A Price Worth Paying by Trish Morey

Author:Trish Morey [Morey, Trish]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472001948
Publisher: HarlequinUKLtd
Published: 2013-03-31T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE DRESS WAS definitely the problem. Alesander watched her entertaining her circle of admirers and thought he should have let her choose one of the other gowns, as spectacular as they had been. But they had been nothing in comparison with this one, that turned woman into siren, hinting at what lay beneath if one was only reckless enough to try.

He was reckless enough to try.

Maybe if Ezmerelda had worn this dress tonight, nobody would have noticed Simone.

Then she laughed at something Markel had said and he saw the sparkle in her eyes and the warmth in her smile and he knew the dress would have made no difference. It was Simone who made the difference. Maybe the dress caught people’s eye, but it was Simone herself who held their attention. The trouble was, there were too many people taking notice.

Correction—there were too many men.

He’d left her for what? All of fifteen minutes and yet now she was surrounded by them, Markel still there in the midst of them, no doubt wishing he was thirty years younger.

And he knew why they were there.

Because she was beautiful and desirable and they all thought she was his latest plaything and they were lining up for a piece of her when he was done.

And it was his fault. Because he’d never before been seen with a woman on his arm who he wasn’t sleeping with and meaning to dispose of. He’d never before been seen with a woman who wasn’t temporary.

He swallowed back on the bitter taste of bile at the back of his throat. Well, this woman might be temporary but he wasn’t sleeping with her.

Not yet.

But he’d soon fix that.

He made his way across the room towards them, knowing it was right to have decided what he had, already anticipating the pleasures that were to come. Finding a smile came easily, so easily in fact that she looked up at him and frowned and he realised he’d already forgotten about his little chat with Ezmerelda.

That made his smile widen even further.

Anticipation was a fine thing.

There must have been something in his eyes, for the other men drifted away, back to their own women, leaving only Markel, who snagged his arm as soon as he came close. ‘You are a lucky man, Alesander. Simone is not only a beautiful woman, but she is clever and entertaining. Promise me you will not deprive us of her company in the future.’

‘You’re in luck, Markel, as it happens,’ he said, sliding a proprietorial arm around Simone, who looked more confused than ever. ‘I wasn’t going to say anything—it is your birthday celebration after all, but there will be another party very soon and one to which you’re invited, because a little earlier tonight Simone agreed to become my wife.’

‘Your wife?’ Markel blinked his surprise. ‘But this is wonderful news!’

‘I hoped you’d think so. I know Isobel and your wife had other plans.’

Markel waved the younger man’s concerns away before laying his hand on Alesander’s shoulder.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.