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How typical of this woman not to take his unprecedented apology at face value. Was that another reason he found her so alluring—because she was proving to be a match for him in more than just the bedroom? How frustrating that he even found her contrary behaviour a turn-on.
‘For what happened to your career,’ he clarified. ‘It was never my intention to have you blacklisted. I never even requested you be fired from Cade Inc.’ Although he could see now why his ruthlessly efficient EA would have assumed as much from his remarks. No doubt Daryl had picked up on how rattled he had been by his close encounter with young Lizzy Devlin and had acted accordingly. ‘I simply told my executive assistant to ensure our paths never crossed again. He clearly took that request and ran with it in a direction I had not intended.’
She stiffened slightly, and he could see he had hurt her again without meaning to. But instead of asking the obvious question...whyhad he been so determined to never to see her again?...she simply shrugged.
Great. Indifference. Just the effect he’d been aiming for.
‘Right, well, thanks for clarifying that,’ she said, the sarcasm not amusing him in the slightest. ‘It makes me feel so much better to know my career got destroyed by accident.’
‘What else do you expect me to say?’ he said, becoming exasperated. ‘I can’t go back and change the past. That said, I will of course instruct my HR people to offer you a generous severance package for the way you were dismissed,’ he finished, finally figuring out the best way to handle the situation. ‘Whatever your annual salary was at the time, I’ll have them double it as a one-off compensation payment.’ Normally he would never admit liability but, given what had happened, andhowit had happened, he could see she deserved restitution. And he could afford to be generous.
Last night had proved that, for whatever reason, this woman fired up his libido like no other. His sex life had been jaded for far too long. The thought of exploring this explosive chemistry in a great deal more depth excited him beyond reason. And he was more than happy to pay for the privilege.
But, instead of accepting his very generous offer, the glare reappeared. ‘Is everything about money to you?’
It was his turn to flinch. ‘What is the problem now?’ he asked, because he genuinely didn’t get it. He’d apologised, he’d offered her compensation. What the hell else did she want?
‘Let me explain it in words of one syllable,’ she said, the condescending tone starting to get on his nerves. ‘I. Don’t. Want. Your. Money,’ she added, elucidating each word as if he were an imbecile. ‘I never did.Youwere the one who accused me of trying to trap you into a commitment with sex. Not once, but twice. But I never asked you for one single thing. When we slept together five years ago...’
She huffed, the colour rising up her neck to suffuse her face. ‘When we slept together tonight, it happened because I’ve never felt that kind of need before or since. It was a moment...well, more than a moment...of madness. And I revelled in it. Believe me, I did not have any ulterior motives. For goodness’ sake, all I could do when you kissed me was react. I certainly wasn’t thinking, because if I had been no way would I have put myself in a position to be insulted by you a second time.’ She stopped abruptly, regret tightening her features, and he knew she knew she had said far too much.
Because the heat was charging through his veins all over again and pulsing in the air between them—like lightning ready to strike.
Her eyes widened, the lurid flush highlighting her cleavage. But the arousal had dilated her pupils to black, and he could see the fierce need she felt too in the tremor of her body.
She shot round, like a doe trying to escape the hunter, but this time he didn’t hesitate. He grasped her upper arm and dragged her back. Until they were toe to toe, eye to eye, her breathing as ragged as his.
He wrapped his arms around her slender waist, notching the erection pulsing in his pants against the soft swell of her belly—and lowered his mouth to hers.
‘You don’t seriously think I’m going to let you leave now, do you?’ he murmured, before capturing her sob of surrender, in a possessive kiss.
Stop kissing him back!
Lacey tried to prevent her tongue from duelling with his, tried to close her lips against the delicious invasion, tried to ignore the onslaught of sensation charging through her body. But as Brandon’s hands cradled her head, angling her mouth for better access, the desperate objections were incinerated in a new tidal wave of need.
The madness returned, rippling through her body and making every pulse-point ache.
The buzz of something against her chest duelled with the hammering thud of her heartbeat. But then she recognised the intermittent vibrations, enough to drag her lips from his.
‘My-my phone...?’ she stammered, trying to get her mind to engage.
He released her abruptly.
Panic arrived hot on the heels of desire. How could she have succumbed to him again, been so willing to throw herself back into the inferno?
The frown on his face did nothing to cover the heat and purpose in his gaze.
‘I need to answer it...’ she said, finally gathering enough of her wits to welcome the interruption. She scrambled to open her purse and locate the buzzing phone. But, when she saw her sister Milly’s number, panic turned to raw terror.
Ruby?
She turned away from Brandon to accept the call. ‘Milly, what is it? Is everything okay?’
‘Hey, sis.’ Milly’s voice came down the line, dousing Lacey’s foolish hormones in a bucket of icy water. ‘Don’t panic. It’s just Rubes has woken up with a slight temperature.’
‘What?’ Panic turned to guilt and remorse and every molecule of shame in between. ‘How high is it?’
‘Honestly, it’s not that bad. I’ve called the NHS helpline and they’re calling me back... Oh, I’m so sorry,’ Milly added. ‘It’s only five o’clock. Did I wake you up? I should have just texted you.’
