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But she wasn’t.
Ella fought the urge to bury her head in her hands and burst into uncharacteristic tears as shame swamped her.
She’d almost fallen for it— This request to marry her could be nothing more than another ploy to get Holly.
This was not about intimate connections. Or profound pleasure. Or even about any feeling for her. This was about Yevgeny getting what he wanted in any way possible.
She’d do well to remember that.
Still clutching the covers to her chest, she leaned forward and scanned the carpet. Finally she caught sight of a puddle of black. Her dress. Her bra and briefs were nowhere to be seen. Ella had a distant memory of Yevgeny taking off her glasses last night; she’d have to retrieve them from the living room in order to locate her underwear.
For now she snagged the black dress with the tips of her fingers. In a smooth movement she pulled it over her head and shimmied it over her torso. It seemed absurd to protect her modesty now, but she no longer wanted to be naked in front of Yevgeny. Not until she’d worked out his motives.
Turning her head, she looked at him, fully looked at him, and her heart contracted.
He reclined against the pillows, the sun slanting through the window revealed his lips curved up in a sensual smile, while lazy appreciation still lingered in those glittering wolf eyes.
Lust bolted through her.
She wanted him.
Again.
Even though she suspected his motives.
How could she still desire him?
What kind of black magic had he unleashed on her? How had he managed to reduce her to...this? Never had anything interfered with her ability to think...to reason clearly...until now. He had her tied up in knots.
And no doubt he knew it.
It had been his plan.
Suspicion cooled her ardor like a bucket of icy water.
“No.”
“No?” He raised a dark brow. “You don’t want to stay?”
She flushed. “No—I can’t marry you.”
* * *
Ella emerged from the master bathroom, her purse under her arm. The transformation from siren to icicle was complete. Her makeup was perfect—and no doubt her underwear was back in place, too.
Instead of looking at him where he lounged in the big bed, she pushed her glasses up her nose and glanced down at her watch. “It’s late—I have to go.”
“Work. I suppose.” Yevgeny resisted the urge to roll his eyes skyward.
“My work is important to me.” Her voice cooled. Finally she looked at him. “But this time it’s about Holly.”
He started to pay attention. “Holly?”
Ella was fiddling with pulling the neckline of the black dress straight. He bit back the urge to tell her it was fine. “I intended to tell you about it last night. But I got...distracted.” Her chin lifted a notch, signaling that he wouldn’t like what was about to follow.
“Yes?”
“Jo Wells found a couple she thinks will be a perfect fit to adopt Holly.”
Yevgeny stiffened at that revelation. “I’m the perfect fit to adopt Holly,” he said unequivocally.
“I saw their profile yesterday. They offer everything I asked for.” Ella swept her hair back behind her ear. “I’m meeting them this morning—” She broke off and glanced at her watch again. “In an hour.”
Her stubbornness infuriated him. Fixing his gaze on her, he said softly, “I am absolutely committed to adopting Holly.”
“It won’t work. We’ve been through this before.” She was talking so fast he didn’t even try to get a word in. “You’re a billionaire playboy. What do you want with a baby? You haven’t thought this through. What will you do with a growing girl? How will you provide the mothering model she requires? What do you know about the needs of teenage girls? This feeling of responsibility will pass.”
“I will learn. Whatever Holly needs I will provide,” he said fiercely. “Whoever adopts her will also have to develop and learn about the needs she has—no one is a perfect parent from the start.” He paused for an instant. “Parenting is about committing to learn about the needs of children.” Something his own selfish mother had never made any effort to do.
But Ella was already turning away. “I’ve got to get to this appointment—and I need to stop by my town house to collect some suitable clothes first.”
He could not risk Ella allowing a couple to get their hopes up about adopting Holly—he was taking Holly. Nor could he take the chance that Ella would get it into her head to sign the consent to adoption. Twelve days had passed. She could do it now.
“Then I will have to come with you.”
She swung around, her face tight and closed—a world away from the woman who had responded so passionately to him last night...all through the night. A tight band settled around his chest.
