She touched his eyelids with her fingertip. Then his nose and his lips, as if discovering his beautiful face, even while their bodies were joined so intimately, and she was filled with warmth and an unbearable longing."It’s yes," she choked. "You know it’s yes!" For how could it ever be anything else?—------------A sound awoke Vivian as the quiet light of dawn was drifting in through the window. She continued to lie there for a few seconds, grappling to make sense of her unfamiliar surroundings, then she remembered and her heart gave a thump.Twisting her head on the pillow she saw that the place beside her in the bed was empty, and she sat up with a jerk, a hand going up to push her tumbled hair from her face. The sound came again and she focused on Scott, who was standing with his back to her on the other side of the room.He was already dressed in one of the dark business suits he favored, and was snapping his paper-thin watch to his wrist. He looked so breathtakingly handsome
"I do not care what you did not mean! I do not care that you feel guilty now that you’ve had me in this bed! I gave myself to you willingly and freely. It is you who finds this a shameful thing, not me!" Standing rigid with shock, he looked as if he’d been turned into rock, and Vivian decided she’d had taken enough of this. With an infuriatingly uncontrollable sob, she coiled her fingers around the sheet and snaked off the bed, dragging the sheet with her as she went."Vivian…""No," she husked out. "Don’t speak another word to me. I hate you. I will hate you forever." Those black feelings vented, she ran into his bathroom and slammed the door shut, then just sank in a puddle of white linen to the floor.She had wanted this job so badly. Well, she had gotten a chance and blown it away, for where had her sense of honor been when she had lusted after Scott McCall? Where was it in recognising that she had just turned into a person she had never thought she would ever turn into. And she
“I…” She hesitated, shrugged a shoulder and started again. “I can cook if you have something in the kitchen.” She said. Scott burst into laughter. “You can cook?” Dubious, he scanned her beautiful hair, gown and shoes. “In that? Impossible!”Jennifer snorted. “You’re not starting off this truce thing well. And yes, I can cook.”If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he might’ve missed the flash of insecurity that was there and gone in an instant.“Show me to the kitchen? That is, if you don’t mind me…?”“No, this I have to see for myself,” he assured her, and strode past her toward the room he rarely used. His housekeeper often prepared dinners for him that she left warming in the stove. So the pantry and refrigerator should both be stocked. “I’ll even supply you with clothes so you don’t get anything on your dress. See how accommodating I am?”“Until tomorrow,” Jennifer added from behind him.“Until tomorrow,” he agreed.—---------“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tast
Scott rolled his eyes. "Now you make me regret my decision to open up to you" he said, "It's a good thing you're not a real therapist because your patient would leave your office even worse than they came. And now that I've opened up to you about my dark, dark secret about my PA, you have to do the same. Why are you alone with me then, anyone special in your life?" Jennifer shook her head and looked at her feet, "No" she replied, but Scott was not deceived. "You're such a horrible person, you know that?" he asked with a smile. "You give me so much trouble about my romantic life, and yet you have a secret of your own. Now spill!" Jennifer chuckled. "I'm being truthful. I might have someone I have feelings for but I'm not in a relationship with her…so it doesn't count" she said. "It's the same situation with I and my PA and you still gave me a hard time." Scott said, "You're not getting out of this. Spill!" "You're not dwelling on the fact that this person is a 'she'. Most people w
Bethany invited her to join her and a few other friends for a drink that night and Vivian thought emptily, why not?When she arrived at the wine bar the place was so crowded she almost chickened out and went away again, but Bethany saw her and waved her over. Bethany’s group of friends were lively and noisy and Vivian was surprised an hour later to discover that she was almost—almost—enjoying herself. Most of them were going on to dinner, then a nightclub, but the thought of eating anything made her stomach go queasy so she declined with a smile and some excuse that was something else she could not recall minutes afterwards. On Monday morning, she just couldn't do it anymore. Her head was filled with thoughts of Scott and she couldn't take it any more. She was sure now that the only reason why she was able to bring herself to work the previous week was because he wasn't present but she was sure he would be now and she couldn't face him. Not after his cruel rejection. So, after crying
She paused, and a sob escaped her.Jennifer grabbed her hand, offering her support, and Sara went on.“When I told him about the pregnancy, he told me he didn’t want me or the baby. To get rid of it because I was no longer useful to him. Then he walked away, like I was garbage he’d tossed out the window. He used me to get back at my brother. At the time, I worked at Scott's company as his executive assistant. I was so naive, so snowed by Bruce, that when he asked me questions about Scott's agenda, who he was meeting with, I gave him the information. He worded it to make it sound like he was only asking about my day, what I had on my plate, but he was pumping me for inside information. He never loved me, never had any intention of creating a family with me.” She shook her head, her throat working, as if swallowing back another sob. “I refused to end the pregnancy, but it didn’t matter. I miscarried and lost the baby.”Jennifer remained sitting next to Sara, but inside she reeled, enrag
"Just truth" He leaned against the car and the jut of his hips was like an open invitation. Vivian looked him straight in the eye. "I’m not interested in being one of a long line of willing victims, Scott" she said. He thought that victim was an unusual choice of word. "I’m not as indiscriminate as you seem to imply, Vivian," he said softly."No? So what was all that? And besides, apart from me, when did you last have a lover?" He frowned with memory, and the wry knowledge that, having admitted honesty, he could not now refuse to answer her question. "Months ago. I was seeing this… lady, but I haven't been with her in months." He met her eyes. He sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that she was the reason why he stopped calling Olivia. "Hardly evidence of a man who’s engaged on a mission to seduce every woman in sight—no matter what my reputation. Satisfied, Vivian?" It was an ironic and poor choice of word. Satisfied was the last word she would use to describe herself, not when
"Then take my sweater off," he instructed.But she felt so weak that she couldn’t have moved from the spot, drowning in sweet anticipation. "No." He smiled. "So you’re going to defy me, are you, Vivian? You’re going to force me to strip for you?" The roles were now reversed and, wordlessly, she nodded, watching with unbearable excitement as he peeled the sweater off and tossed it aside, then began to unbuckle the belt of his black jeans, his eyes not leaving her face.He kicked his shoes off, then unzipped the trousers slowly, provocatively, wincing very slightly as they rasped down over the undisguisable evidence of how aroused he was, and despite her hunger, her excitement, color flared in Vivian's cheeks and he smiled."Am I making you feel shy?" he purred"A little." she replied. He slid the jeans down over the hard, muscular shafts of his thighs, kicking them off impatiently, until he was wearing absolutely nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, their silken sheen emphasizing the