The Billionaire's Blackmail Bargain. Margaret Mayo

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СКАЧАТЬ state had suffered a near-fatal heart attack that had left her so fragile she had practically given up on life. She was now in a nursing home, and Simone was desperate to protect her mother as much as she could.

      ‘Then I’ll order in.’

      ‘No!’ declared Simone in blind panic. There would be no escape then, she would be trapped by her raging emotions. Already they were threatening to run out of control. Cade was a force to be reckoned with. Without even trying, he had turned her into an emotional mess. And entertaining him here would add to her torment.

      ‘I guess I’m not easy in your presence,’ she admitted eventually. ‘So much water has gone under the bridge.’

      ‘Or maybe it’s because you have a guilty conscience.’

      Simone saw a flash in his eyes, quickly controlled, but it was a warning all the same. He could be as nice to her as he liked, but beneath his charming veneer was a wolf ready to pounce.

      He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘We’ll carry on as planned, and you can tell me everything that’s been going on in your life. Why your business is tumbling downhill at a faster rate than an avalanche in the Alps, or what happened to the money you and your father tricked me out of, for instance,’ he suggested, his mouth grim all of a sudden.

      At Cade’s mention of the past, and the reason they had split all those years ago, Simone knew she had no choice but to agree to Cade’s request, if only to explain once and for all. She also knew that despite their bitter and complicated past Cade was her last chance of saving her company. However, the thought of dining out with the sexiest man on the planet did her no good at all. By the end of an evening spent trying to hide her churning emotions, she would be a gibbering wreck.

      When she discovered that he had hired a chauffeur-driven Mercedes, compelling her to sit cosily in the back with him, she felt even more anti-Cade. Memories returned of her eighteenth birthday when he had hired just such a car. They’d virtually made love on the back seat, the driver politely averting his eyes as they’d almost eaten each other alive.

      It crucified her to think how easily she had given herself to him. She’d been so eager, it must have been embarrassing. No, that was wrong. Cade hadn’t been embarrassed in those days; she had excited him.

      Despite the inches that separated them she could feel him as fiercely as if their bodies were touching. His cologne invaded her nostrils, intoxicating and arousing, and she suddenly found she wanted to experience his arms about her once more. She wanted his kisses, she wanted…

      Deliberately Simone closed her mind to such thoughts. She wanted nothing. Tonight without a doubt was going to be a total disaster. It would be impossible to spend several hours in his company without giving herself away. He tortured her soul simply by being there. His very presence was consuming, making her head spin and her mind shift out of kilter.

      And they were supposed to be making some sort of business deal!

      Was she crazy or what? It would never work. It was a recipe for disaster. nothing to do with Simone. He

      It was a relief when the car pulled up in front of a new hotel in Airlie Beach. It had been open for only a few months, and was massively impressive—and very, very expensive.

      Cade led her to a lift, swiping his security pass, giving her scarcely any time to look about her. It shot smoothly upwards, but it wasn’t until the doors opened that Simone realised they were in the penthouse suite. She looked at him in alarm.

      ‘What’s going on?’ Her heartrate tripled in a matter of seconds.

      Any time spent alone with Cade was dangerous, but this threatened to go right off the Richter scale.

      ‘I thought we’d dine in my suite,’ he answered, his smile devilishly disturbing. ‘It’s far more private and will give us the opportunity to talk.’

      ‘There’s nothing we have to say that’s so very private,’ insisted Simone, panic beginning to set it. ‘And if you think that I’m up for anything else then you’re very much mistaken.’

      But Simone realised that the biggest mistake of all had been in agreeing to dine out with him in the first place. Cade had changed. He was no longer the exciting lover who had tenderly led her into the pleasures of love-making. He was a dangerous man on a mission—and the trouble was she didn’t know what he had in mind.

      Cade was being driven crazy by Simone’s sweetly scented body. After that kiss, all too brief though it was, he’d known that she too felt a reincarnation of the animal hunger they’d once indulged. Oh yes, she was denying it, but why bring the subject up if she wasn’t experiencing a resurrection of old feelings?

      He was strongly tempted to follow his instincts and touch her, stroke her smooth, sensitive skin that smelled so enchanting, kiss her beautiful soft mouth again, make her totally his. Would she oppose him, he wondered? Or would she let her emotions fly free and use her voluptuous body to weave its magic the way it had always done?

      The very thought sent his male hormones into painful orbit, and he had to use all his resources to compose himself. When the lift doors had opened Simone had been the first to step out into the carpeted foyer with its elegant mirrored walls. Her stride was long, her back straight, her whole demeanour haughtily beautiful.

      She walked straight through into the hugely spacious living area, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning views over the deep turquoise-blue of the Pacific. When she turned to face him, her expression was a mixture of defiance and curiosity.

      ‘Your business must be hugely successful, if you can afford to stay in a place like this.’

      ‘It’s doing OK,’ he answered.

      Her fine brows rose, widening her already huge, expressive eyes. He used to feel that he could drown in them. Cade shook his head. It was far too poetical a thought for a tough businessman, he decided now. Nevertheless they brought back memories that were seriously disturbing.

      She still had the most tempting body of any women he knew. She’d not gained an ounce of weight, and was so slender that she looked as though a light breeze would blow her away. Her rounded breasts pushed tantalisingly against the soft fabric of her top, and he could picture them free of any encumbrance.

      Damn, he wasn’t supposed to be thinking like this. Not yet, at any rate. This was a business meeting. If he wasn’t careful he’d frighten her away before he’d even started. The main reason for his return visit to Australia was to explore the possibilities of setting up a new branch. He’d been excited at the thought, it had incubated in his mind for a long time, and when he’d discovered that there were no opportunities exactly where he’d wanted them frustration had got the better of him.

      Enter Simone!

      Killing two birds with one stone had instantly seemed like a good idea to him. Nevertheless, he knew he mustn’t rush. If his plan was going to be successful then he must gain her total trust first—except that pushing to one side the host of frenetic desires that had burst into life inside his body was not going to be easy.

      Cade had always prided himself on his ability to control his feelings. But he hadn’t counted on the impact Simone Maxwell would still have on him. For years he had told himself that he hated her. She had pulled the worst trick imaginable, and for that he would never forgive СКАЧАТЬ