Sins from Her Past (Scandalous) by Jules Bennett Read Free Book Online Page B

ignore his bare, hard chest against her back, but that was impossible. A sliver of fear slid through her. She hadn’t had this much bare-skin contact with another man since…
    “God, Vin, please. I can’t.”
    He sat her down and turned her around. Shame filled her. This man was so used to flirting, and in a sense she always toyed with him too, but this was moving in a direction that hinted beyond flirtatious and she couldn’t take chances she wasn’t sure she could follow through on.
    “What has you so jumpy?” he asked, hands resting on his hips.
    “Nothing. I just don’t want to be manhandled.”
    Vin jerked off his glasses, the muscle ticced in his jaw. “What bastard hurt you, Evie?”
    Oh no. God, no. She couldn’t say any more, especially to Vin. If he knew then he’d tell Dylan, and Dyl could never know what she’d done to secure his future.
    “Nobody hurt me.” She tilted her chin. “I just want to be clear. I’m not one of your playthings. So if you only came out here to paw at me, I’m going inside. I have emails I need to check anyway.”
    She sloshed water up onto her legs as she moved back toward her towel and bag. Okay, so maybe she was running away, but Vin was getting too close, too involved in her personal, private life.
    Without looking back, she grabbed her stuff and made her way back to the hotel and into the penthouse. Safely behind the locked door of her room she changed into a tank-style sundress and booted up her laptop.
    It was coming up on lunchtime, but she wasn’t coming out of her room until she absolutely had to. She could get some work done without Vin. Besides, he wanted her ideas and she needed to finish her plans.
    After pulling up his designs for the new resort, she grabbed her sketch pad and began doing some preliminary drawings for space and lighting ideas.
    He wanted something different than his usual, but he still wanted classy. In her mind the only way to go was exotic. It screamed romance, sex and class, all in one. And since the resort was going to be in Maui she knew the sultry, exotic theme would be a hit.
    As she delved right into her work, she lost track of time, ignored when Vin knocked on her door and even ignored her cell. All she wanted to do was concentrate on something she could control.

Chapter Five
    “What the hell is up with Evie?” Vin demanded.
    “What are you talking about?” Dylan asked. “I just spoke with her this morning and she sounded fine. She said you were a pain in the ass, which is normal, so I thought all was well.”
    Vin stared across the spacious living room to her closed door. She’d been behind it for nearly six hours. He’d knocked, he’d called her cell, he’d texted her—and nothing. He could hear her pecking away at her keyboard; otherwise he would’ve knocked down the door to see if she was alive.
    And how could Vin explain that when he’d touched Evelyn she looked ready to pass out one second and the next she looked ready to deck him? Dylan certainly wouldn’t want to hear about him groping Evelyn.
    “Must be my imagination,” he corrected. “How are you doing back in your old house?”
    “Bittersweet,” Dylan said. “I’m excited to be fixing it up, but the memories are all still here.”
    “It’ll get easier. How about a cookout at my place when we get back?”
    “When will that be?”
    Vin propped his feet on the squatty glass coffee table. “I have one more event scheduled here and then we’ll be back in the States. I’d say no later than Friday.”
    “We’ll plan on something this weekend then. I’ll call Alan, and if Rick is in town he can come, but with his campaign kicking up, I doubt he’ll be in.”
    “Sounds good, Dyl.”
    “Try not to annoy Evie too much.” Dylan laughed. “See you soon.”
    Vin disconnected the call and tossed his phone beside him on the sofa. Annoy Evie? He was the one annoyed. She was ice and fire, all rolled into one sexy, curvy bikini package.
    One minute