The Italian's Blackmailed Mistress by Jacqueline Baird

Author:Jacqueline Baird [Baird, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Man-Woman Relationships, Love Stories, Extortion, Italy, Man-Woman Relationships - Italy
ISBN: 9780373125432
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

‘Sophie…Sophie, wake up.’ She heard the deep voice from a distance and slowly opened her eyes—to find herself with her head on Max’s chest. Her arm was burrowed under his jacket and her fingers grasped the back of his shirt, while his arm was looped across her shoulders and under her other arm.

She jerked her head up. ‘I fell asleep,’ she murmured, stating the obvious and blushing scarlet.

‘With you plastered to my chest, I did notice,’ he quipped, his eyes smiling down into hers. ‘But we have arrived.’

Pushing on his chest, she scrambled back to a sitting position and ran her fingers through her hair, straightening her skirt over her legs. ‘I am sorry. I must have stopped you working,’ she said, too embarrassed to look at him.

‘Don’t be. It was my pleasure,’ he chuckled, and stepped out of the car.

Her apartment was on the first floor of a double-fronted detached Victorian house on a main road overlooking the beach and the sea.

‘Great view,’ Max remarked, glancing around as he took her hand and helped her from the car.

Standing on the pavement, it suddenly struck Sophie that she didn’t want Max in her apartment. It was her private sanctuary, and when this affair was over she wanted no spectre of Max hanging around her home.

‘There is no need for you to come in.’ She slanted a smile at him that faded slightly as she met with intense dark eyes, studying her curiously from beneath lush black lashes. He really was incredibly attractive, and for a moment her intention wavered as she enjoyed looking at him.

She blinked rapidly and continued fighting back the blush that threatened. ‘Why don’t you have the driver show you around the area? He can’t park here anyway, and Brighton is just along the road and very interesting,’ she pointed out, with admirable cool. ‘It won’t take me long to pack a few things, and I have to visit my neighbour. You would be bored.’ She tried to casually free her hand from his.

An ebony brow arched sardonically. ‘You cannot be serious, Sophie.’ In an aside he quietly dismissed the driver for the night and tightened his grip on her hand. ‘I have had enough of driving around for one day.’

Sophie fitted her key into her front door lock and walked into the elegant wood-panelled foyer.

‘I live on the first floor,’ she murmured, and was very aware of Max’s eyes on her as she walked in front of him up the enclosed staircase, and unlocked the door at the top that led into her hallway.

‘Not quite up to your standards,’ she said bluntly, as she led him into the sitting room. Without thought, she heeled off her shoes, dropped her bag on the usual sofa table and turned to face him. ‘But I like it.’

Max gaze skimmed over her. She was bristling with defiance, and he knew she did not want him here. ‘I’m sure you do,’ he said smoothly, glancing around the room. ‘It is charming.

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