Too Proud to be Bought by Sharon Kendrick Read Free Book Online

her firm and slinky young body, Nikolai remembered with a sudden ache. Whatever it was she had, it had appealed to him on a very fundamental level. It still did. Even thedrab knee-length skirt and innocuous white blouse she was wearing tonight were doing dangerous things to his blood pressure.
Remember that she’s nothing but a fraud,
he told himself.
And that all women are frauds.
    ‘So what exactly was your brief?’ he demanded.
    ‘I was supposed to give you one of her business cards.’
    ‘Hoping that I’d play fairy godfather and give her the big break she deserved?’ he questioned sarcastically.
    ‘Something like that.’
    ‘But you didn’t, did you?’ he said thoughtfully. ‘So what happened, Zara? Did you decide to jettison that idea when something better came along? Did you think that by capitalising on the undoubted chemistry between us you could aim even higher than a mere marketing opportunity?’ He raised his eyebrows in a mocking question. ‘Maybe you thought that if you could get your claws into me, then you might benefit far more than just getting a cut from the sale of your friend’s clothes?’
    ‘What a cynic you are,’ she breathed.
    ‘It comes with the territory,’ he snapped.
    Zara stared at him in distress. ‘You seem to forget that
I
was the one who terminated the evening.’
    ‘Ah, but not before you’d given me a taste of your spectacular love-making,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Was that to set my blood on fire, my beauty? To tantalise me and leave me wanting more? Because I have to tell you that you succeeded.’
    She shook her head. ‘If that had been the case then why would I just disappear from your car?’
    He shrugged. ‘Perhaps you were biding your time, knowing that a man who has everything will be tantalised by the thrill of the chase?’ He gave a short and cynical laugh. ‘I know how devious women can be.’
    ‘Well, you’re wrong,’ Zara said, wondering if he had had his heart badly broken by someone and if that was the reason for the bitterness which had distorted his voice. ‘Completely wrong. I found events running away with me in a way I hadn’t planned and I knew I needed to get away from there. From you.’
    There was silence for a moment until the sweet notes of a nightingale pierced the air and Zara suddenly realised that it was dark.
    ‘I’m not sure whether or not I believe you,’ he said at last.
    There was a pause. ‘Well, that’s your prerogative,’ she answered, hiding the hurt which rushed through her and feeling like a child who had been wrongly accused of stealing. ‘But it’s irrelevant now surely—and all in the past. I wasn’t out to try to extract some of your precious fortune from you—so can I please go now? ‘
    But as Nikolai’s gaze rested on her parted lips he suddenly realised that he didn’t care what her motives were. Did it matter if she was a liar or a cheat? The bottom line was that he still wanted her—it was nothing more complicated than that. Inexplicably, he
really
wanted her. To lose himself in her kiss again and to feel that incredible body wrapped close against his. In fact, he was tempted to start making love to her right now and rid himself of the fever which burned so hotly in his veins. To find some quiet and private corner where he could thrust deep inside her, while the warm and scented summer air surrounded them and she cried her pleasure against his neck.
    Yet Nikolai knew that timing was everything. And now was not the right time. Not when she was convincing herself that she’d been hard done by and her face had adopted that proud and stubborn little look which madehim think that he might have to kiss her into submission. Or maybe she might even just turn him down again. Was she feisty enough to try? He suspected she was.
    His heart give a sudden urgent beat of expectation. Why opt for a clandestine coupling at the end of an evening? Why not enjoy her at his leisure—and satisfy himself in the