A Perfect Husband Read Online Free PDF Page A

kicked in shortly afterward. She had not seen Zane again until they had landed in Singapore, where two more passengers, clients of The Atraeus Group, had boarded the jet. Courtesy of the extra passengers, the rest of the flight had been uneventful.
    During the customs procedures, aware that Zane had been keeping tabs on her, she had managed to separate herself from him and had taken a taxi to her hotel.
    Zane checked the corridor again. “Al clear, and your reputation intact.”
    “Unfortunately, my reputation is already shredded.”
    That was the risk she had accepted in traveling thousands of miles on a first date with her bil ionaire boss.
    She hadn’t yet had time to formulate the ful extent of the damage this would do to her marriage plan. Her only hope was that the other men on her list didn’t read the gutter press.
    Jaw locked, she marched to the door of Lucas’s suite and rapped again.
    Zane leaned one broad shoulder against the door frame, arms folded across his chest. “You don’t give up easily, do you?”
    Lilah tried not to notice the way the dim light of an antique wal lamp flared across his taut, molded cheekbones, the tough line of his jaw. “I prefer the direct approach.”

    “Just remember I tried to save you.”
    The door eased open a few inches. Lucas Atraeus, tal and darkly handsome in evening clothes, was framed in the wash of lamplight.
    The smal flare of anger that had driven her back to his door leaped a little higher. She had expected Lucas to be somehow diminished in appearance. It didn’t help that he stil looked heartbreakingly perfect.
    The conversation was brief, punctuated by a glimpse of Carla Ambrosi, the woman Lilah realized Lucas truly wanted, hurriedly setting her clothing to rights. In that moment any idea that she could retrieve the situation and persevere with Lucas dissolved.
    Gripping the door handle, Lilah wrenched the solid mahogany door closed, cutting Lucas off. In the process the strap of her evening bag flew off her shoulder. Beads scattered as the pretty purse hit the flagstones.
    Silence reigned in the corridor for long, nervy seconds.
    Lilah tried to avoid Zane’s gaze. She was so not grieving for the relationship. Somehow she had never managed to get emotional y involved with Lucas. “You knew al along.”
    He picked up the purse and a number of glittering beads and handed them to her. “They’ve got a history.”
    Lilah slipped the little beads into the clutch. “I read the stories two years ago. I guess I should have included the information in my—”
    “Wedding planner?”
    Her gaze snapped to his. “ Process . My woman’s intuition must have been taking a mini-break.”

    He lifted a brow. “Don’t expect me to apologize for being in touch with my feminine side.”
    The ridiculous concept of Zane Atraeus possessing any feminine trait broke the tension. “You don’t have a feminine side.”
    A sudden thought blindsided her. Zane in his position as The Atraeus Group’s troubleshooter was used to handling difficult situations. And employees. “You’re running interference for Lucas.”
    It made perfect sense. With Carla in the mix, Lucas had hedged his bets and asked Zane to fly her out. Now Zane had stepped in to stop her making a scene. It placed her in the realms of being “a problem.”
    “No.”
    The flatness of Zane’s denial was reassuring. His motives shouldn’t matter, but suddenly they very palpably did. She couldn’t bear the thought that she was just another embarrassing, or worse, scandalous, situation that Zane was “fixing.”
    In the distance a door opened. The sharp tap of heels on flagstones, the clatter of dishes, broke the moment.
    Zane straightened away from the wal . “You could do with a drink.” His hand cupped her elbow. “Somewhere quiet.”
    The heat of his palm against her bare skin distracted Lilah enough that she al owed him to propel her down the corridor.
    Seconds later, Zane opened a door and al owed her