Guilty Pleasure by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

“More than ten years, Courtney, and I’m still trying.”
    “Men are stubborn.” Courtney shook her head in confusion. “They know they want us, want to possess us. They want the heart and the soul of a woman. The more they want it, the harder they run from it. Trust me, if he hasn’t taken you up on the invitations you have thrown at him, there could only be a few reasons why. One of which could be how much he does need you.” She shrugged as though it were the only logical explanation.
    Could it be that simple?
    Marty concentrated on her drink, the idea rushing through her mind with the force of a tidal wave. She knew he wanted her. He wanted her badly enough that he had nearly taken her in Zach’s kitchen. And his response hadn’t been lukewarm. He had been burning for her.
    “Has something happened?” Courtney leaned closer. “Tell me, Marty, has our beautiful Khalid made a move?”
    Marty glanced up, smiling. “Maybe.”
    A soft, excited scream escaped her friend’s lips as a wide smile finally crossed her lips. “Tell me about it,” Courtney said. “What did he do?”
    “Not much.” Marty laughed as Courtney’s expression fell from excited to disappointed.
    She wasn’t comfortable giving her friends details. Besides the fact that Marty was aware that Khalid had once played in Courtney’s bed as the third in her relationship with Ian Sinclair before their marriage, there was also the fact that sharing such intimate details wasn’t something Marty could ever do, at least not easily.
    “I should interrogate Khalid instead,” Courtney grumbled, her brown eyes filled with amusement. “Perhaps I could get the truth from him.”
    “I doubt that one,” Marty retorted. “I don’t think Khalid gives anyone the truth about anything at any time.”
    Courtney fell silent, her gaze thoughtful as she stared back at Marty for a long moment.
    “Perhaps because no one has demanded the truth from him.” It was Alyssa who broke the silence.
    Though she was serene and composed, her regal features somehow were heartbreakingly set into lines of thoughtfulness.
    “No one has ever gotten close enough to him to get the answers they demand,” Courtney interjected. “Making him invest himself will be the hard part. That’s not something Khalid does easily.”
    There had to be a reason for that, though. As the waiter appeared with menus the subject was dropped, but Marty had to admit the questions the conversation had raised intrigued her.
    As Courtney said, Khalid didn’t invest himself in his relationships. The women he slept with weren’t his own; they were the wives or lovers of other men. He was the third in the relationships she had managed to uncover.
    Not that it was ever easy to figure out who Khalid was involved with. But over the years she had developed an internal radar where he was concerned. She could sense whenever he was with a woman and if he was sleeping with her.
    What would it take to get Khalid to invest himself in her? To steal his heart? God knew she had waited for him long enough, hungered for him with a power that kept other men at arm’s length despite the loneliness that often plagued her.
    She wasn’t a one-night stand. And she couldn’t force herself to begin a relationship with another man only to manipulate him into bringing Khalid in as a third. That would never be enough for her. It could never satisfy the need inside her.
    “Speak of the devil.” Courtney said, drawing Marty’s attention as the waiter refreshed their ice water. “There is our elusive prey, my dear. Watch how he moves through the crowd, his gaze scanning, searching faces. Perhaps he’s looking for you?”
    Marty’s gaze was drawn to the dance floor where, as Courtney pointed out, Khalid was moving through the throng of dancers, his gaze restless, his expression predatory.
    Dressed in that white silk shirt and those blue jeans, he looked every inch the dangerous creature he truly was. Silk could never