Bargain in Bronze Read Online Free PDF Page A

anger.
    Unforgivable .
    “I have a friend I can call.” She broke the silence with a cool voice.
    Did she mean a male friend? It wasn’t his business to ask. It was Tom’s business. He flicked the quickest of glances back to her—but she trapped his focus again with her tilted chin and straight back and determined dignity despite the blush that had stained every inch of her smooth skin.
    “So you won’t be alone?” he asked, his voice husky.
    Her chin lifted. He recognized the sparkle in her eyes already, the gleam as she quickly thought up some answer. He was smiling before she even spoke.
    “I live next to Serge from the circus—the World’s Strongest Man.”
    She dared him to laugh, dared him to disbelieve.
    “That’s good to know,” he murmured.
    …
    The drive took forever . The traffic moved less than a meter a minute. And there was no such thing as a quiet Sunday in London. While some lay laughing and sunbathing in the parks, others ran or strolled or rollerbladed. It seemed everyone shopped. The excitement was palpable—the energy building as the world’s biggest sporting event was merely days from beginning. But all that anticipation was nothing compared to the energy humming in the car.
    She could see his muscles bunching as he sat unnaturally still, as if he were holding himself in check, gripping the steering wheel as if there were nothing but potholes ahead.
    At last they got to the small block where her bedsit was. He parked right out front and exited the car.
    “I can walk,” she backed away from him as he followed her. She didn’t want him helping her up the stairs again, thanks. She didn’t want him anywhere near her body for fear she’d reveal just how hot she thought he was. It was embarrassing.
    “I’m sure you can, but I’m seeing you all the way,” he said calmly.
    All the way? Libby clamped down the crazy thoughts, knowing damn well he hadn’t meant that as any kind of double entendre. Her hormones heard it though. All calm deserted her as he followed a half pace behind, all the way along the corridor and up the stairs to her tiny unit.
    What was with the chivalry now? First he accused her of being a thief and a woman with designs on his brother. Then he followed that up with a few moments of flirting that he’d subsequently snatched away.
    Why had he pulled back? His expression, his stance, his intensity had told her he’d wanted to kiss her. She didn’t think her radar was that off. But when she’d moved—that tiny involuntary move forward, okay yes, to invite—he’d changed his mind and pulled away faster than a hundred meter sprinter out of the blocks. Frankly, after the nightmare of the last few weeks she could have done with a kiss.
    The man was a tease. Wasn’t being that good looking enough for him? Did the arrogant jerk have to have all women under the sun want him so obviously ? His ego was clearly ravenous.
    A tease wasn’t nice. Her ex-boyfriend had accused her of playing him, of being a tease. She’d never meant for him to get so serious. Hurting him had been hideous, but it had been better to do it sooner rather than later when it would have been so much worse. Marriage wasn’t for her. She was never running the risk of hurting her husband the way her mother’s death hurt her father. Or of being hurt herself. Not when she wasn’t sure her heart wouldn’t let her down the way her parents’ hearts had. Nor would she expose a child to that risk. Marriage wasn’t in her plan for a very real reason.
    Now Jack was truly a tease. But she’d made the muesli and she’d never see him again in her life. Totally fine by her—and her hormones.
    “Thanks so much,” she said, allowing her words to overflow with sarcasm as she unlocked her door. No way on this earth was she inviting him in.
    “Goodbye Libby. Thank you.”
    And now he was being all polite? She summoned her self-control and resisted the urge to turn to watch him leave. No, she’d forgotten