The Billionaire Affair by Diana Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page B

I’ll pass. What time do you leave for Shrewsbury tomorrow?’
    â€˜Ten. We should be back here by three. Are you sure about that wine?’
    â€˜Perfectly sure.’ The best part of tomorrow would be wasted if she went with him. Spending more time with him than was absolutely necessary wasn’t on her agenda. Why hadn’t she had the foresight to bring something rough-and-ready to wear? Because none of her clothes fitted that category.
    She smothered a sigh and said, ‘I’ll pass on the shopping trip, too. I’ll manage with what I have.’ Better to ruin her clothes than the image of a cool and collected professional. There was a limit to how much time she could spend with him without giving in to the temptation to tell him how much he disgusted her.
    She turned her back and headed for the stairs andheard him say softly, ‘Running scared, Caro? I wonder why?’
    In her room she closed the door and leant back against it, breathing heavily, her heart banging against her ribs. She felt as if she’d run a marathon with the devil on her tail. And the devil was Ben Dexter.
    Once she’d adored him; he’d become her sole reason for living and her life had fallen apart when he’d betrayed her. But that betrayal didn’t alter his incredible physical appeal. It should do, but it didn’t.
    She pushed herself away from the door, more than annoyed with herself for the direction her thoughts were taking. Furious.
    Selecting an aqua silk nightdress and matching robe she went to the bathroom and ten minutes later, belting the robe around her narrow waist, she walked back and found Linda tapping on her bedroom door.
    â€˜I thought you might like to borrow these. They’ll be too wide and too short, I guess, but they’ll be more practical than those wispy flowery things.’
    Caroline gave her heart-stopping smile. She could have hugged the other woman. She wouldn’t have to ruin her own clothes and, more to the point, she wouldn’t have to wonder when Dexter might walk in on her to make a point of looking at her underwear!
    â€˜Thanks, Linda!’ She accepted the neatly folded jeans and faded green sweatshirt, debated whether to ask why Dexter, with the whole house at his disposal, would be keeping just a suite of rooms for his occasional use, and then thought better of it. Questions like that would only display an interest she desperately wanted to deny, particularly to herself. ‘This is really thoughtful of you,’ she said instead.
    â€˜Think nothing of it,’ Linda gave a slight shrug, asking, ‘Did you enjoy your evening?’
    â€˜The food was excellent.’ She evaded the question, one hand going to the doorknob, turning it, opening the bedroom door. She didn’t want to talk about it.
    â€˜Good.’ Linda took her dismissal with an easy smile. ‘I’ll say goodbye in case I don’t see you again. I’ve got the rest of the week off—family christening; my sister’s first and I’m godmother—so you might have finished here before I get back.’
    So she’d be alone here with Dexter, Caroline thought sinkingly as she smiled and said all the right things, and closed her bedroom door behind her telling herself staunchly that the other woman’s absence wouldn’t really matter. She could handle Ben Dexter all by herself; she didn’t need backup.
    He could no longer be remotely interested in her sexually. Been there, done that; his past history showed he was that kind of man. He had only insisted she come here so that he could demonstrate how well he’d done for himself, show her that he now had the upper hand.
    Well, that she could handle, no problem; in fact she admired his financial acumen. As for the other, the unwanted sexual pull she was unable to hide from herself, well, she hated to admit it, but she was having difficulties.
    And instead of being able to dismiss them