Bridegroom On Her Doorstep. Renee Roszel

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СКАЧАТЬ a resilient cheat he was!

      In a twilight world of the brokenhearted, she had stood there, crushed. The man she’d almost given herself to was cleverly and cold-bloodedly plying his wiles while a casual sexual conquest lay in his bed on the other side of a door, wholly forgotten.

      She pushed away from him, staring in disgust and disbelief at his perplexed expression. He didn’t even have the decency to recognize his betrayal. Her heart had gone down, literally sank as she grieved to the depths of her soul. She had been so irrationally in love she’d allowed herself to be blinded to his lies, evasions, infidelities, no matter how often her friends had tried to warn her.

      That night Jen endured two very painful deaths—a beloved member of her family, and her desire to ever again be caught up in the thick, mind-clogging pink fog called love! She had been out of control once, and it shattered her. Never again!

      Tony had the nerve to call her several times after that, his silver-tongued vows of devotion seemingly ardent and heartfelt. Though Jen suffered the tortures of the damned, she resisted falling for his sly charm. Two endless months passed. Months of enduring his presence at work, his casual touches and melting looks, those warm, hazel eyes—eyes that softly tempted, promising never to lie, even as they lied. Eyes that could drive a sane woman mad and turn an intelligent one into a fool.

      Tony’s cunningly subtle come-ons at the office became almost too persuasive to resist. Jen began to fear for her sanity and her resolve to resist him. Then, as suddenly as he had come, Tony left D.A.A., his natural charisma and business acumen landing him a splendid position in New York City’s financial district.

      Tony was too aggressive, too commanding to be content to remain at a small, conservative firm like D.A.A. As his final coup de grâce, proving his ruthless amorality, he eloped with a co-worker, someone he had surely been making love to even as he’d sweet-talked Jen, attempting to destroy her resolve. His unlucky, deluded bride wasn’t even the same woman she’d caught him in bed with!

      Sadly, Jen found the pain and sense of betrayal did not diminish after Tony’s departure from her life. His easy, unapologetic and persistent breaches of faith taught her an agonizing lesson. Tony had not been the only betrayer in this. She had also been betrayed by the treachery of her own emotions, allowing her to be so blind and deaf to the man’s true, black character. Never again would she let her emotions run riot.

      Logic and intellect became her watchwords. After Tony was gone, Jen threw herself into her career, reestablishing it as supremely important in her life, and she’d risen rapidly through the ranks at D.A.A. Any desire to attract a man with physical trappings, like sexy clothes or makeup, was gone, crushed with her naiveté.

      The presidency of D.A.A. would be hers, this time, or she would die trying! She knew from unhappy experience the company was severely conservative. The presidency had always gone to, and would always go to, a settled, married man. Though she could do nothing about her gender, Jennifer Sancroft was determined to mold herself into the perfect presidential candidate—which required an immediate and respectable mate.

      This husband hunt she’d hurriedly put into motion would be conducted on a strictly analytical basis. She would not let emotions blind her and open her up to pain.

      Never again.

      She would play it safe, be in total control. She would secure for herself a mate who was not only successful in his own right, but who shared her interests and beliefs. Finding a life’s partner with intellect instead of insubstantial and untrustworthy hormone-induced emotion was certainly possible. Her own parents were the perfect example of a well-oiled team with like minds who had never been slobbery over each other. Jen simply needed a plan, a few good candidates, and some privacy—which at the moment was the subject at hand.

      She marched down the sloping lawn, her attention riveted on the man painting the fence. When she was within stone-throwing distance, he startled her by glancing in her direction. His features were as grim as hers, as though her approach had not been a surprise.

      Before she reached him, he laid his brush across the paint can and straightened, bracing his hands on his hips. His unfriendly expression suggested she was the one intruding. Well! He had some nerve! Just who was the executive and who was the hireling?

      She thought she detected the flare of his nostrils. “So you’re the tenant.” He sounded as though he’d expected her but would not have grieved extravagantly if she’d driven off a cliff.

      “Yes, I am.” Her aggravated tone matched his. “When will you be finished with your chores? This weekend, I trust, because Monday morning I begin some very important —meetings, and I can’t have a lot of banging and—and—whatever…” She waved away the rest of the sentence. Of all people, a maintenance man would know what noises a maintenance man made.

      He remained silent, his skeptical examination giving off insolent vibes. Even as annoyed as his cheeky impudence made her, a corner of her brain whispered that he had an amazing face. His eyes were an otherworldly pale, spectacular, almost hypnotic. Though she assumed their color was a very light blue, in the bright June sun, they exhibited an iridescence reminding her of fire opals. Staring into them she lost her train of thought as well as a fraction of her animosity.

      His striking eyes narrowed, masked by a dark frill of lashes. He pursed his lips for a beat, then shrugged. The movement caused a sinewy ripple across his chest. “I can’t do much about the banging, but I’ll try to keep the whatever down.”

      She scowled, confused. What was he talking about? She met his eyes, not realizing until that moment that her gaze had strayed lower. Her cheeks grew hot and she feared she might be blushing. “Excuse me?” The snapped inquiry came out breathier than she would have preferred.

      He inhaled, nostrils flaring again, drawing her attention to the symmetry of his straight patrician nose and how nicely it fitted above a handsome, if cynically twisted, mouth. Her gaze traveled down again, and she took conspicuous notice of his square chin, bisected by a sexy cleft.

      “Look, Miss…” As he paused, she shook off her odd preoccupation, mentally scrambling to regain focus on why she’d confronted him.

      Before continuing his thought, he leaned slightly forward. If he were anyone else Jen wouldn’t have noticed, but he was so—so big. The move unsettled her and she took a step backward. “Whether you like it or not,” he said, “I’m here for the month of June. The leasing agent made a mistake.” He gave her a curt but brazen once-over. “Since you’re a woman who, by your own admission, has an aversion to banging, I suggest you make other arrangements.”

      She stared at him, hoping his remark had no underlying sexual content. Surely not. He couldn’t have the mental dexterity to juggle a double entendre. “What do you mean by mistake?” she asked.

      His brow wrinkled at her question. “I mean the usual—error, blunder, oversight, slip—”

      “I understand the word!” she cut in. “I mean, what mistake?”

      “The corporation never rents this property in June.”

      “Of course it does,” she said. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

      “That was the mistake.”

      She had a sinking feeling, but didn’t respond.

      “Your being allowed to rent the place was a mistake,” he said.

      Refusing to take his word, she СКАЧАТЬ