Reckless Night in Rio Read Online Free PDF Page B

would feel like against him in bed.
    Erotic memories flashed through him of the first time he’d kissed her, when he’d swept his laptop to the floor in his ruthless need to have her. Taking her against his desk, he’d lost data that had cost thousands of dollars.
    He hadn’t cared. It had been worth it.
    He’d wanted Laura Parker from the moment she’d walked into his office, looking uncertain in her country clothes and wearing big, ugly glasses. He’d seen at once that she had a kind, innocent heart, coupled with the fearless bluntness he needed in an executive assistant. He’d wanted her, but for five years, he’d held himself in check. He needed her too badly in his office, needed her expertise to keep Santos Enterprises—and his life—running like a well-oiled machine. And he knew an old-fashioned woman like Laura Parker would never settle for what a man like Gabriel could offer—money, glamour, an emotionless affair. So he hadn’t allowed himself to touch her. Not even to flirt with her.
    Until…
    Last year, during a helicopter flight from Açoazul’s steel factory to the north of the city, Gabriel had looked up from a report to discover his pilot had flown them right over the sharp stretch of road where his family had died nearly twenty years before.
    Gabriel had said nothing to the pilot. He’d told himself he felt nothing. Then he’d gone back to the office. It was late, and all his other employees were gone. He’d seen Laura Parker alone at his desk, filing papers in her prim collared shirt and tweed skirt, and something inside him had snapped. Five years of frustrated need had exploded and he’d seized her. Her blue eyes had widened behind her sleek, black-framed glasses as, without a word, he’d ruthlessly kissed her.
    That night, he’d discovered two things that shocked him.
    First: Miss Parker was a virgin.
    Second: beneath her demure exterior, she’d burned him to ashes with her passionate fire.
    He’d made love to her roughly against the desk. He’d been more gentle the second time, after they’d taken the elevator up to his penthouse and he’d kissed her for hours, lying across his big bed. The night had been…amazing. More than amazing. It had been the most incredible sexual experience of his life.
    Now, looking at her, a cold knot tightened in Gabriel’s chest. He’d given that up, and she’d just thrown herself away. She’d let some unworthy man touch her. Get her pregnant with his child.
    Gabriel’s hands tightened into fists. Perhaps it was hypocritical to feel so betrayed, since he’d enjoyed many women the past year since she’d deserted him. But enjoy was not the right word. All Gabriel had done was prove to himself, over and over, that no other woman could satisfy him as Laura had.
    Turning away, he set his jaw. He’d get control of Açoazul SA and then send Laura and her baby back to New Hampshire. He’d thought he might ask her to stay in Rio after the deal was done, but now that was impossible. As much as he missed her in the office—as much as he missed her in his bed—he couldn’t take her back now. Not now that she had a child.
    He couldn’t let himself feel, not even for a moment, as if he were part of a family.
    ‘You look tired,’ he heard Laura say quietly.
    He turned to her, and their eyes locked in the semi-darkness of the jet. ‘I’m fine.’
    ‘You don’t seem fine.’
    ‘A lot has changed.’ He looked from her to the sleeping baby. He wanted to ask her again who the baby’s father was. He wanted to ask how long she’d waited before she’d jumped into bed with a stranger. A week? A day? What had the man done to seduce her? Bought her some cheap flowers and wine? Given her cheap promises?
    What had it taken for the man to convince Laura to surrender the life she’d yearned for, and accept instead just the crumbs of her childhood dreams?
    ‘Gabriel?’
    He looked up to find her anxious eyes watching him. ‘What?’
    ‘What will happen