Free His Last Chance at Redemption by Michelle Conder Page B

with a man who knew where all the loaded mines were.
    He wasn’t trying to hide his sexual interest in her and she was shocked to see it. She had convinced herself that what had happened last night was because they had both been half asleep and that the chemistry she felt was entirely onesided, but perhaps that wasn’t the case. Or perhaps he was just bored and toying with her to avoid talking about himself. That would make more sense but, whatever it was, shewas just glad he hadn’t remembered his nightmare last night or what had followed.
    It would also help if she could stop thinking about how well the man kissed and how hard his muscles had felt pressing her into the bed. God, he made her feel desperate for sex and already her body felt hotter, heavier. But she wasn’t any good at sexual banter and her cup clattered as she put it down. ‘I think I might go to bed,’ she said, inwardly grimacing at her gaucheness.
    ‘Scared, angel?’
    ‘Of?’ she asked carelessly, glancing everywhere but at him.
    ‘The way I make you feel, for one.’ His voice was a lazy purr.
    ‘Excuse me?’ She coughed out a laugh as if he’d just told her an implausible joke.
    His smile said he didn’t believe her for a second and his stunning eyes glittered in the low light, laughing at her.
    ‘So tell me,’ he said in a way that put her even more on edge, ‘how did lover boy take your rejection last night?’
    ‘It wasn’t a rejection.’ She bristled at his arrogant confidence. Well, it was, she supposed, but it had nothing to do with him. ‘And his name is Simon.’
    ‘That wasn’t what I asked.’
    ‘I’m not telling you,’ she said, wishing now that she had headed for her room when the thought had first occurred to her.
    ‘It’s different when the boot’s on the other foot, isn’t it, angel?’
    ‘Stop calling me angel,’ Lexi fumed, feeling decidedly unsettled by his nettling. Especially when she conceded that
maybe
he had a point. If she wouldn’t answer his questions, why should he answer hers? ‘And of course he wasn’t happy, but he understood.’
    It was one of the qualities that had initially drawn her to Simon. Calm, methodical, rational, dependable.
    ‘Understood what?’ Leo’s dark voice broke into her thoughts. ‘That he came second to me?’
    Oh, what an ego!
    ‘That isn’t what happened at all,’ Lexi countered, uncomfortably aware that Simon would
always
come second to him if a woman had a choice.
    ‘No?’ He gave a wolfish smile.
    ‘No.’
    ‘So you told him what happened in my bed last night then?’ he asked silkily.
    Lexi’s breath lodged in her throat. Damn it, he
had
remembered what had happened and had only been
toying
with her. How had she thought even for a second that a man like him would be interested in her as a woman?
    ‘Your list just got longer,’ she said smartly.
    He disconcerted her by laughing. ‘Admit it, angel, you’re attracted to me.’
    ‘You’re wrong about that.’ She cleared her throat and nearly spilt her cup of tea.. ‘I would never be attracted to a man like you.’ It was a lie, but oh, she wished it wasn’t.
    ‘Trying to insult me to deflect how you feel isn’t very original,’ he said softly.
    ‘Neither is the size of your ego.’
    Rather than be insulted, he laughed again. ‘I liked you in my bed,’ he said softly.
    His lips curved into a lazy grin that made her stomach flip.
    ‘I was
not
in your bed,’ she insisted sharply, frustrated by her body’s automatic reaction to his suggestive tone. She had yet to find anything positive about this man and yet her body responded to his every move as if he was master of it. How could that happen when she didn’t even like him?
    ‘No?’ He scratched the sexy stubble on his jaw with well-shaped, capable fingers. ‘Then my imagination is very vivid because I can still taste your sweet mouth under mine.’
    Lexi stifled a gasp. ‘You were having a nightmare.’
    ‘Those kinds of dreams are