Eve endured the other woman’s suspicious glance, able to be more philosophical about being cast as a dangerous lunatic than she was about her visceral reaction to the raw power of Draco’s sweaty body post workout.
Eve waited until the door closed. ‘That woman said you didn’t live here.’
‘She’s very protective. She popped in to see if I was all right on her way to the dentist.’
‘Do you expect all your staff to lie for you?’ All the self-discipline in the world couldn’t stop her eyes drifting over his powerful muscular frame. She swallowed and licked her lips, managing to inject the scorn that had been absent from her lustful stare into her voice as she sneered sarcastically, ‘You being so weak and defenceless.’
An army of housekeepers couldn’t have defended him from the lust that had slammed like a hammer through his body at the sight of her standing there looking mad and so desirable it physically hurt.
Hurt…! Talk about self-delusion!
It seemed amusing to him now that midway through his workout he’d actually convinced himself that he was totally in control and he could go back to feeling smugly superior to men who allowed their hormones to rule their actions.
‘I was heading for the shower.’ And possibly therapy! It was one thing to recognise all the warning signs of a dangerous addiction, but it was another not to feel the need to fight it.
Why fight something that was so pleasurable? he mused.
Enjoy it while it lasted seemed a much more pragmatic approach to something that was so hot it would inevitably burn itself out soon enough, he told himself.
‘If that was an invitation to join you, I’ll pass.’ She choked, her cheeks heated from the vividly arousing images of water sliding off his slick muscled body.
Ashamed of the heaviness and ache low in her pelvis, Eve dragged her gaze free of the invitation in his heavy-lidded eyes and pretended to look around.
‘Your guests gone?’
His glance was drawn to the tears glazing her eyes. ‘Are you all right?’
The fake concern after what he’d done brought her teeth together in a silent snarl of disbelief.
‘No, I’m not bloody all right. I’m furious.’ With him for being a manipulative liar, but mostly Eve’s anger was aimed at herself. ‘How d-dare you use me? I swore I’d never let any man use me the way my father used mum. You planned it all, didn’t you?’ she flung wildly. ‘It was all cold-blooded calculation.’
The last comment drew a laugh from him. ‘Nothing between us is cold-blooded, cara. Who is your father?’
Her face froze. ‘A bastard like you.’
She saw the flash of anger in his dark eyes and lifted her chin, welcoming the thought of confrontation…then watched incredulously as he began to stroll across the hallway to the central staircase.
‘You’re walking away?’
‘I’m taking a shower before my muscles seize up and we both say things we might regret later.’ He had been headed for the shower in the well-equipped basement leisure suite when he had seen her image on one of the security cameras.
‘I don’t regret anything!’