His Seductive Proposal. Maureen Child
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Название: His Seductive Proposal
Автор: Maureen Child
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Короткие любовные романы
Серия: Mills & Boon By Request
isbn: 9781474042895
isbn:
He might have been amused by her futile attempt at resistance if he hadn’t been so tightly wound. Her generous breasts filled out the front of a white scooped-neck top. It was almost impossible not to stare. Any healthy man between the ages of sixteen and seventy would be drawn to the lush sexuality of a body that, if anything, was more pulse-stopping than ever.
He pushed his way in, inexorably but gently. “Perhaps not for you. I happen to think it’s a damn good time.”
She stepped back instinctively as he moved past her into a neat, pleasantly furnished living room. Though it was warm and charming, not an item was out of place. No toys, no puzzles, no evidence of a child.
On the far wall, built-in bookcases housed a plethora of volumes ranging from popular fiction to history and art appreciation. Olivia had been a phenomenally intelligent student, an overachiever who possessed the unusual combination of creativity and solid business sense.
A single framed picture caught his eye. As he crossed the room for a closer look, he recognized the background. Olivia had written her graduate thesis about the life and work of famed children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. On one memorable weekend, Olivia had dragged Kieran with her to England’s Lake District. After touring the house and grounds where the beloved character Peter Rabbit was born, Kieran had booked a room at a charming, romantic B and B.
Remembering the incredible, erotic days and nights he and Olivia had shared on a fluffy, down-filled mattress tightened his gut and made his sex stir. Had he ever felt that way since?
He’d tried so damned hard to forget her, to fulfill his duty as a Wolff son. A million times he had questioned the decisions he made back then. Leaving her without a word. Ending an affair that was too new… too fragile.
But he had ached for her. God, he had ached. For Olivia… elegant, funny, beautiful Olivia… with a body that could make a man weep for joy or pray that time stood still.
He shoved aside the arousing memory. There was a strong chance that this woman had perpetrated an unforgivable deception. He refused to let his good sense be impaired by nostalgia. And let’s face it… this meeting should be taking place on neutral ground. Because without witnesses, there was a good chance he was going to wring Olivia’s neck.
Again, he studied the photo. Olivia stood, smiling for the camera, holding the hand of a young child. Kieran’s world shifted on its axis. He lost the ability to breathe. My God. The kid was a Wolff. No one could doubt it. The wide-spaced eyes, the wary expression, the uptilted chin.
He whirled to face his betrayer. “Where is she?” he asked hoarsely. “Where’s my daughter?”
Olivia called upon every parentally bestowed dramatic gene she possessed to appear mildly confused. “Your daughter?”
The man facing her scowled. “Don’t screw with me, Olivia. I’m not in the mood.” She saw his throat work. “I want to see her. Now.”
Without waiting for an invitation, he bounded up the nearby stairs, Olivia scurrying in his wake with her heart pounding. She’d known on some level that this day would come. But in her mind, she’d always thought that she would be the one orchestrating the reunion.
Kieran Wolff had been her first and only lover. Back then she’d been a shy, lonely, bookish girl with her head in the clouds. He had shown her a world of intimate pleasures. And then he had disappeared.
Any guilt she was feeling about the current situation evaporated in a rush of remembered confusion and pain.
On the landing he paused, then strode through the open door of what was unmistakably a little girl’s bedroom. A Disney princess canopy bed… huge movie posters from a variety of animated children’s films… a pair of ballet slippers dangling from a hook on the door.
For a moment, Olivia was reluctantly moved by the anguish on his face, but she firmed her resolve. “I repeat the question. What are you doing here, Kevin?”
A dull flush of color rose from the neck of his open-collared shirt. Short-cropped hair a shade darker than hers feathered to a halt at his nape. He was dressed like a contemporary Indiana Jones, looking as if he might be ready to take off on his next adventure. Which was exactly why, among other reasons, she had never contacted him.
He faced her, his gaze an impossible-to-decipher mélange of emotions. “So you know who I am.” It was more of a statement than a question.
She shrugged. “I do now. A few years ago I hired a private investigator to find out the truth about Kevin Wade. Imagine my surprise when I learned that no such man existed. At least not the one I knew.”
“There were reasons, Olivia.”
“I’m sure there were. But those reasons mean less than nothing to me at this point. I need you to leave my house before I call the police.”
Her futile threat rolled off him unnoticed. He was intensely masculine, in control, his tall lanky frame lean and muscular without an ounce of fat. Amber eyes narrowed. “Maybe I’ll call the police and discuss charges of kidnapping.”
“Don’t do this,” she whispered, her throat tight and her eyes burning. “Not after all this time. Please.” The entreaty was forced between numb lips. She owed him nothing. But he could destroy her life.
“Where is the child?” His unequivocal tone brooked no opposition.
“She’s traveling with her grandparents in Europe.” Not for anything would Olivia reveal the fact that Cammie’s flight wasn’t departing LAX for several hours.
“Tell me she’s mine. Admit it.” He grasped her shoulders and shook her, his hands warm, but firm. “No lies, Olivia.”
She was close enough to smell him, to remember with painful clarity the warm scent of his skin after lovemaking. Her stomach quivered. At one time she had believed she would wake up beside this man for the rest of her life. Now, in retrospect, she winced for the naive, foolish innocent she had been.
In high heels she could have met him eye to eye, but barefoot, wearing nothing but shorts and a casual top, she was at a distinct disadvantage. She pushed hard against his broad chest. “Let me go, you Neanderthal. You have no right to come here and push me around.”
He released her abruptly. “I want the truth, damn it. Tell me.”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you in the ass. Go home, Kevin Wade.”
Her deliberate taunt increased the fury bracketing his mouth with lines of stress. “We need to talk,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “I have a conference call I can’t miss in thirty minutes, so you have a choice. Tonight at my hotel. Or tomorrow in a room with two lawyers. Your call. But the way I’m feeling, a public forum might be the best option.”
The sinking sensation in her belly told her that he would not give up easily. “I don’t have anything to say to you,” she said, her bravado forced at best.
He stared her СКАЧАТЬ