A Perfect Husband by Fiona Brand Read Free Book Online Page A

You need to eat.”
    She looked out of the passenger window. “I had cereal and toast for breakfast. I’m not exactly hungry.”
    Zane found the thought of Lilah crunching her way through cereal and toast before facing the press oddly endearing.
    He wondered what kind of cereal she ate then crushed his curiosity about her.
    He braked for a set of lights. “Lucas would probably be relieved if you didn’t show.”
    The words were ruthless, but he had gotten used to seeing Lilah calm and businesslike, with al her ducks in a row. For two years it had been a quality that had irritated him profoundly. Incomprehensibly, he now found himself looking for ways to get her back to her normal, ultraorganized self.
    Her gaze snapped to his. “What Lucas wants or does not want is of no concern to me.”
    Zane felt suddenly happier than he had in days. The lights changed, he put the car in gear and accelerated through the intersection. “I can take you somewhere else to eat if you want.”
    Her head whipped around, her green gaze shooting fire.
    “On second thought, no.”
    “Good. Because we’re here.”
    He watched Lilah study the elegant portico of the Michelin star restaurant as if the fluted columns represented the gates of Hades. “You’re a manipulative man.”
    “I’m an Atraeus.”
    “Sometimes I forget.”
    He found himself instantly on the defensive. “Because I’m also a Salvatore?”
    He did not voice the other lurking fear that had reared its head since his conversation with Lucas, that it was because he was only twenty-four.
    She frowned, as if his shadowy past had not occurred to her. “Because sometimes you’re…nice.”
    “ Nice .” His brows jerked together.
    She looked embarrassed. “I read the article about you on the charity website. I know that you wear those three earrings to help kids relate to you when you do counseling work. You can try al you like to prove otherwise but, from where I come from, that’s nice .”
    Lilah breathed a sigh of relief when Zane pul ed in at her apartment’s tiny parking area. Lunch had been just as stilted and uncomfortable as she had imagined. Thankful y, the service had been ultraquick and they had been able to leave early.
    Zane walked around and opened her door. Lilah climbed out of the low bucket seat, acutely aware of the shadowy cleavage visible in the V of her jacket and of the length of thigh exposed by the shortness of her skirt. When she had dressed that morning, the suit had seemed elegant and circumspect but it was not made for struggling out of a low slung ’Vette.
    Zane’s gaze locked with hers, making her feel breathless. She clamped down on the uncharacteristic desire to boldly meet his gaze.
    Arriving at the front door of her apartment with a man was what she liked to refer to as a dating “red zone.” She and Zane were not dating, but the situation had somehow become more fraught than any dating scenario she had ever experienced. After the kiss earlier, it would not be a good idea to al ow Zane inside her house.
    She gave him a bright, professional smile. “It’s okay, you don’t have to see me in. Thanks for the lift.”
    Zane closed the ’Vette’s door and depressed the key lock. “Not a problem. I’l see you to your door.”
    “That won’t be necessary.” She aimed another smile somewhere in his general direction as she rummaged in her handbag for her door key.

    Zane fel into step beside her. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s a reporter staked out over there.”
    Lilah’s head jerked up. She recognized the car that had been parked outside of Lucas’s apartment the previous night. Her heart sank. “He must have fol owed us.”
    “The car was here when we arrived. According to Lucas, you were the one who was fol owed last night. The press has probably been staking you out ever since you returned from Medinos. In which case, I’d better see you safely inside.”
    Resigning herself, Lilah walked quickly to the large