His E-Mail Order Wife. KRISTI GOLD

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СКАЧАТЬ like a bad impression of Dudley Watts, Connelly Corporation’s resident lecher.

      Unfortunately, Kristina found the fringe on the pillow more interesting than his attempt at being seedy. “Thank you.”

      “And I’m looking forward to us getting to know each other better.” At least he sounded a little more suave. Less Dudley, anyway.

      She glanced up from the pillow, surprise in her expression. “Then you’re saying we should go ahead with this arrangement?”

      “Unless that’s a problem for you?”

      Her gaze faltered once again. “No. I agreed to do this, and I think we should give it a try.”

      So much for his first attempts to discourage her. He would just have to try harder to convince her that he had questionable intentions. “Do you need help moving your things?”

      “Everything I own is in my car.”

      “You’ve been living in your car?”

      That earned Drew a smile. “Not hardly. My lease ran out on my apartment this week, so when you asked me to move in, I decided not to renew. I guess you could say that this couldn’t have come at a better time.”

      Now Drew felt even worse. If he put her out, she’d be—for all intents and purposes—homeless. Back to plan A—dubious overtures. He leaned forward and attempted a come-on look, although his face felt stiff with the effort. “I think you’ll find my bed more than comfortable.”

      She leaned forward, too, seeming oddly relaxed. “Really, Drew, you don’t have to give up your room. As I told you before, the guest room will be fine.”

      He sat back. “You think we should have separate bedrooms?”

      “Of course, exactly what you proposed in the e-mail. I agree with you that we shouldn’t even consider that kind of intimacy with Amanda living in the house.”

      Lilly had obviously set him up for sainthood. If he told Kristina he’d changed his mind, that he wanted her in his bed—not exactly an unappealing thought—then he’d definitely look like a class-A jackass. He couldn’t go quite that far…yet. “Just checking to see if we’re on the same page with this.”

      “We are,” she said. “I believe we need a lot more time before taking that step in our relationship.”

      So much for plan A. “Tell me more about yourself,” he said in hopes of coming upon something else to convince her to steer clear of him.

      “I’m not sure what I can say that I haven’t said in my e-mails.”

      Drew realized she had a definite advantage there. “I’m sure you can think of something. You can’t know everything about someone in a few e-mails.”

      “We exchanged fifty.”

      Fifty? His grandmother seriously needed to find another hobby. “That many, huh?”

      “Yes, I counted them. I also kept them.”

      Drew made a mental note to try and retrieve them from his inbox later, if Lilly hadn’t destroyed the evidence of her deceitful doings. “Which was your favorite e-mail?”

      Her great smile traveled all the way to her coffee-colored eyes. “Let me think. I believe it’s the one where you told me one of your favorite books was Wuthering Heights.”

      “I bet that surprised you.” Sure as hell surprised him since he’d never read the book. But Lilly had. His grandmother knew no shame.

      “To be honest,” Kristina continued, “I think Heathcliff was a bit too tortured.”

      Heathcliff had nothing on Drew at the moment. “He was, uh, unique.”

      “And tortured. That’s why I’m surprised you also like romantic comedies.”

      Drew nearly choked on that one, yet it also led to another idea. Maybe if he could convince her that he hadn’t been forthcoming with the truth about his tastes, she’d decide to leave immediately. “Actually, I was only trying to impress you. I really prefer Tom Clancy.”

      Her grin widened. “Really? So do I. I love military thrillers.”

      So much for that strategy. “Did I tell you that I like sports?”

      “No, we didn’t discuss that.”

      Finally, something to work with. “Well, I do. Friday through Sunday when I’m home. Whatever’s on the tube. But my favorite is wrestling.” That ought to do it.

      It didn’t. Kristina looked pleased, excited even. “I am so glad to hear that. I adore wrestling. The Mangler is my favorite. Don’t you just love that crazy hat he wears? And when he takes on that woman, what’s her name?”

      Drew had no clue. He’d never watched wrestling, either. “I can’t remember at the moment. I’m still pretty jet-lagged.”

      Kristina’s dark brows drew down into a frown. “Jet-lagged? I didn’t know you’ve been out of town.”

      “Europe. For the past month.”

      “You sent all those e-mails from Europe?”

      “Yeah, I did.”

      The lies were getting deeper and deeper. If Drew knew what was good for him, for her, he’d put a stop to this now. He’d tell Kristina the truth. He’d quit staring at her dark eyes, her fingers dancing over the pillow, her tempting lips now parted in surprise, and just blurt it out.

      Then she added, “That’s so sweet, Drew. I had no idea. Surely that cost you quite a bit of money, connecting to the Internet in Europe. You shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble for me.”

      She sounded as if he’d sent her a Monet, not an e-mail. How could he tell her the truth now? He couldn’t.

      Besides, after seeing the nanny off at dawn with good riddance, he had no one to care for his daughter. It might take the better part of a month to find a decent replacement. Kristina was obviously good with kids, and Amanda liked her. In the meantime, he could pretend he was going along with this arrangement and try to come up with more ways to discourage her. Simple enough, except for one minor problem: He was more than a little attracted to her. However, he didn’t intend to let that deter him from his goal.

      Standing, he said, “Let’s get you settled in.”

      Kristina rose from the sofa, spanned the distance between them, and drew him into an unexpected hug. Her full breasts pressed against his chest. She smelled fresh, clean, felt warm against him. Good. Too good. His hands traveled to the dip at her spine. It took all his strength not to travel lower, mold his hands to her hips, pull her closer, kiss her thoroughly.

      Then she said, “Thanks, Drew,” in a silky voice, deep and slightly raspy. Drew immediately reacted to the sound, becoming steel-hard below his belt, and he wondered what she would sound like when he made love to her.

      When he made love to her?

      He СКАЧАТЬ