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Too much to hope he hadn’t noticed; Anna doubted anything much escaped him.
‘Let’s cut to the chase,’ he drawled. ‘Yours will not involve having sex with me.’
The breath left her chest in one startled gasp; indignant colour flew to her cheeks. ‘I never imagined it would!’
There was nothing caressing about his smile, which weirdly echoed the same self-contempt that gleamed in his heavy-lidded eyes. ‘You have a very...limited imagination,cara.’
Anna decided to stop digging this particular hole, which was already way past her head. ‘You can save the big sell. I’m not considering the offer. I can’t leave my grandfather and I already have a job offer at one of the most prestigious university libraries in the country.’
‘A job offer is not a job,’ he corrected smoothly.
‘Actually, it is,’ she retorted. ‘I start next week.’
‘I know enough to know that the likelihood of the job offer vanishing is extremely high. You are associated with a scandal that—’
She pressed a hand to her stomach, feeling sick but defiant. ‘You’re suggesting I’m toxic,’ she quivered out.
‘I’m saying that your name is trending and not in a good way. Employers are cautious.’
‘But not you,’ she snapped, trying to sound as though her entire future had just got significantly worse. ‘Sorry,’ she tacked on with a grimace. ‘I have no idea why I’m being so nasty to you. You’re trying to help.’
His eyes slid from hers. Considering that many—including her—might deem him the author of the situation she was in, the irony of her gratitude was not lost on him. Each fresh reminder, each non-judgmental glance from her clear green eyes, delivered a fresh scratch of guilt to his armour.
‘If you’ll let me.’
She’d let him kiss her. She’d actively contributed to the kiss.
She pushed the thought away. He clearly considered kissing and what it led to in much the same way she thought of a nice meal and a glass of wine—enjoyable but instantly forgettable.
Which was fine, because Anna had no intention of joining his list offorgettableseven had the opportunity been on offer.
CHAPTER SIX
‘THISISN’TAtentative offer. I’ve already handed in my notice.’ The local library job had only ever been a stopgap after she had fallen victim to the financial belt-tightening and reorganisation at the boarding school where she had been happy, if unchallenged.
She was way overqualified for the job, but she had never needed her grandfather’s help financially and she hadn’t been about to start, which turned out to be lucky now all his bank accounts, including the ones she had power of attorney over, were frozen.
‘Look, I appreciate the offer, but the job is locked in,’ she returned, crossing her fingers. Without a job, even if she didn’t end up in jail, she could end up owing money.
‘Do you have a signed contract?’
‘Not yet,’ she admitted, adding defiantly, ‘I don’t think it’s a bad thing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Following that logic...are you saying I shouldn’t trust you?’
Which, of course, she wouldn’t have if she had been six feet with curves and legs that went on for ever and not five four, with legs that matched and the curves of a coat hanger. She might have been worried or flattered or both, but the kiss that had rocked her world had been for him the equivalent of a stress buster after a bad day.
He hadn’t kissed her as if he didn’t know she was a woman...
‘Have it your way.’
‘I will,’ she assured him serenely.
‘Anna.’
‘This ismyproblem.’
‘The problem is you don’t think there is one. If there is anything that gets more hits or sells more copy than a monster, it’s a victim.’
The cynical suggestion aroused Anna enough to protest indignantly despite being close to comatose with fatigue. ‘I am not a victim!’
