Maid of Dishonor by Heidi Rice Read Free Book Online Page B

straight—he really had to be losing it if he was fantasising about the woman who had once blown his life to smithereens.
    Not that he blamed her for that. He’d been like a firecracker, waiting to explode. All she’d done was light the fuse.
    He caught the barman’s attention. ‘What’ll it be?’ he asked Gina.
    â€˜Club soda.’
    â€˜Make mine a Sam Adams,’ he added, propping himself on the stool beside her.
    He watched her throat bob as she swallowed heavily—and felt the surge of satisfaction. She seemed a little jumpy—and she’d definitely been planning to run out on him. Which gave him the upper hand. He made a habit now of never being at a disadvantage with women—and that went double for this woman, because she’d once had him at the biggest disadvantage of all.
    But there had been a whole lot of water under the bridge, not to mention ladies in his bed, since that night. And he wasn’t that lust-driven sex-deprived delusional kid any more. His pulse spiked as she pursed her full lips around the straw in her club soda and sucked.
    He took a sip of the yeasty micro-beer.
    Relax.
    So what if he had some lingering lust issues where Gina Carrington was concerned? He had the control not to act on them now. Or at least not straight away. Not until he knew the score. His gaze skimmed over the silky dress and noticed how her magnificent rack rose and fell in staggered rhythm against the snug bodice.
    Yeah, definitely edgy. A gratifying change from their first meeting, when she’d had all the moves and he’d been the one playing catch-up.
    He took a long draft of his beer and waited for her to speak. She’d been the one to contact him, after all.
    She glugged down a good portion of the soda, getting more jumpy by the second, but didn’t elaborate, so he decided to push it. Her note hadn’t exactly given much away. ‘So I hear you’ve got your own business—website development and social-media strategy, right?’
    Her eyes darted to his, the wary look gratifying. ‘How do you know that?’
    He shrugged. ‘I’ve been thinking of investing in a social-media strategist for the mill. Your name came up in the research we did.’
    And after the shock of seeing her name on the report, he’d looked her up on the Internet and discovered she was now living in the U.S. Not that he planned to tell her that.
    Once he and Missy had called it quits, he’d been able to let go of the guilt over his night with Gina, and how much it had snuck into his dreams during the years of his marriage.
    Given his current reaction to Gina, it was clear guilt wasn’t the problem any more.
    â€˜Nice site, by the way,’ he added. ‘Clean and clear, and you’ve got some great testimonials there.’
    â€˜Thank you.’ She watched him intently and he noticed the beguiling flecks of gold in the green of her irises.
    â€˜Is that why you contacted me?’ He pushed some more.
    Her eyebrows launched up her forehead. ‘God, no! I’m not that desperate for new business.’
    He grinned at her outraged denial, surprised to realise he was glad she hadn’t gotten in touch just to tout for business. She took another long sip of the soda, but didn’t say anything else. ‘Then you’re gonna have to give me a hint—because your message was kind of cryptic.’
    She let out a puff of breath. ‘Right.’ She faced him, her long legs crossed at the knees and her short dress riding up to display a distracting amount of toned, lightly tanned thigh.
    â€˜I was having coffee with Marnie this morning and saw your text message,’ she began. ‘When I discovered you were going to be in town for the week, I decided to take the opportunity to...’ She hesitated. ‘To come here and apologise for what I did to you ten years ago.’ The last bit came out in a rush as if she’d