Lusty Billionaires Bundle(40)

‘For making you so uncomfortable before dinner—pretending I was about to reveal your gambling problem. It was a cheap shot, not my usual style at all.’

‘I’m sorry too,’ she admitted. ‘What I said to Aiden—I didn’t mean…’

‘Yes, Tabitha,’ he said slowly. ‘You did.’

She didn’t say anything; instead she reached for her drink, taking a hesitant sip, confused at the change in his demeanour.

‘But it didn’t give me the right to put you on the spot. We both know it’s business; I guess sometimes it’s all too easy to forget. We must be good actors. Unfortunately you seem to bring out the worst in me. Or the best in me. I guess it depends what night we’re talking about.’

His eyes almost imperceptibly travelled the length of her body and she knew he was remembering not just what had happened but every last searing detail. Knew that as his eyes flicked to her breasts Zavier was tasting her all over again, that when he glanced at her feet, confined in the strappy summer sandals, he was remembering her undressing, the feel of her thighs wrapped around his solid torso…

Swallowing the port she was holding in her mouth, Tabitha resisted the urge to rush over to him, to bury her face in his chest and feel his arms tightly around her.

That night, that one stolen, decadent night. She had brought out the best in him. Oh, Tabitha wasn’t the world’s greatest lover—lack of experience put paid to that—but they had both brought out the best in each other. Their lovemaking had been wondrous—divine, even—and the memory of his touch, the gentleness she had glimpsed, gave her the confidence to broach a question.

‘Doesn’t it make you nervous?’

‘What?’

Her hands gestured as wildly as her eyes; she couldn’t believe he didn’t know what she was talking about. ‘This. This lie.’

He shook his head. ‘Why should it?’

‘What if they find out?’

‘They won’t—at least so long as you show a touch more discretion than you did with Aiden earlier.’

‘But what if they do?’ Tabitha insisted.

‘Then I’ll deal with it. Anyway, the Chamberses aren’t going to collapse because of another loveless marriage in the family. My father just wants me married; he never said anything about love.’ He was so confident, so arrogantly assured it annoyed her. Suddenly she wanted to see him squirm, wanted Zavier Chambers to admit to even a tenth of the fear that gripped her.

‘What if I don’t turn up? What if I just disappear with your money?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘I’d soon track you down. It was a generous amount but hardly enough to disappear on. Anyway, no doubt it’s already spent.’

‘But isn’t this eating you up inside?’ The anguish in her voice was evident, and Zavier looked at her thoughtfully before answering.

‘Look, Tabitha, you remember those people at the casino—sweating buckets, chewing their nails, clutching their chips, willing themselves on? I’m not like that.’#p#分页标题#e#

‘You’d set your budget,’ Tabitha reminded him, not sure where the conversation was heading. ‘You could afford to lose.’

‘Okay, then, take work. Every day I make billion-dollar deals, shuffle money. Whether it’s a gamble or an educated bet, I roll the dice every day, but the difference is that I can walk away. I’m not like the rest of the guys I work with—compulsively watching the stocks, swallowing ulcer tablets, imagining the worst. They’ll be burnt out by the time they’re forty, strapped to a cardiac monitor on the coronary care ward and wondering what the hell went wrong. Me, I’ll still be playing this game when I’m seventy.’

‘So where’s the analogy?’

His face broke into a grin. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

‘Well, I’m assuming there is one. I’m sure this short sharp lecture on the exigencies of stocks and options is leading somewhere. I do read the business pages now and then,’ she added as he muffled a cough. ‘I don’t automatically turn to the horoscope page.’

‘Ah, but I will now.’ He laughed. ‘I can hardly wait to find out what’s in store for me tomorrow. You were right, actually. My mother did ask what star sign you were.’ His voice hardened then. ‘Don’t threaten me with mind games, Tabitha; nothing fazes me. If you’re there then we’ll get married—great. If you’re not I’ll survive.’ His face was menacingly close, his voice a silkily disguised threat, but despite his foreboding stance, despite her trepidation, the adrenaline that coursed through her system had nothing to do with fear.