High-Society Seduction Read Online Free PDF Page A

stuck between a rock and a hard place or he wouldn’t have confided in her. He wouldn’t risk her knowing such a thing. That at least gave her the confidence to believe he would do as he said.
    Actually, she was amazed he had any scruples at all, and especially when it came to his best friend’s wife. No doubt it was the only scruple he had, she mused, then decided that wasn’t quite fair of her. He clearly loved his family. She could even understand him protecting his dead brother and the family name. She just didn’t like that it was at her family’s expense.
    Of course there was one man she knew who definitely had no scruples at all, and she faced him at work on Monday morning, after apologizing to his father for her abrupt departure at the races. Roberto had been fine about it, but she had a hard time convincing Marco Conti that she’d left because of a headache and not because she’d seen him chatting up another woman and had been jealous. The man’s ego was colossal, making it difficult to refuse his invitation to go to dinner with him the following Friday night. In the end, she had to tell him she already had another engagement, and for those few minutes she was thankful that was true. It was the only time she wanted to thank Adam Roth for anything.
    And then Friday evening arrived and it was seven o’clock and her apartment doorbell was ringing. She hurried to check through the peephole before answering it, thinking it was Adam’s driver come to escort her down to the car.
    It wasn’t.
    It was Adam himself.
    Her heart picked up pace as she patted her chignon, then smoothed her hands down her evening dress and checked herself in the hall mirror. It would be her little secret that she’d found this dress tucked away in a secondhand store. She hadn’t the money to buy a fancy new dress, not after what she’d spent on a dress for the races. And the two evening gowns she owned from when she dated Lewis weren’t suitable, either. One was more for winter and the other had a wine stain on the bodice the dry cleaner hadn’t been able to remove. Thankfully, dry-cleaning this secondhand dress had really brought out its depth of color.
    Taking a deep breath, Jenna opened the door. She hadn’t seen Adam since last Saturday night, and in his black tuxedo he looked superb and even more attractive than she remembered, if that were possible. Pictures in the newspaper hadn’t done him justice, and neither had the color ones in magazines. In the flesh, the man had a serious case of handsome.
    Then she realized he was standing there, his masculine appreciation spilling over her in the off-the-shoulder chiffon gown the color of deep blue sapphires. She knew she looked nice and she was pleased with that, but her aim had been to hold her head high next to Chelsea, not to draw this man’s attention to herself.
    Unsettled, she swung away to the living room. “I’ll get my purse,” she said, hoping her voice sounded even. She didn’t invite him inside. She would only be a moment.
    “Well, that’s another first,” he drawled as he followed her into the apartment and closed the door.
    “What’s that?” Heart thumping, she continued over to the coffee table.
    “You didn’t allow me to compliment you on your appearance.”
    She picked up her clutch purse, feigning indifference. “Was I supposed to?”
    “Most women do.”
    “I’m not most women.”
    “I’m beginning to believe you’re right.” He paused. “But let me compliment you anyway,” he murmured, his eyes darkening. “You really do look lovely tonight.”
    Her cheeks grew warm, but she had to remember he wasn’t being nice out of the kindness of his heart. He had a motive for everything he did. “Thank you.” She stepped toward him, feeling the need to get out of the apartment before—
    “Did you design that necklace?”
    The question stopped her in front of him, her hand going to the jewelry at her throat. “Yes. It’s one of my own.”
    He