Free Jealous Lover by Brandi Michaels Page A

resented her relationship with his best friend.
    “I think I’ll have to take a rain check.” She rejected his invitation with just the right amount of regret but no explanation. In Greece, he’d treated her like an unwelcome outsider. His superior attitude had grated, so she had no desire to play nice with him now.
    He seemed temporarily at a loss for words. “But, as I understand it, you are a hostess here tonight?”
    Part comment, part question, his response implied it was her duty to dance with him. Her position as director of the Margarita Andresen Foundation did make her hostess for this annual fundraising event, but her employers didn’t expect her to cater to every request. Crystal wondered if Makis was just being a typical male chauvinist or if he had an ulterior motive. He’d never approved of her relationship with Demetri, so she’d never trusted him.
    “I am your hostess for the evening,” she answered smoothly. “But I am not duty-bound to dance with every guest.”
    “Not even the guests with the deepest pockets?” he replied just as smoothly. “Would your employers not frown on that policy? Would it not diminish your value to them?”
    Crystal’s temper rose with each new question. Did he think a complaint from him or his partner would get her fired? With his money and resources, he’d probably already researched the foundation. He would know the last director had nearly bankrupted it. Tonight’s event could either ruin or salvage the foundation as well as the job she loved, but that didn’t give him the right to threaten her.
    As badly as she wanted to know the motivation for his threats, she refused to go on the defensive. Instead, she mounted a gentle offense and gave him her best hostess smile.
    “Please don’t misunderstand,” she said. “The financial support of our guests is very much appreciated by the foundation. I didn’t realize you were a patron.”
    Makis’s nostrils flared at her gentle snub. The demure college student he’d known would never have insulted him so, but the past few years had changed her dramatically.
    Crystal forgot the other man as soon as she felt Demetri’s presence. She didn’t have to see him to know he’d moved closer. Goosebumps skittered over her body, her pulse accelerated and her breasts plumped against her gown, nipples tingling. She took another long drink of champagne.
    “The blame for crashing your party is totally mine.”
    His voice, so deep, so sexy, so intimately familiar, sent a quiver over her body. Every nerve and cell reacted to the sound and her knees actually shook, but her confidence didn’t waver.
    Turning slightly, she included him in their little semi-circle of space. She greeted him with a carefully controlled smile, but couldn’t force a word past the sudden tightness of her throat.
    “We had a meeting today with Harry Connate,” explained Demetri as he openly studied her. “We asked him to have dinner with us this evening. He informed us of this prior commitment and invited us to join him here at the hotel.”
    They’d parted three years ago after a hot-tempered shouting match that ended with her throwing his engagement ring back at him. Now pride kept her from showing an emotional reaction to his unexpected appearance. His impersonal tone and manner helped Crystal find her voice.
    “Harry’s a dear man and a faithful supporter of the foundation. He’s always welcome to bring guests.”
    “And encouraged, one might assume,” added Makis.
    His condescension annoyed her, but he spoke the truth.
    She gave him another cool smile. “Indeed. We are a non-profit organization, so our charitable operations are dependent on the generosity of many sponsors.”
    “So why don’t you share your champagne?” Demetri reached for her glass and pulled it from her unresisting fingers.
    The touch of his hand against hers torched the nerves she’d just calmed. Fire sizzled through her as she watched him turn the flute and drink