Free The Price of Scandal by Kim Lawrence Page B

comments about escaping the real world surfaced in her head. Following this logic, did that mean that the normal rules were suspended? Could a person think or even do things in this little bubble that they wouldn’t normally consider?
    Neve shut off this internal dialogue with a shocked gasp. What she needed was something to keep her busy, keep those dangerous thoughts at bay.
    Frowning, she looked around the room thinking, But what?
    This was a cook’s kitchen, she decided, studying the rows of spice bottles and shelves of cook books. Neve always found baking therapeutic in moments of stress and eating could be comforting. This was definitely a moment of stress and, while a batch of cookies was the first thing to come to mind, it wasn’t the most nourishing.
    She adjusted the blanket, wrapping it sarong-style to free up her hands before she walked to the fridge and pulled open the door. After examining the contents of the well-stocked shelves she removed a box of eggs and the ingredients to produce a veggie omelette.
    Easing her conscience, she made a list of the items she had removed, then, promising herself she would replace them at a later date, she began to slice and dice before whipping the eggs with more vigour than was strictly required.
    The thing would only take a few minutes to throw together and cook when he returned.
    Stifling a yawn, she moved across to the chair by the fire she had vacated earlier. Within seconds she felt her mind drift.
    He wanted her.
    Severo could not recall ever having wanted a woman more—and he would definitely have remembered! She was beautiful, but not the type of woman he was usually attracted to, yet—Severo stopped, conscious that he was beginning to sound like one of those men he had always despised, the ones who analysed their feelings and motivations.
    The important thing was he was not and never would be a man like his father. Severo did not lose control and make a fool of himself over a pretty face. He did not confuse sex with love; he frequently doubted the latter existed outside the pages of fiction.
    The strength of the desire burning in his blood was clearly a result of his prolonged period of celibacy.
    It had been over six months since he had walked away from his last relationship, too long for any man to go without sex.
    The relationship had not ended well. The final showdown had been messy and shrill, involving a lot of frankly bizarre accusations from April. It had been distasteful and not an experience he had been anxious to repeat in a hurry.
    The problem was women said one thing when they meant another. April was a classic case: she had announced herself more than happy when he had explained that he was not looking for anything permanent or intense.
    Uncomplicated, no-strings sex, she had told him, was all she wanted from a relationship.
    Only it turned out she had wanted other things too.
    Things like expecting him to attend boring social events and be nice to people he did not know or like. He had been willing to humour her to a degree because she was very beautiful and skilled in the bedroom and he could see that her career depended on her being seen at the right places. But when it came to her wanting to know where he was every second of the day he had not been so obliging.
    The final straw had been when she had started talking marriage and babies; jokingly, of course, but she hadn’t been.
    Nobody was that good in bed!
    An image of the sexy pouting curve of Neve’s full lips flashed into his head as he entered the room—he was willing to be proved wrong.
    But not just yet, it seemed.
    His expression set in a discontented scowl of frustration, he walked over to where she lay curled up like a kitten, her face cushioned on her arm, dead to the world.
    Expression taut, he dragged his uninjured hand through his damp hair and took the opportunity to study her sleeping face at his leisure.
    His scowl faded.
    The soft tumble of bright silky coils of hair spilled