Dirty Deal (A Perfectly Matched Novel) (Entangled Brazen) Read Online Free PDF

the quail and the meat collapsed onto her fork. The smell was divine, a decadent waft of thyme and butter, but it was nothing compared to the taste. She closed her eyes as she chewed. It seemed impossible for such a small thing to hold so much flavor, but her taste buds tingled, begging for another bite.
    She ran her tongue over her lips, trying to capture every drop of that richness, and caught Bryan staring at her. He didn’t avert his gaze, but his crooked smile transformed and his jaw went tight as his eyes went dark.
    Just for fun, she repeated the move and held his gaze, but this time he leaned back in his chair, taking another long sip of his champagne.
    Interesting. He’d sniffed the bait but hadn’t swallowed the hook. Her pulse quickened. Nothing she liked more than a challenge.
    She leaned back and set her fork down. Maybe better to let him think he was doing the fishing. “So, this date for a charity auction you filled in for at the last minute just happened to be at your favorite restaurant. Such a weird and happy coincidence, yes?”
    He looked distant for a moment, and then his attention snapped back to her, his hazel eyes narrowing. “Jesus. You’re right. My sister is a fucking mastermind.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Pardon my language.”
    “You think she set you up from the get-go?” She could feel a smile tugging at her lips. That was some nefarious shit. Even she was impressed.
    “I’m sure of it, now. The little shit. It wouldn’t be the first time. She means well. She’s just misguided. And sneaky.”
    He forked up the last of his bird, and she was about to comment on how quickly he’d finished, but when she looked down her plate, she realized she’d picked up her fork again, and her plate was just as empty as his.
    Crap.
    The waiter appeared again with the second course within minutes. This round, thankfully, was lighter fare. Walnut and cranberry salad with balsamic dressing.
    Good, salad she could do.
    “Doesn’t she think you can find your own women? I mean, it’s not like you’re bad-looking.”
    That was an almost laughable understatement. When she’d seen him up on the stage, she’d have said he was a solid eight. Nice, regular features, great body. Like the guy in the photo when you bought a new picture frame. Up close, he emanated a sexual energy, like raw, masculine power, and it made her tingle from head to toe.
    “She knows I could find my own women if I wanted to. I’m just not interested right now.”
    “In like a priest-y kind of way or…?” She chomped on a lettuce leaf and surveyed him, still trying to shake off the tension in the air. She was supposed to be charming him into doing what she wanted, not fantasizing about what he’d been packing under those fig leaves.
    “No, I’m definitely…not celibate.” He shifted in his chair and gave her that half grin again. “But Q, my sister, she thinks I should settle down with the ‘right girl.’”
    “Well, you know there’s at least one person out there who wants that job.” She smiled, but when he raised his eyebrows at her, she realized her mistake. “No! No, no, not me. Your crazy ex from the auction, I mean.”
    He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Hell no. Piper was my last stab at having a serious relationship.”
    “Even hearing you use the words ‘Piper’ and ‘stab’ in the same sentence makes me twitchy.” Serena chuckled, but Bryan didn’t.
    “You have no idea.”
    “So tell me,” she pressed on, suddenly dying to know more about Dr. Bryan Metcalf and his love life. “She was truly your last real girlfriend?”
    Not that she could talk. Her longest relationship had been between her and the personal trainer she’d fired after six months because she felt like they were getting too close. Other than that, guys in her life lasted a month, maybe two. After a lifetime of getting shipped off to boarding school only to come home to her parents, who spent their lives