Scent of a Woman by Joanne Rock Read Free Book Online

brother’s broken ribs. If Jessica didn’t want to work with Prestige Scents, so be it. But he was drawing some serious boundaries with her starting right now. Allowing himself to be led a few yards away from the ship, he spotted a stone bench near the dock and gestured toward it.

    “I sure as hell am surprised. Can you sit for a minute?”

    “I can’t believe you sent poor Joseph in your place when we went on the Jet Skis the other day. Since you wouldn’t come to me, I figured I’d come to you. I start shooting a movie in Italy later this week so I thought I would drop in on you—”

    “In Corfu.” He couldn’t believe this woman—all of twenty-five years old—had chased him around the globe.

    “Isn’t it wild?” She blinked up at him with wide brown eyes, her gold necklace winking in the sun. “I had my assistant dog your brother until he told us where you were hiding. I think his pain meds were kicking in when she finally got him to spill it.”

    She looked absurdly proud of harassing an injured man. And that’s when Adam realized he couldn’t afford to waste time with small talk. This woman might have ruined more than just his day ashore with Danielle. She might have jeopardized the whole cruise.

    “Jess, I don’t know where you got the idea that we were more than business associates, but I have a…girlfriend aboard this ship and I—”

    She stood, oblivious to the hundreds of people filing off the ship into the ancient Greek city for a day of shopping and sightseeing.

    “You have what?” Her voice dropped to an icy stage whisper and Adam congratulated himself on saying the right words to finally snag her attention.

    Even if they weren’t quite true.

    “A woman I care about. A woman I don’t want to mess things up with.” That might be stretching it, but he was willing to push the truth to give Jessica a face-saving out—now.

    From somewhere across the street a lightbulb flashed. Tourists taking pictures? Or had Jessica simply planned another publicity event? Damn it, he hadn’t thought about that. She baited cameras wherever she went.

    “And just what does that make me, Adam? The woman you dated to secure a celebrity endorsement?”

    Oh, that was priceless. Apparently he was going to be treated to the full force of her acting abilities today.

    Her raised voice reminded him how much she enjoyed an audience, and two guys he’d hoped were tourists now swarmed closer with their cameras. Great.

    “Jessica, I took you out a few times to show you Manhattan because you asked me to.” He fumed inside, knowing this woman had planned her trap with all the prowess of a lifelong hunter. “I’m almost fifteen years older than you and it would never have occurred to me that you wanted anything more than a chaperone. I’ve got to meet someone on board the ship now and I think you should know that I’m going to let Joseph handle your work with Prestige from now on so there’s no more confusion between us.”

    Standing, he debated the wisdom of sprinting for Alexandra’s Dream . But then, his desire to avoid her had landed him in this position in the first place.

    “Who is she?” Jessica didn’t move an inch, stiff and regal in her new role as the woman scorned.

    Lord, she was going to make one hell of an actress.

    “No one you know.” And with that, he gave in to the urge to cut and run. The fact that he’d upset Danielle mattered to him more than he would have thought, and he felt the need to protect her.

    “You realize I might withdraw my support from Reckless perfume?” she threatened from behind him.

    Not damn likely.

    Adam knew Jessica loved the money as well as the status she would derive from the multimillion-dollar ad campaign for the new fragrance. There wasn’t a chance she’d turn her back on the deal.

    “Just let Joseph know if you don’t want to promote the brand anymore,” he shouted back, showing his ID to ship security so he could board.

    His