Harlequin Presents--May 2020--Box Set 2 of 2 by Clare Connelly

Author:Clare Connelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWO

THE WORDS WERE out before Damen could think about them. But even as they sank in, he felt a surge of satisfaction.

Because finally Stephanie looked at him with something other than disdain?

Or because instinct told him the offer, despite being instinctive, was pure genius?

He’d wanted a woman who was single, attractive, clever and short-term. Stephanie met his requirements exactly. The fact she didn’t like him only made her more perfect.

Except for that niggle deep in Damen’s belly when she looked at him like he was something unsavoury.

Then he felt guilt. Regret.

And, he admitted, indignation.

He knew he deserved her anger, understood he’d hurt her. But how could he have stood by and watched his best friend go crazy with worry, knowing Stephanie Logan held the answers he needed?

He’d tried everything he could think of to get the truth out of her but she’d withstood all his appeals for help. When those failed he’d acted decisively to end the farce that she didn’t know where Emma was. His motives had been laudable. He’d done it for the best, to give Christo a chance to find his bride and sort out their problems.

Yet it was true Damen had been too taken up with getting answers to consider his actions from Stephanie’s perspective. Until she’d looked at him with those huge brown eyes full of hurt. Even her subsequent lashing temper hadn’t erased the memory of her embarrassment and pain. That night Damen felt emotions he hadn’t felt in a decade or more. Since he’d faced his father that fateful night.

Damen had intended to see her again, to make things right between them, except there’d been a business crisis that needed his personal attention and he’d had to leave.

Or maybe it was easier to walk away and not face what she made you feel.

‘If that’s your idea of a joke I don’t appreciate it.’

Stephanie swung away, her loose, dark curls bouncing.

She’d had short hair in Melbourne. Short and severe, yet somehow the boyish style had emphasised the feminine allure of features that should be merely ordinary.

Watching those glossy curls swirl around her head, Damen recognised she was anything but ordinary. How could she be when she was so vibrant? The air around her crackled with energy and an inner force lit her features whether she was sad, happy or furious.

And when she kissed—

‘It’s no joke.’

That stopped her. She slammed to a stop and turned to face him. Her chin hiked up as if she had a chance of meeting his gaze on the same level. Yet, though she was far shorter, somehow she managed to look down that petite nose at him. One eyebrow arched and her velvety gaze turned piercing.

That was better.

Her anger he could handle. It was the shadow of hurt he’d seen before that discomfited him.

As if he, Damen Nicolaides, could be swayed by a tiny brunette’s emotions! He regularly played hardball at the negotiating table with competitors, contractors, unions and regulators.

The idea was laughable. And yet…

‘Obviously you’re not serious.

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.