Pitch Imperfect by Elise Alden Read Free Book Online Page B

her shoulders if not in her stomach. Jaw hard and face tight, Rob pulled out of the passing place.
    Anjuli clamped down on the insane urge to throw herself into his arms and hang on for dear life. It was time to apologise, but which one of her transgressions should take pride of place? London? What should she say about that little disaster? Nothing she’d planned seemed right and the blank, shuttered glance Rob gave her as she shifted in her seat stifled her words before she’d even begun.
    “Don’t bother,” he said tersely. “I don’t need an apology.”
    “But I should explain—”
    “I think you said enough that night.”
    He could sell his voice as a weapon. Its cool, clear tone was smooth on the surface, so full of contempt in the undertow.
    Anjuli cleared her throat. “My divorce had just been finalised and I took it badly. When I saw you it was a shock and I wasn’t thinking straight.”
    It was the truth, although the divorce had affected her because Brendan had been her last link to Chloe. Not because she’d loved him. Rob’s hand tightened on the gearshift. “Divorce?”
    Hard not to wince at his tone. “I was married for a short time, to B. R. Kavon. It was hasty and we kept it secret. It didn’t last.”
    Please God
,
don’t let him recognise the name.
    “B. R. Kavon, the Welsh guitarist from Death Instinct?”
    And
that
was why she shouldn’t put her faith in prayer. “That’s the one.”
    “B. R. Kavon, who married an heiress last month and then got busted for punching a paparazzo so hard he broke his jaw? Charged with possession of class A drugs when they booked him?”
    “That would be him, too,” she said lightly.
    Rob frowned. “Interesting company you keep.”
    “Interesting magazines you read.”
    “Everybody needs to see their GP now and again and I didn’t have a book.”
    Anjuli sighed. “Brendan isn’t really like that. Violent, I mean. He struggles with the pressure of fame and sometimes does stupid things. He’s lonely most of the time and he thinks drinking and...doing other things help him to deal with being a star.”
    “Right.”
    They drove in silence for a few seconds before Rob’s face went dark. “So...Brendan R. Kavon was the man in bed with us that night.”
    Remorse rolled over Anjuli and spread, like the muddy surface water hitting the windshield. “Listen, about what I said—”
    “Don’t worry about it,” he interrupted. “I’ve never been used for rebound sex before, but I’m no’ complaining. I had a good time and so did you, regardless of whose dick you pretended was pleasuring you.”
    Huh?
“But you were furious,” Anjuli said incredulously. “What I said and did was terrible and I’m very sorry.”
    He shrugged a shoulder. “It was a blow to the ego, but I survived. We had sex with no messy strings to worry about. A win-win situation, although I almost froze trying to find a taxi. That part was downright cruel.”
    Anjuli turned in her seat and stared at Rob’s profile in shock, not trusting herself to speak. Male hubris had been the cause of his anger? A trampled-on ego the reason he’d stalked from her flat in such barely contained rage? She wouldn’t have believed it of the Rob she used to know and even now it didn’t seem possible yet there he sat, a rueful smile on his face. What had happened to “I’m not letting you go”? Something hard tightened in her chest, then slowly descended to her stomach. Rob had no lingering feelings for her. He would have felt the same scorching passion for any other woman he’d picked up. His declarations in bed were galling, nothing but a well-practised spiel. And to think she’d been feeling
guilty
!
    Rob gave her knee a casual squeeze. “The next time you need a man, let me know, lass. If I’m free I’ll consider helping you out, provided I’ve got transport afterwards. There aren’t many black cabs around Heaverlock.”
    Anjuli drew in a sharp breath, a reaction both to his words