Red Red Wine (Tastes of Seduction) Read Online Free PDF Page B

as if I got it under false pretenses.”
    Andrew gaped at her.
    “Only problem is, I’ve already opened it.” She held up her other hand, showing him an…empty wine glass. “Haven’t drunk any yet. Can’t seem to work up the energy, but I have opened it. I’m sorry.”
    Andrew didn’t give a flying fuck about the wine. “What happened?”
    “Well, having a drink seemed like a brilliant idea two hours ago, so I popped the cork, but now I can’t seem to stomach anything, let alone good wine, so it’s open but full.”
    “I mean what happened with the wedding?”
    “Oh, right. The wedding.” She nodded. “Yeah, that. My fiancé booked a single plane ticket out of here, leaving three hours before the wedding. And neglected to tell me. I accidentally read about it in his instant messages with his business partner.”
    For the second time in minutes, Andrew was capable only of gaping at her.
    “Now I might be wrong—obviously I’ve been wrong about a lot of things lately—but I figured that was as good a sign as any that the wedding was off.”
    “Jesus, fuck.”
    Victoria gave another empty laugh. “That’s pretty much what I thought when I found out.”
    “Your fiancé may well be the stupidest man on the planet.” What kind of dumb fuck left his fiancée at the altar? In fact, what kind of dumb fuck left a woman like Victoria at any time? That defied belief.
    She shrugged. “Or maybe I’m the stupidest woman on earth for believing we had something real.”
    He made short work of the space between them, crossing the gazebo to crouch before her. “Sexiest woman,” he corrected. “Not stupidest. Never stupidest.”
    Victoria looked down at him with wide eyes. He couldn’t make out the blue irises in the dimness, but wished he could, wished he could read in her expression what she hid with her words.
    She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
    It was only when a wet drop landed on his knee that he realized she was trembling. Shaking hard enough to spill the wine. As gently as possible, he reached up and took both the bottle and glass from her hands, setting them on the bench a little way away. Then he took her hands in his and gazed up into those enormous eyes.
    Christ, her hands were blocks of ice. Not surprising seeing as she still wore nothing but the shorts and singlet she’d had on earlier. While the early autumn days were still warm, the night temperatures dropped a little. A slight chill bit at the air, yet Victoria seemed not to notice.
    Andrew whipped off his hoodie and wrapped it around her shoulders, guiding her arms into the sleeves and encasing her in its warmth.
    Then he knelt before her again and once more took her hands in his, holding them between his palms to share his body heat. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he looked up at her. “So sorry he hurt you like that.”
    She stared back at him, and there was no mistaking her shimmer of tears. Again she opened her mouth to say something, and again nothing came out. Well, nothing except a tiny sob.
    Before Andrew had time to realize her intentions, she did the last thing he’d ever have expected: let out a small cry, grasped his arms in her hands and kissed him.
    Not just kissed him. Consumed him.
    Her mouth crashed down on his, her lips instantly molding to his open ones, startling him down to his toes. Her tongue demanded entrance to his mouth, pushing inside greedily while her lips destroyed his resolve to keep his distance.
    The kiss came as an assault to his senses, an attack on his equilibrium, yet every fiber of his being accepted it as right. Welcomed it. Relished it. As astonishing as the circumstances might be, this, she , was exactly what Andrew needed, exactly what he wanted.
    Sparks flared around them, as though he’d been struck by static electricity from her touch alone. His body hardened to the point of pain.
    Common sense pounded at his head, telling him to pull away. Victoria might be what he