The Billionaire's Elusive Lover Read Online Free PDF Page B

when we were outside on the sidewalk. Don’t even try and tell me you don’t enjoy exercise. Those muscles are too hard for someone who only works out for their health.”
     
    “Perhaps it’s a way to help me concentrate.”
     
    “Isn’t that the basis for all enjoyment and relaxation?”
     
    “No.”
     
    She couldn’t help but laugh at his serious expression. “You’re wrong,” she said, shaking her head.
     
    He raised his eyebrows but moved on to the next subject. They discussed everything and Helen was astonished at how charming the man could be when he put his mind to it. It was as if she’d challenged him and now he was out to prove her wrong.
     
    The meal was extraordinarily delicious as well and over far too quickly, although she glanced at her watch and realized they’d been there for almost five hours, talking and eating and she honestly could say that she couldn’t remember laughing so much in a single evening.
     
    When she realized it was almost midnight, she glanced up shyly. “I need to get home,” she admitted. “But it’s been a wonderful night. I hate to say it, but I really appreciate you coercing me into this meal.”
     
    Alec leaned back in his chair, sipping his brandy slowly as he contemplated a strategy for getting her back to his penthouse and into his bed. His body simply would not accept that she wasn’t coming home with him. He’d been aching since he’d held her in his arms out on the street. The need to possess her, to somehow put his stamp of possession on her and claim her as his and his alone, was raw and urgent. He didn’t investigate these new feelings accepting that there were just some things in life he could take on intuition. As soon as he had her, made love to her and found out her secrets, she would be out of his blood.
     
    “You haven’t finished your coffee,” he pointed out. “And I don’t think I want to let you leave yet.”
     
    Helen laughed. “I’m not sure that’s possible. I have a meeting tomorrow morning and, although it isn’t early, I need my beauty sleep.” She pushed her napkin onto the table beside her plate, preparing to stand up.
     
    “Stay with me tonight,” he said softly. “I’ll make sure you get to your meeting tomorrow with plenty of time to spare.”
     
    Helen couldn’t deny she was tempted but she had a promise to live up to. “I can’t. I won’t even explain because you wouldn’t understand but I made a promise to someone and I can’t break that promise.”
     
    Alex stiffened with anger. “Was this promise made to another man?” he asked, his tone just as soft but with a deadly force which was undeniable. Alec couldn’t even consider that she might be attached, even casually, to another man. The feelings that were shooting through his system were new and unrecognizable, but as a man, he reacted to them at a primal level. He would not allow any other man to touch Helen, not while he was still interested, he told himself.
     
    Helen looked at him curiously. She could sense his anger but didn’t understand it. What had she done or said to make him so furious? “Yes. Of course, but I don’t see what…”
     
    His brandy plunked down on the table with a thunk and he leaned forward, his dark, dangerous eyes capturing her green ones and holding her captive. “Let’s get something straight, Helen. From now on, you make promises to no one but me. Is that clear?” His voice was firm and he thought she would understand that he was not going to stand for her being with another man, no matter what the circumstances.
     
    Helen was stunned for a long moment, blinded to his logic by the intensity of his tone and his gaze. But slowly, she realized that he was ordering her about, thinking he had the right. And stubborn woman that she was, she’d always fought against any kind of authority, driving her father crazy until he’d figured out how to deal with his stubborn daughter.
     
    She shook her head, instantly