Echoes of the Heart by Alyssa J. Montgomery Read Free Book Online Page B

disillusionment. Jake didn’t even like her. Hastily she reminded herself that the feeling was mutual. She didn’t like the way he’d used her. While he still wanted her physically, he was only offering a short-term affair until he’d satisfied his desire. It proved she’d never been good enough to be anything more to him than a casual fling and that hadn’t changed.
    Mistress material . The words haunted her.
    Pulling her head back she winced as her abrupt action caused her hair to jerk out of his hand. ‘As a come-on line, it’s not one of your best,’ she scoffed, summoning up anger as a defence against her own arousal.
    ‘Think about it, Amanda,’ he urged.
    She didn’t need to. His warmth still lingered on her skin and she knew she’d responded with unashamed abandon.
    Wanton .
    The word echoed around in her head as fear gripped her and tightened her chest. When she’d been growing up she’d heard the word used repeatedly by her aunt’s neighbours in reference to her mother. Is that what she was?
    No! She refused to indulge in a meaningless affair with Jake. No matter how fantastic it felt, she didn’t want just sex with Jake. She’d never wanted or even had just sex with Jake. Every time she’d been in his arms, she’d made love to him. Realising it hadn’t been the same for him had crushed her and left her soul bereft. If she ever slept with Jake again, her battered heart would never recover.
    She needed Jake to make love to her. For a while, she’d believed that Jake had fallen in love with her but now she knew that was pure fantasy. She’d realised too late that love had never even entered Jake’s mind. He’d wanted sex and she’d been more than willing to give it to him.
    She took a deep breath, and battled to obliterate empty dreams with no future. ‘Your ego is incredible! After all this time you think you can have me so easily?’
    ‘I think we’ve just established that fact.’
    Blood rushed to her cheeks once more as she struggled for a different line of defence. ‘You caught me at a vulnerable moment. I’ve just buried my…my husband.’
    His shoulders stiffened. ‘You expect me to believe you cared for Bennett?’ The derision in his voice lanced through her. ‘From what I’ve heard, there was nothing about him anybody could like and very little to respect.’
    She averted her gaze, afraid he’d see the truth. She couldn’t claim to care for Lloyd. She’d suffered so much at his hands she was glad to be free of him.
    ‘But, I’m forgetting,’ Jake continued without mercy. ‘You found something about him to like, didn’t you?’
    Her head shot up, and she stared at him. The voice she heard was barely recognisable—completely wrecked with bitterness. She glimpsed a twist of hurt in his expression but thought she’d imagined it when she saw his jaw harden. The implacable mask he wore dropped back into place. This man was so different from the carefree Jake she’d fallen in love with. What had happened to make him this way? Had Sophie hurt him during their brief marriage?
    He leaned forward threateningly, invading her personal space. ‘You didn’t love your husband, but you definitely loved his money.’
    She flinched as though he’d struck her. She’d been called a gold-digger before, but somehow the whip cut deeper when Jake judged her with such contempt. But she couldn’t say he was wrong. Lloyd had made sure of her continued silence. If she spoke of the true circumstances of her marriage, it would be her aunt who paid the price.
    ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she told him, half-turning away.
    ‘There’s no need to play the grieving widow. I’m far wealthier than Bennett. I’m prepared to pay you well for the duration of our affair.’
    Pay her? Affair?
    She swung back. ‘You bastard!’ Anger swelled in every blood vessel until she thought she’d erupt with the force of her rage. ‘Don’t you dare treat me like some common