lovely. I had a good time. Hopefully you did, too.’

      She shrugged almost apologetically and he had an unpleasant moment of wondering if this was how women felt when he walked away from them. But then with all the previous women in his life he’d established the parameters from the start. Perhaps he was just reacting badly because this time he hadn’t done that.

      ‘What more is there to say?’

      Ava’s challenging question brought his mind back to her.

      ‘Clearly nothing,’ Wolfe ground out. ‘You seem to have it all worked out.’

      She mashed her lips together, as if confused by his tone, and Wolfe warned himself to stop being stupid. This was the perfect scenario, wasn’t it?

      The sound of footsteps coming down the grand staircase drew his eye, and then he heard Ava swear in French.

      ‘Gilles is coming. I don’t want…Can we just pretend this never happened?’ She tinkled a laugh. ‘Yes, the wedding was gor—Oh, Gilles. Bonjour. Where’s Anne?’

      Wolfe thought about telling her never to try her hand at acting. She looked as innocent as someone trying to make off with the family jewels.

      He narrowed his eyes as Gilles put his hands on her waist and gave her a kiss on each cheek, disturbed by the unexpected urge to pull him off her.

      ‘As quaint as Anne finds the ancient staff bell in our room, it didn’t work this morning—so I’ve been sent in search of coffee.’

      ‘What a fantastic idea.’ Ava nodded enthusiastically. ‘I think I might join you.’

      ‘You want one, Wolfe?’ Gilles rubbed his eyes, as if he hadn’t had much sleep.

      Wolfe knew how he felt.

      ‘No. I’ve had enough coffee to last me a lifetime.’ Ava’s pout firmed, and Gilles threw him a quizzical look.

      Deciding it was past time he left, he shoved his hand into his pocket for his keys and felt the phone he’d put there to give to Ava.

      ‘This is for you.’ He held out a silver smartphone. ‘I took the liberty of placing your SIM card into a spare after my men found СКАЧАТЬ