Scandalizing the CEO by Katherine Garbera Read Free Book Online Page A

Ainsley,” he said, steppingover her threshold and forcing her to take a step back. He closed the door behind them and leaned forward to cage her against the wall.
    “What we have is so much more than a business arrangement,” he said.
    “Really?” she asked. “Because it seems to me that you’re the type of man who’ll only say that until you’ve been in my bed.”
     
    Ainsley was seduced by everything about Steven. He was a charming dinner companion and he knew how to pay attention to a woman. He leaned in when she spoke, listened to her answers and then asked her questions that invited her to talk more deeply. It was something that no other man had done when she’d been out with him.
    But this feeling was similar to ones he’d evoked in her before. And after those short few hours spent together talking, he’d left and ruined her life.
    With this new body she knew that men found her attractive. It was silly to say but she still felt like the chubby girl who sat in the back of the classroom alone. She doubted that was going to change anytime soon.
    Having Steven’s attention wasn’t going to make it easier. Yet she wanted him. She wanted to be the kind of sophisticated woman who could take him to her bed and have no regrets if he walked away in the morning.
    But she wasn’t. He was so close to her that she could feel his body heat. His hands were on either side of the wall next to her head. He surrounded her.
    She glanced up at him, trying once again to see something in his eyes that would tell her what kind of man he was. All night long she’d asked probing questions—usedher best reporter’s techniques from the old days—and she’d gotten nothing from him.
    A few answers to a few questions, but nothing that she could hang her hat on.
    “What is going on in that head of yours?” he asked. His tone so very British that she wanted to melt. She loved the accent, so different from her soft Southern twang.
    “I’m trying to gauge the measure of the man before me.”
    Steven didn’t move, but she felt as if he’d stepped closer to her. His left hand shifted slightly on the wall and he stroked her cheekbone with his thumb.
    His touch was electric. She’d realized that earlier when he’d kissed her by his car. She was powerless against it. No man had ever touched her like that before. No man had ever made her feel…sexy.
    She realized then that there was no way she would turn him away. He was the first man to look at her since she’d lost all her weight and made her feel like she was a woman.
    “Have I come up lacking?” he asked.
    “No, Steven, you haven’t,” she said.
    “I like the sound of my name on your lips,” he said.
    “Really? Why?”
    His thumb moved lower on her face caressing her lower lip as he stared down at her. She was glad she’d left the light on in the living room because it cast a soft glow in the foyer.
    “Your voice softens when you use my name. Otherwise, you’re all business,” he said.
    In the quiet of her foyer she felt safe admitting the truth to him. “My job is my life.”
    He arched one eyebrow at her. “The same has been said of me.”
    “And is it true?”
    He shrugged. “Many believe it is. But I have other interests.”
    “Like what?” she asked, hoping to learn something that she hadn’t read online or in a magazine. Steven Devonshire raised privacy to an altogether new level.
    “Skydiving.”
    That took her completely by surprise. Skydiving was a risky venture, despite the safety measures taken by everyone who participated in the sport. By the same token, she could see the appeal in the sport for Steven. He thrived on risk and excitement.
    No one else would have taken on the challenge of Raleighvale China the way he had, she mused. But that was part of his personality. Ainsley knew he liked the challenge of knowing everyone expected him to fail and then shocking the hell out of them. She had first picked up on that when she’d interviewed him