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Chapter Thirty One
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Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty Two
It was later that morning that she actually bumped into Wayne, completely bychance. In the two hours since Roth had left she had had more than enough timeto dwell on what had happened and what she had said, and by the time she sawWayne she had convinced herself that it was totally impossible for her ever tosee Roth again...ever to see anyone again who was even remotely connected withhim.‘Hi there, doll,’ Wayne greeted her with a grin. ‘Looks like it’s time to saygoodbye. I’m meeting up with the eco-warriors this afternoon.’Swiftly Elena made up her mind, seizing on the opportunity to make herescape, not just from Roth but from everything that was associated with him—herlove, her shame, and her fear that he would somehow guess that she had lied tohim.‘I’m coming with you,’ she told Wayne determinedly, adding before he couldargue, ‘My stepbrother has sent me some money so I can afford to supportmyself.’‘How much has he sent you?’ Wayne questioned her interestedly.
Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty Three
What the hell do you think I’m going to do to her?’ Roth had exploded. ‘Takeher to bed and...?’‘Is it really so impossible that you might be tempted to?’ lucas had asked himquietly. ‘I’m not criticising or condemning, Roth; physically she’s mature and sheloves you—or believes she does—’‘She’s got a crush on me that she’ll soon grow out of,’ Roth had interruptedhim grimly. ‘That’s what you want me to say, isn’t it? And I should keep myhands off her until she does grow out of it...out of me... But what if I feeldifferently, Lucas? What if I want...?’ He had shaken his head, angry with himselfas well as with lucas. More angry with himself than he was with lucas who heknew was only doing what he saw as his duty by his stepsister.‘You’re right, she’s a child still, and the sooner she grows up and forgets allabout me the better,’ Roth had told him hardily. ‘And as for taking her to bed,’ hehad thrown at lucas as he turned to leave, ‘well, there’s always a cure for that.’A
Just One Night With Him Chapter One
WHAT the hell are you doing, Elena? Just what kind of game are you playing now?’ Roth demanded angrily as he removed her hands, releasing her fingers from his shirt where she had unconsciously curled them in her attempt to get him to listen to what she wanted to say, to understand that she was no longer a child, that she was now completely and totally a woman...a woman who loved and wanted him.‘Roth, this isn’t a game,’ she protested, her eyes starting to fill with anguished tears as he thrust her away. ‘I want—’‘Oh, I know exactly what you want, Elena,’ he interrupted her savagely. ‘You want me to take you to bed. But right now what I feel more like doing—’ He broke off, said something she couldn’t quite catch under his breath and then turned to look at her so that the light fell sharply across his face, outlining the aristocratic arrogance of his profile.‘Your stepbrother is one of my closest friends and my employer and—’‘This doesn’t have anything to do with Penn’ Elena protest
Just One Night With Him Chapter Two
"Roth, wh-what is it...what’s wrong?’ she stammered.‘What’s wrong? Oh, for God’s sake...’ she heard him mutter. ‘The fact that you even need to ask that kind of question shows,you even need to ask that kind of question shows just how... You’re a child still, Elena... Six months from now...’She bit down hard on her bottom lip when she saw the irritation in his eyes as he ran his hand through his thick dark copper hair.‘I’m sorry... I should never have done that...’ he told her tersely.Elena felt her eyes fill with vulnerable tears.‘You kissed me,’ she protested shakily. ‘You wanted me...’‘No, Elena,’ she heard Roth telling her grittily. ‘What I wanted...’ he told her bluntly, ‘was not you, but what you offered. I’m a man, and when a woman comes on to me, offering me sex...’ He stopped and shook his head. ‘You’re a child still, Elena.’‘I bet if we were in bed together you wouldn’t be saying that,’ Elena challenged him boldly, adding recklessly, ‘I’m not a child at all, Roth, and
Just One Night With Him Chapter Three
"The old man had this thing about stately homes, I guess I kinda feel the same.He owned a fair handful of the things himself, so he kinda had a taste for them, if you know what I mean. There was the plantation down in Carolina and then a couple of châteaux in France and a palazzo in Venice, so it just kinda happened naturally that he should have this idea of using his millions to preserve and protect big houses, and now the Trust has a whole skew of them all over the world, and more wanting to have the Trust bankroll them every day.’Elena, with her own admittedly second-hand experience of her stepbrother’s problems in running and financing his own large family estate in England, had quite naturally been very interested in what Lloyd had had to say, but it had still surprised her a few days later to receive not just a telephone call from him but the offer of a job as his personal assistant.Elena wasn’t sixteen any longer, nor was she the naive and perhaps overprotected girl she had
Just One Night With Him Chapter Four
‘But Elena, this place is a gem, a perfect example of English neoclassicism,’ she could hear Michael protesting as he studied her stubborn expression. ‘I promise you, you’ll love it. I’ve had Tara book you onto the day after tomorrow’s Concorde flight for London. I thought you’d be pleased. You were only complaining way back in the spring how much you wanted to spend more time with your stepbrother and his wife and their son...‘This house... Did I tell you, by the way, that the guy who inherited it just‘This house... Did I tell you, by the way, that the guy who inherited it just happens to know your stepbrother and that’s how he’d got to hear about us? It seems that he was telling your stepbrother about the problems he was experiencing, having unexpectedly inherited this place, and Alex suggested that he should get in touch with me... I wasn’t too sure at first. After all, we’ve already got that pretty little Georgian place down near Brighton, but, well, I kinda felt I owed it to Lu
Just One Night With Him Chapter Five
‘You don’t approve, do you?’ Michael demanded, shaking his head ruefully.‘Just wait until you see it, though, Elena. You’ll love it. It’s a perfect example of...’‘We’re already very close to the limit of this year’s budget,’ She warned him sternly, ‘and—’‘So what? We’ll just have to increase this year’s funding,’ he told her with typical laid-back geniality.‘michael,’ Elena protested, ‘you’re talking about an increase of heaven alone knows how many million dollars... The Trust...’‘I am the Trust,’ Michael reminded her gently, and Elena had to acknowledge that he spoke the truth. Even so, she gave him an ironic look to which he responded by informing her loftily, ‘I’m just doing what I know the old man would have wanted me to do...’‘By buying a decaying neoclassical pile in the middle of Derbyshire?’ She asked him dryly.And she was still shaking her head as he told her winningly, ‘You’ll love it, Elena..I promise you!’Cravenly Elena was tempted to tell him that she was far too
Just One Night With Him Chapter Six
That relief had turned to something very different, though, when he had received a fax from Michael advising him that his assistant, Ms Elena Bennett, would be flying over to Britain to act as his representative over the repair and renovation of the property. He could, of course, have simply chosen to turn his back, walk away, and leave someone else to liaise with Elena, but Roth wasn’t like that. If he had a job to do he preferred to see it through for himself, no matter how unwanted or potentially problematic that task might be.Potentially problematic! A bitter half-smile curled his mouth. There was nothing potential about the problems that Elena was likely to cause him... Nothing potential at all.He had heard scraps of news about her over the years, of course, mainly from lucas and Lia. Elena had completed her degree course and majored summacum laude... She was living in New York and looking for a job... She had got a job... Elena was working in Venice... In Rome... In Prague...
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Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty Three
What the hell do you think I’m going to do to her?’ Roth had exploded. ‘Takeher to bed and...?’‘Is it really so impossible that you might be tempted to?’ lucas had asked himquietly. ‘I’m not criticising or condemning, Roth; physically she’s mature and sheloves you—or believes she does—’‘She’s got a crush on me that she’ll soon grow out of,’ Roth had interruptedhim grimly. ‘That’s what you want me to say, isn’t it? And I should keep myhands off her until she does grow out of it...out of me... But what if I feeldifferently, Lucas? What if I want...?’ He had shaken his head, angry with himselfas well as with lucas. More angry with himself than he was with lucas who heknew was only doing what he saw as his duty by his stepsister.‘You’re right, she’s a child still, and the sooner she grows up and forgets allabout me the better,’ Roth had told him hardily. ‘And as for taking her to bed,’ hehad thrown at lucas as he turned to leave, ‘well, there’s always a cure for that.’A
Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty Two
It was later that morning that she actually bumped into Wayne, completely bychance. In the two hours since Roth had left she had had more than enough timeto dwell on what had happened and what she had said, and by the time she sawWayne she had convinced herself that it was totally impossible for her ever tosee Roth again...ever to see anyone again who was even remotely connected withhim.‘Hi there, doll,’ Wayne greeted her with a grin. ‘Looks like it’s time to saygoodbye. I’m meeting up with the eco-warriors this afternoon.’Swiftly Elena made up her mind, seizing on the opportunity to make herescape, not just from Roth but from everything that was associated with him—herlove, her shame, and her fear that he would somehow guess that she had lied tohim.‘I’m coming with you,’ she told Wayne determinedly, adding before he couldargue, ‘My stepbrother has sent me some money so I can afford to supportmyself.’‘How much has he sent you?’ Wayne questioned her interestedly.
Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty One
What is it? What’s wrong?’ she demanded, not understanding. ‘Last night—’‘Last night was a mistake,’ Roth interrupted her curtly. ‘It should never have happened and I wish to God... Why didn’t you tell me you were still a virgin?’‘I... I...’ Elena could feel her eyes starting to fill with tears.This wasn’t how it should be—Roth aloof, cold and distant, almost accusing.‘Roth, I love you,’ she told him shakily. ‘I want us to be together...married...’‘Married? You’re a child still, Elena... Your mother...’‘I’m not a child, I’m nearly twenty,’ she protested frantically.‘You’re a child,’ Roth insisted, ‘and if I’d known... Why didn’t you tell me?Why did you let me think that you and Wayne were lovers?’‘I did tell you but you wouldn’t listen. I thought you’d be pleased...that you’dwant to be the first...the only one...’ she told him pathetically.‘Pleased? Oh, my God.’ Roth started to laugh, a harshly bitter laugh. ‘The onlything that could make this appalling situation
Just One Night With Him Chapter Thirty
And then, without waiting for his response, she turned her back on him andwalked very slowly and very deliberately to her bedroom door.Once there she turned round and looked at him gravely.He was still standing where she had left him, his face unfamiliarly pale, hiseyes blazing with...Quickly she looked away and then, before her courage could desert her, shetugged open the buttons of her borrowed shirt and shrugged it off.Standing still and naked in full view of Roth whilst he watched her in silencewas probably the hardest thing she had ever had to do, she acknowledged, but,somehow, doing it made her feel strong and brave and very, very womanly.There was an odd glittering brilliance in Roth's eyes, and her stomach musclestensed as she saw the way his jaw tightened as he looked away from her.‘Roth....’ she commanded softly.‘Elena for God’s sake...’Ignoring the tough grimness in his voice, she turned her back and walked fullyinto her small bedroom. Seconds later h
Just One Night With Him Chapter Twenty Nine
Elena blanched. Lucas had obviously told him about that; she wished that hehadn’t.‘I... He’ll pay me back.’ She defended both Wayne’s request and her ownacceptance of it.‘Things have certainly changed since my time at university,’ Roth told hercynically. ‘Then it was the man who did the chasing, the pursuing, not thewoman who had to secure the man’s attentions by offering him money.’Elena stared at him, unable to keep either her shock or the pain his words hadcaused her from showing in her eyes.‘It isn’t like that... I haven’t been pursuing Wayne. I don’t...’She stopped abruptly and looked away from him. How could she tell Roth ofall men...people...that she didn’t run after his sex, when he had good reason tobelieve otherwise after the ways she had so blatantly revealed her feelings forhim? Now he was looking at her in that horribly cynical way, his mouth twistingin mocking contempt.‘lucas asked me to come,’ he told her as she remained silent. ‘He’s had to goawa
Just One Night With Him Chapter Twenty Eight
monthly allowance. She had felt uncomfortable about doing so, but after a small pause,when she had stammeringly explained that she had loaned some money to afriend, he had said quietly that she could leave the matter with him.Naively she had assumed that that meant that he would send her a cheque, andsuddenly she’d had more important things to worry about than money. David,her friend, was dead. He had collapsed at a rave party and been rushed intohospital, but it had been too late to save him.His family had taken him home to bury him and they had also made it plainthat they did not want any of his university friends to attend his funeral.‘They blame us for what happened to him,’ one of his other friends told Elenaangrily. ‘They’re the ones who are at fault. He never wanted to come here...’Elena was too upset to make any comment when Wayne asked for anotherloan, and he was moody and sharp-tempered with her, mocking her upbringingand taunting her with her naiveté and i
Just One Night With Him Chapter Twenty Seven
She had been young and naive but not so young nor so naive as not to be ableto guess where the tiny pretty lacy briefs Roth had given her might have comefrom, and the knowledge that they must have belonged to another woman hadcast a shadow not just over the whole day, but over everything.She had once heard lucas joking with Roth about his taste for older women.‘I’m not in the market for commitment or marriage,’ Roth had returned. ‘ButI’m not about to turn myself into a monk either,’ he had admitted frankly.Neither of them had known that she was listening as she hesitated outside Luca's library door on her way past.‘So a woman who knows what life’s all about, who’s been married anddecided that it isn’t for her, suits me fine.’She hadn’t been able to hide her massive crush on Ran before she’d left foruniversity, in fact had openly offered her love to him, but he had determinedlypushed it away—just as he had also determinedly pushed her away.She had noticed it again at L
Just One Night With Him Chapter Twenty Six
When her mother had first married Lucas father and they had gone to live inhis ancestral home, she had been overwhelmed at first by the darkness of thehuge house. It had been Roth who had guessed her fears and apprehensions afterhe had found her sleepwalking that night. Roth who had been staying at the houseinstead of his cottage one weekend, ‘babysitting’ her in the absence of hermother, and who had taken her, not back to bed, but to his own room where hehad made her a hot drink and talked to her, showing her the telescope he used towatch the night sky.The binoculars beside it he had used for another, more mundane purpose. Asthe estate manager one of his jobs had been to keep a sharp look-out forpoachers. The night had no fears for Roth, and through him she too had learned toappreciate its special beauties. It had been Roth who had taken her to watch thebadger cubs at play, earning her mother’s anger. Elena quickly stopped that lineof thought. Since she couldn’t sleep
Just One Night With Him Chapter Twenty Five
Let go of you...? Do you realise what you’re saying, what you’re accusingme of doing? You’re not a teenager any more, Elena, and if this is some kind ofpetty attempt to—’‘No, I’m not.’ Elena interrupted him furiously. ‘I’m the Trust’s representativehere at Haverton and as such it’s my job to protect the Trust’s interests and itsinvestments... If I think that someone, anyone, is trying to cheat the Trust ormisuse its funds, then it’s my job to—’‘Your job...?’ Roth laughed savagely. ‘You sound very high-minded forsomeone who’s slept her way into her “job” via her boss’s bed.’There was a second’s pause and then a white heat, a zigzag of pure fury andfrustrated womanly pride, hit Elena like a bolt of lightning. Immediately shereacted in the only way her outraged female instincts knew, lifting her hand andslapping Roth's face in furious rejection of his insult.Elena didn’t know which of them was the more shocked—she who haddelivered the blow or Roth who had received it.
