Free Project Seduction by Tatiana March Page A

to dinner one night next week. That was all she needed to say. The words formed inside her head but refused to come out past her lips.
    Andy gave her another cautious glance. “My dad's been teaching me to shoot. I said that perhaps you'd like to come too."
    "Shoot?"
    "Yeah.” Andy stepped away from the wall and dropped all pretense of trying to fix the temperature dial. “It's cool. You get to hold a gun and shoot at a target that's in the shape of a man. Then you press a button to bring the target back to you, and you can check where the bullets have hit."
    "Your dad lets you do that?"
    "He hovers over me like a mother hen,” Andy admitted. “And in the beginning he made me practice for ages with an unloaded gun."
    Georgina pursed her lips. She pictured herself holding a gun in her outstretched hands, with Rick standing behind her, steadying her grip, murmuring instructions into her ear. Their bodies would be close. A little stumble would have her losing her balance and falling into him. It would only be natural to be startled by the impact and the noise when she pulled the trigger.
    It just might work.
    "Perhaps that would be fun,” Georgina agreed. “I've never seen a real gun, let alone fired one."
    "Great. I'll tell my dad to set it up.” Brightening, Andy skipped over to the front door. She raised her hand in a hasty farewell as she dashed out to the stairwell.
    "Did you fix the heating?” Georgina called out after her.
    "No. I'll have to get my dad to come up. He'll know how to do it. He's still sleeping. I'll get him to come over as soon as he wakes up."
    Georgina gaped at the open doorway. Rick would come up, and she was in a mess. She spun to check her face in the mirror. Her hair hung in a tangle, and blotches marred her skin. In her eyes, red veins radiated out of the iris, like a roadmap out of central London.
    Ice water. That would fix it. She slammed the front door shut and ran into the kitchen.
    At least the apartment wasn't in a state. She had hidden the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The small round table attached to the countertop at one end was empty, except for the red and white gingham cloth that covered it. Georgina had been puzzled by that when she first moved in, because the rest of the apartment was unfurnished. She'd discovered the reason when she stripped off the cloth and found the cigarette burns underneath.
    She extracted a tray of ice cubes out of the freezer and carried it into the bathroom. The water from the tap over the ice made crackling sounds. One by one the ice cubes popped loose and began to float around in the filling sink. Georgina discarded the empty tray and dunked her face into the water. One, two, three, she counted. Ten seconds, and up for a gasp of air.
    After a few minutes her eyes stopped hurting, and her skin glowed. She scrubbed her face dry with a towel and brushed her hair loose. Then she hurried into the bedroom.
    She'd barely stripped out of her T-shirt and panties when the doorbell buzzed. Her mind went blank. What should she wear? She couldn't think. If she didn't go to the door, Rick would leave. He'd think she was unwilling to forgive him. They'd never speak to each other again. One day when she was an old woman, she'd use her pension savings to fly out to America and look for him, only to find out that he'd died years ago.
    Such a disaster had to be avoided at all costs. Suddenly the prospect that Rick Matisse might not wait behind the door until she was ready to open it seemed more alarming than anything else that could happen to her.
    Stark naked, Georgina ran out to the hallway.
    "Who is it?” she shouted through the door.
    "Rick. Andy said you've got a problem with your heating."
    "Yes!"
    There was a short silence.
    "If you want me to take a look, you've got to let me in.” She could hear the amusement in his voice.
    Georgina glanced down her naked front. She knew her body wasn't what he meant to take a look at, but that didn't stop the warm tingle