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Guy nodded thoughtfully, his eyes assessing the woman he had once craved like none other. The woman who had formed the baseline for his fantasies.
He’d been furious that night – the night he’d learned the truth. No. He’d never learned the truth. He still didn’t know anything about who she really was, and nor did he want to; he knew only that she’d lied to him. He knew she’d given him a fake name, a fake profession, been vague about where she lived.
He’d spent a month sleeping with a perfect, sexy stranger. A liar. He’d fallen in love with a mirage.
And now she wanted something from him. His eyes narrowed, taking in her pale skin, her wide-set eyes, the unmistakable impression that she was hanging on his every word.
“Fifty thousand pounds,” he murmured, as though the amount was worthy of his solemn consideration. He paced across the room, staring out at the garden.
“I know it’s a lot.” Her words stretched a harsh smile over his face, one she wouldn’t have seen for the way he stood, turned away from her. “Believe me, Guy, I wouldn’t be here, asking for your help, if there was any other option.”
He didn’t believe her. Not for one second.
Ava – Adeline – whatever the hell her name was – knew his worth. She knew the level of wealth he possessed. Why waste her one shot at fifty thousand pounds, when as his lover she would have access to the lifestyle she’d already experienced?
Did she think she could win him back by playing the damsel in financial distress?
Not likely. Having been foolish enough to be drawn in by Addie once, he wasn’t likely to be so ever again. He’d learned his lesson about the beautiful woman. She wasn’t to be trusted, not for a million pounds. Not for anything.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with her, did it?
CHAPTER TWO
“YOU’RE RIGHT. FIFTY THOUSAND pounds is a lot of money.” He spun around to face her and Addie froze, the full force of his strength lashing across the room like a cyclone.
She knew him to be a powerful, influential man. She’d understood that the night they’d met, even before she’d known his name. Men like Guillem R
odriguez possessed in their very being a latent control that communicated itself in every gesture. In the way they spoke, the way they stood, the way they commanded the attention of a room simply by entering it.
And Guy commanded Addie, in that moment. She stood, almost as if to attention, waiting with breath held, heart throbbing, blood rushing.
“I would pay you back,” she heard herself say again, simply to fill the silence that was emanating from him, beating against the walls with its powerful nothingness.
“Oh, that wouldn’t be necessary.” His eyes were rich with sardonic anger when they clashed to hers. “At least, not pound for pound.”
Addie swallowed, trying not to let herself feel relief that they were moving closer to an agreement. Because his manner was confusing her now, suggesting complications she hadn’t – foolishly – anticipated.
“What does that mean?”
He moved closer, just a few steps, but her body began to thrum with a new awareness, to vibrate differently. “Before you arrived today, I was pondering a problem I have.”
“A problem?” Addie responded, trying to keep up.
He prowled closer. “And here you are: a perfect solution.”
“To what?” She held her breath, her eyes glued to him as he closed the distance between them.
Just the nearness of him was overpowering every single one of her senses. He lifted a finger, and ran it down her cheek, dropping it insolently to her shoulder, as though he had every right to touch her. She drew in a harsh breath, but didn’t move, didn’t look away.
“Guy?” It was a plaintive whisper. A small cry for clarity in a whirlwind of confusion. In a million years, she hadn’t imagined he would touch her like this. Nor look at her as though he wanted to strip her naked and take her to his bed.
“I was very angry at you that night.”
She nodded, just a tiny jerk of her head. “I remember.” He had been scathing. Brutally so.
“I am no longer angry.”
Hope fluttered in her breast.
