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His dark face lowered to hers. ‘It’s all about sleight of hand and distraction,’ he whispered before his mouth came crashing down on hers.
The kiss was hard, hot and hungry as he plundered her mouth with ruthless efficiency. For a split second, shock held her immobile, then as his dark head began to lift something snapped inside her. Chloe felt it, even heard it, as she dragged his dark head back down to hers, parting her lips to invite a deepening of the slow, sensual exploration.
It was an invitation that he accepted, driving his tongue deep into the warm recesses of her mouth.
She was distantly conscious of the throaty, mewling little sounds but didn’t make the connection between them and herself. Her hands curled into his jacket to stop herself falling as tongues of flame scorched along her nerve endings, and she felt a deep shudder ripple through the hard, lean body pressed close to her.
‘Oh, God!’
Her shaken gasp seemed to break the spell.
The thud that Chloe heard when she fell back to earth seemed almost as real as the searing humiliation she felt as, still shaking, she looked up at him, to see that he was perfectly fine. Standing there as though nothing had happened, she thought, her indignation going supernova...then cooling slightly as she noticed the streaks of colour along his cheekbones and the fact he was breathing pretty hard.
At least he had put enough distance between them to make the basic stuff like breathing a whole lot easier. She tilted her head but it was impossible to make out his expression. Even with her eyes narrowed, his face was just a dark blur, which was probably a blessing of sorts because he no doubt looked as smug as a man who had just had his point proved could look.
She took a deep breath. ‘I am not sure what that was meant to achieve.’
‘Achieve?’
She ignored the interruption and didn’t even register the odd strain in his voice.
‘I already knew that you were a good kisser.’ He was a good everything, that was the problem.
‘So the problem is...?’
Arms crossed over her chest, she rubbed her upper arms with both hands. ‘I enjoyed the night I spent with you, but I happen not to be quite as casual about sex as you are. That’s not a criticism,’ she hastened to assure him. ‘I mean, as far as I’m concerned, each to his own.’
‘So now you have developed a puritanical streak?’
She slung him a look of simmering dislike. ‘Last time you looked...hurt...lost...’ And what’s your excuse this time, Chloe? ‘I don’t know, but—’
‘You are saying you had pity sex with me.’
‘No.’
‘So are you looking for a deep and meaningful relationship?’
The sneering tone of his voice set her teeth on edge and tightened her expression into a glare, though she fought to keep the edge of antagonism from her voice. ‘I’m not actually looking for any sort of a relationship just now, but when I am... I’d like to find a man who will accept me for who I am inside, and not care about the way I look.’
He gave a hard, incredulous laugh. ‘Well, if that’s the kind of man you’re looking for, I’d start looking for a couple of nice cats instead, if I were you. What’s so wrong with being beautiful? It’s not exactly a curse; women spend their lives and fortunes trying to look like you and they never will. How is noticing you’re beautiful an insult to you?’
She stuck out her small determined chin. ‘I’m a hell of a lot more than that, not that you’re ever going to know, and, believe you me, that’s your loss!’ she flared, secreting the security card she’d extracted from her bag in her palm.
She widened her eyes and looked into the middle distance. ‘Oh, my!’
As soon as he turned his head to see what she was staring at, Chloe ran to the door. Her security card swiped first time and she stepped into the foyer, slamming it shut a split second before he reached it.
She pressed the button on the intercom. ‘It’s all about sleight of hand and distraction.’
A reluctant smile fought its way to his lips. ‘I thought you never hid.’
She might not know about distraction, but she understood about odds. Her father owned the leg of a racehorse and she knew the odds were good that if Nik kissed her again and she got another taste of that raw power, if she felt the impression of his erection grinding into her belly, instinct would take over and reason would fly out of the window.
And everything would be hot and marvellous until he got an up-close-and-personal look at the part of her that once had been perfect and now wasn’t. Did she want to carry the memory of his look of disgust or embarrassment as he pulled away from her? That was a no brainer.
‘I’m not hiding from you. I’m walking away. There’s a difference.’ The moment she turned away from him the tears she had been holding back began to fall, and, running up the stairs, she swiped at them irritably.
Just sex was really not worth it!
