His One Desire Read Online Free PDF Page A

wondering if she still had time to change.
    It wasn’t that the dress Tom had picked out was bad. It was
good, in fact. Beautiful, even. But what if Luke thought she’d worn it for him?
    She wriggled her shoulders to confirm that the silk chiffon
top wouldn’t slip and reveal any more cleavage than it already did. The cap
sleeves seemed secure, but the light material and low-cut bodice made her feel
half-naked.
    Okay, that decided it. The black dress might be boring, but
it didn’t make her self-conscious. She was going to change.
    She started to unzip it and then stopped, struck once more
by how beautiful the colors were. The dress was like a Monet painting come to
life, a shifting wash of moss green and sapphire and indigo and violet. The
colors made her want to wear it, even though the material clung to her upper
body and the light, floating skirt barely came to her knees. It wasn’t risqué,
exactly…just sexy.
    And Kali Jones didn’t do sexy.
    But as she stood staring at herself, uncertain, there was a
knock on the door.
    Okay,
that
decided it. Tom was here to walk
downstairs with her, and she shouldn’t keep him waiting. Plus, he’d be
disappointed if she didn’t wear the dress.
    Except that it wasn’t Tom standing there when she pulled
open her door. It was Luke Tanner, looking like every woman’s fantasy in black
dress pants and a navy blue silk shirt, a hint of stubble on his jaw and a half
smile on his face.
    Her greeting to Tom froze on her lips.
    But for once, Luke seemed more rattled than she did. His
eyes slid down her body and back up to her face, and he spoke one word into the
electric silence.
    “Jesus.”
    Luke’s reaction shouldn’t matter to her, but it did. In
spite of herself, a flush of pleasure warmed her skin.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked, when she finally
trusted herself to speak.
    “I—” his voice came out a little husky, and he paused to
clear his throat. “I ran into Tom. He said he was going to walk you down to
dinner, and I asked if I could, instead.”
    His gaze slid down to her cleavage before jerking back up
again. “This doesn’t seem like your usual, uh, style.”
    She shifted her weight. “Tom picked the dress out,” she
said, irked when she heard the defensiveness in her voice.
    Luke smiled a little. “He did, huh? No wonder you trust him
to produce your shows.”
    His blue eyes were warm, and for once his smile seemed
friendly and not mocking. He seemed less like a movie star and more like the
Luke Tanner she’d known so many years ago.
    In this mood, maybe she could talk to him. Reason with him.
    She took a deep breath. “Luke. I don’t know why you came
here, but please, please, go back home to L.A. I can’t believe you really want
to hurt me after all these years. That was all so long ago, and…I’m sorry.”
    Instead of softening him, her appeal made his eyes harden.
“Sorry for what?”
    He’d done that yesterday, too—challenged her to talk about
their past.
    Well, could she? If that’s what it took to send him out of
her life?
    Her stomach tightened at the sudden swirl of remembered
emotion—guilt, shame, grief, anger. All part of the hard knot of misery she’d
buried deep, never to be revisited.
    The silence went on for a long time. After a minute, she
realized her hands were clenched into fists. She made a conscious effort to
relax them but tension still reverberated throughout her body.
    “Kali,” Luke said after another minute, and she looked up at
him. His expression was neutral, his eyes opaque. “I’ve got a proposition for
you,” he went on, and her breath hitched in her chest.
    “What is it?” she asked, her voice guarded.
    “Do you remember that night at Joe’s house? The night we
played truth or dare?”
    Of course she remembered. How could she forget? It was after
graduation and weeks after their disastrous prom night. She hadn’t wanted to go
to the party, knowing that Luke might be there, but her dad told her