Stranger From the Past & Proof of Their Sin by Penny Jordan & Dani Collins

Author:Penny Jordan & Dani Collins [Jordan, Penny & Collins, Dani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Women, General
ISBN: 9781488028977
Google: sUHeDQAAQBAJ
Amazon: B01N20K00B
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THREE

LAUREN DIDN’T SLEEP well. Paolo’s husky voice kept snapping her awake as he spoke her name in that sexy inflection of his, murmuring his throwaway endearments. He wasn’t beside her when she woke though, making the bed feel too expansive and empty.

She was such a fool. She’d slept alone more than she had alongside her husband, yet after one night with Paolo she now woke so lonely she wanted to die. What a dope.

She caught a few winks on the plane. International first class was a lot more comfortable than flying small-town air to see her mother in Manitoba or flying in a military aircraft to meet Ryan at his parents’ in Charleston. Funny that she’d flown dozens of times, but had never gone farther than a few states or provinces over.

The realization gave her pause as she waited for her luggage to arrive on the carousel. She was really here, in another country, being bold and independent. Her grandmother hadn’t been able to travel—or do much of anything, which is why Lauren had moved in with her at eighteen; Ryan had invariably wanted to visit Charleston when he had leave. The closest she’d ever come to striking out for adventure had been when her cousin, who was going to school in New York, had begged her to visit.

Lauren’s heart panged with pity for her timid, nineteen-year-old self. She hadn’t wanted to go, but her grandmother had made her. Lauren had been the worst shrinking violet in those days, trembling in her cousin Crystal’s skintight cocktail dress, dreading someone would peek past the loose hair she was hiding behind and discover she was underage. Upscale bars are where you find rich husbands, Crystal had said, insisting they go on the stroll for one. When the tall, dark, insanely handsome Paolo had approached, Lauren had been certain he was the owner coming to kick her out.

He’d offered to buy them a glass of wine.

Lauren had been stunned by his melted-chocolate eyes and her first experience of being hit on, even in an offhand way. Her entire being had become electrified by his admiring gaze. Incinerating with embarrassment, she had peeled her gauche stare from this dazzling man to look at Crystal—who’d accepted the invitation with élan. Gorgeous, wealthy men hit on her all the time.

He was engaged, Paolo had confessed. But that doesn’t stop a man from enjoying pretty company while he waits for a friend. His friend had been Ryan.

Ryan hadn’t made her stammer and writhe with self-consciousness so she’d focused on him and tried to ignore that all her inner workings were fixated on the compelling man sitting so close to her.

Lauren sighed, wondering whether her life would have been different if she had said no to Paolo’s glass of wine. Or no to Crystal’s insistence that she come to New York.

Or yes to Paolo at the wedding reception. An image flashed in her mind of the way Paolo’s hair had fallen over his tortured brow when Ryan

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