One Week in Your Arms by Patricia Preston Read Free Book Online Page A

“Carson, we haven’t seen or even spoken to each other in years. Why would you tell him that?”
    â€œLike I said, I need to win Truman’s support for this project without having to put up with Julia’s matchmaking.” He shot her a heartless glance. “Here’s the deal. You need money for your clinic. I need you to go to Kauai with me to appease Julia. If she thinks I’m in a relationship, she’ll leave me be.”
    For a moment, disbelief rendered Marla speechless. “Seriously?”
    â€œYes.” He knotted his tie. “Go with me and the grant money is yours. And I’m not talking about trading favors here. You’ll have your own room. No sex required.”
    â€œSeriously?” she asked again. Had the man lost his mind?
    â€œI’ve never been more serious in my life.”
    Beyond words, she turned and walked back into his office.
    Her briefcase waited on his desk. Otherwise, there was nothing here for her except a ghost from her past who had the power to destroy her life. To destroy Sophie’s life . That was never going to happen. She would literally kill him first.
    He stood in the studio doorway, arms folded with serious etched all over his virile face. “Yes or no?”
    â€œI’ve never heard of anything so absurd.”
    â€œOne week in paradise and the grant money is yours. It’s not a bad deal,” he said. “And it’s the only offer I’m going to make, sweetheart. Take it or leave it.”
    â€œWe’re practically strangers.”
    â€œWe weren’t always strangers.”
    Her senses zeroed on her former lover. His body. His hands that had once traveled every inch of her body. His tanned face. Stormy blue eyes and a mouth that had teased her unmercifully.
    â€œNo we weren’t,” she said softly. For a short time, they had not been strangers at all. “But that’s not now. It ended well between us,” she reminded him. “Let’s keep it that way.”
    He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to the glass wall in his office that afforded a striking view of well-kept buildings, palm trees, and a blue sky. With his back to her, he spoke, “Are you willing to go home empty-handed?”
    â€œI can’t believe you don’t know a dozen movie stars or socialites who’d love to go off to Hawaii with you,” she said. “Call one of them.”
    He looked over his shoulder at her, his expression dark. “I don’t want to call one of them.”
    She stared at the neat stack of papers in her briefcase as desperation made her hands clammy. How do you hold your ground when it is cracking beneath you?
    â€œTruman and Julia will like you.” He turned from the window. “Julia definitely approves of you since you’re a doctor. She’s always lecturing me about raising the bar.”
    Marla stared at him. “Raising the bar?”
    He shrugged and she shook her head. “I have obligations,” she insisted. “I have patients who depend on me. Responsibilities. I can’t just up and go to Hawaii with you. That’s crazy.”
    He strode over to his desk like a man who had things settled. “Call home and take care of your obligations. Have your colleagues cover for you. Surely, your patients can live a week without you.”
    â€œYou’re such an asshole.” She shut her briefcase with a thud.
    He grinned as he checked the messages on his smartphone. “I’ve been called worse.”
    She shoved away from the desk. Standing beside the bookcase, she looked at Miss Eva’s picture and went with a new tactic. “Miss Eva was well-respected in Lafayette Falls. She was known for her sense of honor, duty, and dignity. She would never approve of you using the clinic as leverage to get what you want.”
    â€œUnfortunately, I’m nothing like my grandmother.” He finished the sentence with a broad