Grey's Lady Read Online Free PDF Page B

insult.”
    Her brows snapped together. “What does twenty-five dollars have to do with anything?”
    “It’s the going rate for a high-flier.”
    Heat suffused her face and rage choked her. She fisted her hands at her sides. “I. Am. Not. A. Whore.”
    “It’s a gift,” he said calmly.
    “A gift for what?”
    “I never end a liaison without a gift.”
    Oh, but ending their liaison wasn’t his decision to make. She always ended all her affaires . Always. And she had yet to show just how skilled she was. How rare she was. Maybe one more afternoon would leave him burning all the hotter for her when he left Philadelphia. Forcing a throaty laugh, she touched his left lapel, sensually stroking the expensive superfine cloth. “Who says our liaison is over?”
    His eyes flickered over her, hard like flint. “It’s simple logic. You didn’t come today and I am soon returning home.”
    His words were like ballast in her stomach. He was leaving. And he seemed so calm about it. But he couldn’t be indifferent. A burning lump formed in her throat. He couldn’t .
    Hiding her sudden emotional turmoil, she offered him a slow, seductive smile. “I had planned to visit you on Sunday, but if this is what you—”
    His jaw tightened, the skin pulling taut over his cheekbones. He grasped her wrist and thrust her hand off his lapel. “Don’t toy with me, Beth.”
    “I am not toying with you. I’ll find some excuse to give my family. I’ll try to come.”
    He regarded her in stony silence.
    She allowed her mouth to drop open, in affected dismay. “Do you not believe me?”
    “Oh, I’d like to believe you, but your past pattern works against you.”
    So he was still angry about her not meeting with him for those two weeks. It had mattered to him. She mattered to him? Her heart took a hopeful, little leap. It made her angry with herself. So pathetic . “I couldn’t help that. I told you.”
    A cynical smile quirked his lips. “I think you’re very cunning and clever. I think you do pretty much whatever you choose to do.”
    “Well, it is not like that. But I do want to see you.” She was going to give him the afternoon of a lifetime and he would spend the rest of his days remembering her talented mouth. Remembering her . She reached for his other hand and forced a treasure trove of sexual promise into her smile.
    His eyes darkened to smoke and, holding her gaze, he slowly lifted her hand and pressed it to his hard, warm lips. Currents of need travelled up her arm and electrified her with desire.
    “Then I’ll see you at eleven,” he said.
    She suppressed a small shiver of anticipation and nodded. They stood staring at each other for several moments. She knew the naked hunger in his eyes mirrored her own.
    Finally, his face eased into a grin, his eyes warming with some emotion she couldn’t quite place. “You damn well better show,” he said.
    Then he released her hand and turned and left. As he departed, she watched his broad-shouldered back with a suddenly aching throat. How would she ever bear the wait until tomorrow? She swallowed tightly.
    He has the power to break your heart apart. You’d better keep your head, Beth.
     
    * * * *
     
    A note greeted her on the sideboard. Grey’s bold scrawl saying he would be back at around two. Apparently, he’d found something more interesting to attend to. Her spirits crashed to the floor.
    How pathetic. Had she really expected him to be waiting eagerly? Yes, apparently so. Her own body was trembling with anticipation. It wasn’t fair that she should burn for him when he seemed able to turn his desire for her on and off at will.
    Heavens, she was behaving like a besotted ninny. She tossed the note aside, then poured herself a generous glass of wine and quaffed it. Its fruity warmth had such a steadying effect she took a second glass.
     Oh, but after today, after the way she was going to pleasure him, he would rue his casual treatment of her. Beg her to reconsider.