Scandal (Tainted #1) by Aimee Duffy Read Free Book Online Page B

tinge pink. That snapped him back to reality. ‘What the hell are you wearing?’
    She looked down at herself and the colour in her cheeks darkened. ‘What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?’
    She stormed toward him, clutching a bottle of what looked like a shake from the local supermarket. The fire was back in her eyes. He couldn’t tell if the blush was anger or embarrassment.
    ‘Since when do you invite your women to training?’ James asked.
    Sebastian gritted his teeth. ‘Take ten. I need to speak to Alicia.’
    James grunted something under his breath, then headed out through the door Alicia had walked through, his T-shirt in one hand and water bottle in the other.
    He waited until his trainer was out of earshot, then rubbed his eyes to make sure this wasn’t a dream. The adrenaline hadn’t eased up, and now it was spurred by something different, almost predatory.
    Kind of sexual. Most likely dangerous.
    What the hell was Miss Prim playing at?
    Alicia tried really hard to hold on to some form of annoyance as she closed the distance between them. She’d spent hours raking her wardrobe for an outfit that Sebastian Collins’ girlfriend would wear, but it was seriously lacking – something she’d never cared about until now. She had to dip into the clothes Sylvia had left at her flat just to find something with colour, which was just depressing, really. And he had the cheek to look at her like she had a screw loose?
    But the emotion didn’t stick. His body was tanned, rippling with lean muscles, and the tribal tattoo covering his back and upper arm made her mouth water. There wasn’t much hair on his chest, but as her gaze took an intrusive trip down his abs, she noted the darker trail arrowing south from his navel.
    ‘Why are you dressed like that?’ he asked, and for the first time she heard something other than humour in his voice.
    She snapped her gaze to his and forced a frown. It was hard, especially when the image of the sweaty indentation of his hips was still burned into her brain.
    ‘What’s wrong with my clothes? Would you rather I turned up in a suit? That would give us away.’
    ‘They’re not you,’ he said, placing the shake down on the bench and picking up a towel. ‘They’re a bit –’
    ‘Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say.’ They were not slutty, just a smidgen small.
    His grin was easy and the annoyance seemed to fizzle out of his tone. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
    Sebastian proceeded to wipe his face dry with the towel, then he went to work on his chest. She had to fist her hands to keep from hauling the cotton out of his reach. She liked him sweaty – his scent was delicious and musky and made her heart hammer against her ribs.
    Shaking away the thought, she conceded any woman would want to ogle all that powerful male flesh while inhaling what must be pheromones. And that was why she was here, because Sebastian Collins couldn’t resist the female attention thrown, or came, his way.
    Not that she’d given him any indication she wanted him to kiss her.
    ‘Sit down. We have to go over the rules.’ She probably should too, since her knees were about to give out watching him assume a casual position on the bench, but she had to get the upper ground for this.
    His gaze dropped to her stomach, and she tugged the material down. Last time she’d slipped into Sylvia’s clothes, she’d had more wiggle room than this.
    ‘Rules?’ he asked, his voice thick with something she chose to ignore. He didn’t rush to meet her eyes, instead he paid too much attention to the bits in between her stomach and face. ‘Why do you think you need rules?’
    She folded her arms and went for a serious expression. ‘I don’t need rules. They’re for you.’
    The quirk of his lips scrambled her thoughts. ‘What makes you think I’ll follow them?’
    Finally, an answer she’d anticipated. After the horrific phone call with her father, she threw