Affair with the Rebel Heiress by Emily McKay Read Free Book Online Page A

But things hadn’t improved since they’d made it into the event.
    She’d immediately sent him off to get her a glass ofwhite wine and she’d been dodging him ever since. Not that he wasn’t having a grand ol’ time, between the event organizer who’d hit him up for a ten-thousand-dollar donation and the drunk society maven twice his age who’d been hitting on him. He hadn’t had this much fun since his root canal.
    Then he spotted Kitty across the room. On the dance floor. With another man. A guy who couldn’t have been more than five-six and had very clingy hands.
    Ford wasn’t used to women blowing him off. After all, he’d only come out tonight because he’d wanted to make sure she was okay. After the near waterworks in the elevator, he’d been worried about her emotional state. Judging from the way she was laughing at Mr. Grabby’s joke, she was doing just fine. But enough was enough.
    He handed his drink to a passing waiter and wove his way through the crowd to the dance floor. He cut in, sweeping Kitty into his arms before she could protest. But he could tell she wanted to. As her hand settled into his, a scowl twisted her perfect features.
    “I’m starting to think you’re avoiding me.”
    “Whatever gave you that impression? After all, it’s not like you wheedled your way into coming with me uninvited or anything.”
    He grinned at her, some of his annoyance fading at the bite of her sharp tongue. In Texas she’d been relaxed and open. Who would have guessed he’d find her bristly defenses just as appealing. “I’m a grown man. I don’t wheedle.”
    “Hmm…” She paused as if considering her words. No doubt searching for the best way to skewer him. “How about coerce? Or maybe bully? Are those descriptions more to your liking? Are those masculine enough for you?”
    He stared down at her, studying her expression. As they danced, his body brushed hers. He couldn’t help remembering what it had felt like to dance with her in that bar in Texas. There, her body had melted into his; here, she held herself more stiffly. This was less a dance, more a battlefield.
    “I don’t like to think,” he said seriously, “that I’ve bullied you into anything.”
    She arched an eyebrow. “Then perhaps you shouldn’t be trying to buy my company out from under me.”
    “That’s business.”
    “I thought you said it was all business?” she countered smoothly.
    “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She felt good in his arms again. Solid, yet soft. Curved in all the right places. Tempting and a little bit dangerous.
    Suddenly he couldn’t remember why he was supposed to leave her alone. Something about the business deal, right? It was a bad idea to mix business with pleasure. He knew that.
    But Biedermann’s was in serious trouble and FMJ looked like the only people stepping forward to help out. Besides, if everything went as planned, this would leave her even richer than she was now. Kitty was a businesswoman first and foremost.
    But she was also a woman. A very desirable, powerful woman. He’d be an idiot to ignore the tension simmering between them. Not just because the sex would be fantastic, but because the more they tried to ignore it, the more likely it was to get in the way of business. He couldn’t let his former relationship with Kitty muck up this business deal. He wouldn’t let his buddies down like that.
    Ford smiled. “What’s going on with Biedermann’s is all business. This thing between us isn’t business at all.”
    “There is no thing between us.”
    Her voice was so emotionless, he almost believed she meant it. But his body had been inside hers. He’d watched her face as she climaxed. Women didn’t forget that kind of thing. Sure, he could let her go on pretending they had no past, but that would just make things worse down the road if this blew up in both their faces.
    “There was something between us back in Texas. I’m betting there still is.”
    She