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Ashley’s smile fell from her face. The name hit her like a ton of bricks. She was standing face-to-face with Robert Daniels’s son. Though she had never met him, she had seen pictures that had been taken years ago. All the whispered innuendos she had heard about her father flitted through her mind. She swallowed back the sickening feeling rising from her stomach.

“I think it’s about time we got to know each other,” Trevor stated, his calm belied by an angry muscle working overtime near the back of his jaw.

“Why?”

“Because we have so much in common, you and I.”

She looked disdainfully up at h

im. “I doubt that.”

“Sure we do. Let’s start with our fathers. Weren’t they in business together once?”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Ashley whispered, taking a step away from this formidable man.

“I don’t think so.” A hand, large, powerful and surprisingly warm, reached out and took hold of her arm, spinning her back to face him. “I want to talk to you.”

“About what?”

His face drew into a vindictive scowl. “Let’s start with what you know about my father.”

Other guests had joined them on the deck and were showing more than casual interest in the confrontation between Trevor Daniels and the attractive, raven-haired woman. Ashley’s gaze flickered to the unfamiliar faces before returning to Robert Daniels’s angry son. “I don’t know anything about him,” she whispered.

“But your father does.”

Her eyes turned frigid. “I’m not interested in causing a scene, Mr. Daniels.”

“I’ll bet not.”

“Then maybe we could drop this discussion.”

“Not on your life.”

“I have no idea what my father does or doesn’t know about your family.”

“Tell me about it.”

Once again she glanced at the interested eyes trained upon her. “Not here!” She jerked her arm away from his grasp with as much pride as she could muster.

“Where then?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her speculatively. That intense, midnight-blue gaze started at her feet and inched up her body, appraising her. By the time his eyes had returned to hers, Ashley felt the stain of unwanted embarrassment burn her cheeks. “Let’s talk about this in private.”

“Anywhere you suggest,” he agreed with a sarcastic curve of his sensual lips.

She had to think quickly. Guests had crowded the small Lambert cabin. Ashley was sure that there was no privacy anywhere in the house. “My father has a cabin . . . not far from here. After the party . . .”

“Now!”

She was about to protest but the hardening of his jaw convinced her that he meant business. After hasty apologies given to a slightly confused Sara, Ashley left the Lambert cabin with Trevor Daniels, his boots crunching ominously on the gravel, striding behind her.

Without an invitation, or so much as a look in her direction, Trevor got into the passenger seat of her sporty Mercedes convertible and for the first time in her life, Ashley was embarrassed by the ostentatious display of wealth.

The short drive was accomplished in stilted silence. Only the dull whine of the engine and the tires spinning on loose gravel disturbed the quiet of the mountains.

Ashley roared to a stop near the garage, pulled on the emergency brake and shut off the engine. “We can talk here,” she suggested, but Trevor was already getting out of the car.

Damn the man! He intended to go inside. Just the thought of being alone with him made Ashley’s pulse quicken. She chalked it up to the fact that he was Robert Daniels’s son. That alone made her nervous.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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