A Hint of Scandal by Tara Pammi

Author:Tara Pammi
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-08-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

ALEXANDER POURED A shot of whiskey from the decanter and gulped it straight down. He had spent the whole day telling himself why giving into what he wanted was not a good idea.

At that moment, he had absolutely no idea why.

He turned around to face her and felt the muscles in his stomach tighten. She looked glorious. He wanted Olivia, the intensity of that want, of that desire was feral, robbing any good sense from him.

Her breasts fell and rose with her anger. Color slashed those angular cheekbones at his thorough appraisal. “I don’t want to talk about Kim.”

Her chin lifted. “I don’t care what you—”

“I spoke to Vincent. I know you were—”

She blinked. “And you decided to believe me after speaking to him?”

“He denied it, said you were the one who came on to him. But I know he’s lying.” Paradoxically, Vincent’s defensive denial, the very tone of his words had done it. In the end, he hadn’t needed proof. So much for not trusting his heart. “I made a huge mistake. But there’s nothing I can do about it, Liv. The terms of his employment contract require proof. It’s your word against his.”

Olivia stepped back, her mind reeling. With every word he uttered, he was swallowing up the distance she wanted to keep. She could fight his arrogant accusations, even his low opinions of her, but when he was like this—a man who could admit to his mistakes, a man who wasn’t perfect, she was utterly lost, defenseless.

Panic bubbled up through her. She felt as if she was split in half, one half greedily drinking in every word he said, every look he leveled at her, reveling in it while the other half whispered constant warnings to stop this, to run as far from him as possible. And the worst part was she had twenty five years of experience ignoring the second half.

She searched for reason, for sanity, for anything that could scatter the web spinning around them. “Why aren’t you angry at Kim, at this whole thing? You were angrier with me for stepping into her place than you are with her. You hate scandal, remember, and this is only going to make you more interesting to the media.”

“Kim’s not eager to advertise her ‘marriage’. And, until I have Emily’s custody locked tight, I have you. Don’t I?”

She couldn’t understand how blithely he was handling the emotional aspect of this mess. He had to have felt something for Kim. Didn’t he? “She left you for another man. Even for a man who rarely allows himself to feel anything, she did throw a kink in your plans for a perfect life.”

A vein pulsed threateningly at his temple. “Why are you always so eager to find a weakness in me?”

“Anything is better than this unfeeling, ruthless man whom nothing touches. I hate that man.”

His jaw clamped down. “Fine. I am angry with her. She risked everything I value. But, Kim and I, I think, were over long before I learned of her wonderful news.

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