Free Pure Pleasure by Ava McKnight Page A

Giselle. In fact, now that I know about your past, I respect you even more for what you’ve accomplished and who you’ve become. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.”
    Her hand on my shoulder made me turn back to my friends. And to one tall and devastatingly handsome man. I bit back another sob when I saw Ky, standing with Taylor and Cherish, that lazy grin I loved on his face.
    I swiped at the tears rolling down my flushed cheeks as I asked, “What are you doing here?”
    He didn’t get the chance to answer, because Taylor swooped in. “Nice to meet you, Ky. I’m Taylor.”
    “Cherish,” said my other friend.
    “Claire,” echoed my third gal pal.
    “Nice to meet you all.” His smile was genuine, as was the look in his eyes.
    “Well, we have work to do,” Claire said as she shooed the others away and they melted into the background.
    I stared at Ky, shocked to see him in front of my desk. “Seriously, why are you here?”
    “Because when I try to rationalize why you were so upset at the race, it doesn’t compute.”
    He stood with his hands behind his back in an unassuming stance. He wore a white dress shirt with black jeans. Sexy, yet still casual. My stomach rioted with a dozen different emotions I couldn’t reconcile. Excitement. Fear. Arousal. Humiliation. I had no idea how to get a grip on them, or my thundering heart.
    “Look, it’s just—”
    “You told your friends you want to be perfect for me,” he interjected. “I heard that when I walked in. The thing is, you are perfect for me. In every way.”
    I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the prickle again as the drops threatened to pool.
    Ky said, “Claire was right. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of. In fact, you should be damn proud of yourself, Giselle. For who you’ve become.”
    I shook my head slowly as I opened my eyes. “I haven’t done anything.”
    “No?” One hand moved from behind his back and he placed a shopping bag on my desk. It was delicate and sophisticated, with Fran’s embossed across the front.
    I buried my face in my hands as emotion washed over me. I groaned and said, “You went to Seattle to buy me chocolates?”
    He so didn’t get me! I was shocked, really. Deep down, I’d thought he’d understood, on some level, what I’d said about my past.
    Staring up at him, I told him, “You missed the whole point of my story.”
    His grin was slow and easy. “No, I didn’t. I had them FedEx me the gift bag. Look inside.”
    Skeptical, I stepped closer to the desk and peered inside the bag. A back issue of Scottsdale Live rested against one interior wall.
    I frowned, perplexed.
    Ky said, “Look at all the things you’ve achieved. You came from nothing and made something of yourself, without compromising your principles and beliefs. You dress impeccably—”
    “It’s all secondhand, I told you that.”
    “So what? You enjoy your clothes and you look great in them. Who cares if someone owned them before you? You make the style your own. And for a girl who dropped out of high school to now be getting her master’s degree… Jesus, isn’t that something?”
    “I made a promise to Melodie.”
    “And you’re doing it for yourself. To better yourself. That’s amazing, Giselle. Hell, you’re more successful than I am.”
    I let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, yeah. I can totally see that.”
    He smirked at me. “Think about it. I was given a company to run. I was born into money and that’s how I can afford a race team and a bunch of toys. I didn’t have to get my master’s degree. A bachelor’s is good enough when you’re the sole heir to an empire. My mother wanted nothing to do with the business or anything associated with racing. She took a lump sum of cash and off she went, leaving me with everything else.”
    I resisted the urge to grind my teeth. “You’re on the cover of a magazine.”
    He yanked Scottsdale Live from the chocolate bag and thrust it at me. “You’re in a magazine. Every