The Cherbourg Jewels by Jenni Wiltz

Author:Jenni Wiltz [Wiltz, Jenni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The members of the press filed in at the direction of his publicist, Lisa Ehrenberg. She flashed each of them an ultra-white smile and directed them to an area beneath Sébastien’s podium, roped off and surrounded by security officers.

The press conference was being held on the Cherbourg mansion’s rooftop patio, an intimate setting that still managed to convey his power. The reporters had been carefully escorted through a metal detector station in the front of the house, then guided through the house up to the roof by Lisa’s office staff.

Up here, they were high enough to look north and get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the fog swirling gently at its feet. On a raised platform above them, his private helicopter pad sat at the ready, a reminder to everyone of the Cherbourg family’s prestige and privilege. Sébastien stood ready and waiting, poised to deliver a statement that would strike fear into the heart of whoever wanted to sabotage his exhibition. He wanted the person to realize he or she had failed—and would fail again, if they were determined to keep trying.

As Lisa continued smiling and handing out press packets, Sébastien gripped the edges of his wooden podium tightly. This was one of the most important moments of his career, but his mind wasn’t focused on his speech or on schmoozing with the press. He could think about nothing but Ella and the way she’d felt in his arms. . .and the things he wanted to do to her.

When he heard her breathy “yes,” he’d been about to sweep everything off the breakfast table and take her then and there. The sweetness of her mouth and the lush curves of her body were more than he could resist, even if he knew her eyes seethed with loathing.

She was furious with him for insisting she falsify her report—he’d expected that much. He knew it would feel like a betrayal after their closeness of the night before. She’d feel like he tricked her, and he did feel guilty for it. But she’d tricked him first by coming into his home under false pretenses and failing, at every opportunity, to come clean and tell him what she was really searching for. All she would have had to do is tell him the truth. But she couldn’t do even that much, not even once the second kiss proved their mutual attraction.

At the very least, he’d learned that attraction wasn’t all in his head. Ella definitely felt it, too. He’d felt the quick pulsing of her heart in her chest and her sharp intake of breath when she pulled away. Now he’d seen her petulant side, her adventurous side, her courageous side, her vulnerable side, and her sensual side. The only thing he lacked was her truthful side, if there was one. And he couldn’t force her to show that part of herself to him. She had to offer it willingly.

And if she didn’t?

The voice in his head tormented him with the question he hadn’t wanted to ask.

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