Jaded by Ember Leigh Read Free Book Online Page B

of you ?” He expelled a gasp of disbelief. “Babe, you were in this too! You weren’t exactly in handcuffs or anything!”
    She crossed her arms across her breasts and darkened her glare. “I said one kiss.”
    He was angry, but he knew there was no arguing. “Fine.” She was lying to herself, but he didn’t know why . And besides, he had an erection that could drive a nail into a wall. “I’m sorry I did anything to offend you.” He held up his hands. “Like we agreed, this was the only time.”
    He turned and stalked out of the bathroom, fuming. Angry because she was lying, and angry because he was leaving a gorgeous, moist woman sitting naked on a bathroom counter. If this was a game she was playing—the whole “I’m sad and hurt and I don’t want a man but I do” game—then he was sick of it. It was working too well. He’d tasted her kiss—and it had definitely said that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
    Just drop it, Luke. This was just a bet. He was getting way too angry for a stupid bet. He never let himself get this involved. He’d approach her again tomorrow, say some stupid line about sensitivity and caring and whatnot...
    The only problem was that he wanted her to see that he really was a nice guy, someone who could understand her smart world and make her laugh and be more than just a good-looking night on the town. A scary thought entered his mind—did he need to impress her for the bet, or because he actually wanted her? She’d only let down her guard a few times around him and he liked what he saw—both on the inside and the outside. She’d also managed to call out his cockiness, something that he considered bold for so little time.
    Luke took a few deep breaths in the upstairs hallway, waiting for the telltale evidence from his encounter with Isabella to disappear before he went downstairs. He couldn’t believe his mind was racing this much from how she’d rejected him; was he actually hurt? Pull yourself together, Luke. He didn’t need her in his life—that was for sure—and all this crap was probably just because she’d managed to give him the hardest erection in recent history and then turned him down. Testosterone, he reasoned, and nothing more. He stormed downstairs and into the kitchen. Mark walked by and stopped him. “What’s up, boss?”
    “Nothing. Hey, who was spying on Isabella while she was changing?”
    His cheeks reddened. “Uh...we were just up there fixing something on the roof...we didn’t realize that window was the window to her room...”
    “Right. Well, she was really pissed off. I’m just warning you. If she asks you, blame it on someone else, or else you might get punched.”
    “Right-o.”
    Luke paced the kitchen for a while, trying to calm his anger and his racing heart. The image of her sitting on the counter, covered only by a towel, was burnt into his vision like he’d just looked into the sun and saw brightness every time he blinked. He tried hard to ignore it, to replace it with anything else. His mind went to the work projects for that day, and then instantly flashed back to the feel of her lips against his. Maybe the image of another woman would alleviate his lust—but that only reminded him of the naked woman upstairs and how badly he wanted to finish what he started.
    He was screwed. Not only would this incident haunt him and make it impossible to resist her, now he had to stick to that stupid promise he’d made—he hadn’t counted on things turning out like this. If she were a normal woman, which he was rapidly realizing she wasn’t, she would have succumbed to his wishes, accepted a date when he’d originally asked her, and begun reacting as a regular female would. But no, she had to pull the unpredictable card.
    It drove him crazy. He slammed his fist into his palm.
    He checked his watch; time to get back to work. No time for any more mind games with Isabella. If she wanted distance, that’s what she’d get. It would