The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ since they’d fallen apart in each other’s arms after what seemed like hours of pleasure. In reality... Eloise squinted at the clock. How had it only been forty-five minutes since she’d been telling Melissa she wasn’t sleeping with Noah Cross? ‘Practice, I suppose.’

      ‘Maybe I was just very, very motivated.’ Noah pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, then carried on up her neck. Eloise squirmed until he captured her lips and she let herself sink into the kiss.

      It was secret. He’d promised. It was just them, just one night.

      She could let herself have this, and enjoy it. Just this once.

      Noah raised himself up on one elbow so he was looking down at her. Eloise wondered where he’d found the energy. Blinking and breathing were taking all of hers.

      ‘What Melissa was saying before...’ Noah trailed off, and Eloise would have groaned if she had the strength. The last thing she wanted to talk about while in bed with Noah Cross was Melissa. ‘About your mother...’ Noah began again, and she realised she was wrong.

      The absolute last thing she ever wanted to talk about was her mother.

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said quickly, hoping she could end the conversation before it really got started. ‘It was a long time ago.’

      ‘It seemed to matter to you earlier. I mean, you promised Melissa you wouldn’t sleep with me because of it.’

      ‘And look how well that turned out.’

      Noah’s smile took on a hint of smugness. ‘Chemistry like ours...you can’t promise that away. Trust me, I tried.’

      ‘You tried?’ If the last couple of days had been Noah trying not to sleep with her, he sucked at it.

      ‘Not very hard,’ he admitted. ‘But you’re not the only one who needs to keep this a secret. There’s this director... Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Let’s just say it’s not in my best interests to have this be public knowledge either.’

      That was good, Eloise thought. If they both needed it to stay secret, they’d both be more motivated to keep it that way. And that meant there was a chance she might survive this week after all.

      ‘So why did you risk it?’ she asked, frowning. She wasn’t the sort of woman men took risks over. That was definitely her mother, or Melissa. Not her.

      ‘Because I couldn’t not,’ Noah said, smiling. ‘I know my limits when it comes to resisting beautiful women.’

      ‘You’ve experienced this a lot?’ Eloise didn’t like that idea. For her, this was a completely new feeling. The idea that Noah had this with every woman he met... It wasn’t that she thought she was anything special, exactly. But if she only got one night with him, she at least wanted it to be one he’d remember.

      ‘Never,’ Noah swore, his gaze fixed on hers, truth in his eyes. ‘Not like this.’

      ‘Me neither,’ Eloise whispered. And, worst of all, she was very afraid she might never feel it again. She’d gone twenty-six years without ever feeling anything close, so it didn’t seem likely that the kind of intense passion she had with Noah was waiting for her around every corner.

      ‘I don’t do this,’ Noah admitted, and Eloise raised her eyebrows. He obviously sensed her scepticism because he went on, ‘Not the sex. Yes, I’ve slept with women. Probably less than you think, but that’s not the point. I mean...’ He sucked in a deep breath. ‘Normally, this is easy. Casual. I don’t feel the need to ask questions, to get to know a woman’s personal history. But with you...it’s different. You’re different.’

      Something in Eloise’s chest tightened. Part of her wanted to be pleased, to be proud to be something more than the usual casual encounter that Noah indulged in. But another, larger part of her heart was curling up in the corner of her ribcage, wishing he’d move on and stop noticing her.

      Because, whatever he said, she knew the truth. He might not feel it now, but Noah Cross didn’t do deep and meaningful. Maybe he wanted to hear all about her childhood woes, but would he give her anything in return? She doubted it.

      But still she found herself saying, ‘What do you want to know?’

      ‘She was an actress, right? Your mother?’ Eloise nodded. ‘So, is she the reason you don’t date actors?’

      ‘I don’t date actors because I’ve known too many of them,’ Eloise said with a sigh. ‘And most of them were sleeping with my mum.’

      Noah winced. ‘Ah.’

      ‘Yeah.’ She turned onto her side so they were face to face in the darkness, what little light there was coming through the window glinting in his beautiful eyes. ‘She was a big fish in a small pond, I guess. She’d been on the West End stage before she had me. She was pregnant when she met my dad.’

      ‘He’s not your biological father?’

      Eloise shook her head. ‘No. But he was the one who was there for me, every moment. Every step of the way.’

      ‘So, what happened? They got married?’

      ‘They did. And they moved out here, back to the town where my dad had grown up. His family were all gone but...he loved this place, and he wanted Mum to love it too. But she didn’t.’

      Eloise sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself for the rest of the story. Living it had been horrendous, but surely just telling it couldn’t be that bad.

      She’d never had to tell it before. Everyone else around here just knew.

      ‘The one thing she did like was the Theatre Society. Our town has a small community theatre. A proper stage, raked seats—the whole thing. So, after I was born, Mum joined the Theatre Society. And because she had the experience on the London stage, well, she became the main attraction pretty quickly, I think. As long as I remember, she had every starring role in every play or show they did there. And if she didn’t...well, she’d threaten to walk out until they changed their minds. They couldn’t afford to upset her, you see. She was their star.’

      ‘I’ve known actresses like that,’ Noah said drily. ‘And actors too. They’re not fun to work with.’

      ‘No. I can’t imagine Mum was, for most of the people in the society. But her leading men...’ This was the hardest part. ‘Every production, it was the same story. They’d cast the best-looking guy against her, and every time Mum would make him fall for her. Whether she fell for them too, I don’t know. She always claimed to be desperately in love with them—at least until the show was over. Then she’d drop them and come back to Dad, until the next show. But by then...she’d destroyed those men’s lives. Their marriages were in tatters, their reputations ruined. Some had left their families, lost their friends, sometimes even their jobs, for Mum. And she just forgot them the minute the curtain came down.’

      ‘How many times did she do this?’ Noah asked, his voice soft.

      ‘Too many. I don’t know. Maybe six, or seven? It didn’t start until I was about ten, I don’t think—or, if it did, she was more discreet about it. But by the time I was a teenager, everyone knew what she was. What she did. And every guy swore she wouldn’t get him—but she always did. If she СКАЧАТЬ