Free Reclaiming His Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley

work it out.
    His mouth came down on hers, and Clea’s lashes fluttered lower. The glass was hard and cool behind her; by contrast, Brand’s passion was hot. He shifted, and a moan broke from her throat. The kiss deepened. Her hands crept up his T-shirt, caressing the back of his neck.
    The pressure of his mouth ceased abruptly.
    Clea opened her eyes.
    Brand moved back, putting an arm’s-length distance between them, his eyes horribly knowing. “Well, I’d better go—you’ve been telling me you’ve got so much work to do, and I’m keeping you from it. And on second thought, I’ll instruct my lawyers to have the order presuming my death set aside. That way I won’t be using up your valuable time.”
    Bastard…
    So he knew she wanted him. How humiliating. He was going to leave her hanging like this…ravenous for him. She clenched her hands, determined not to reach for him, restrain him, beg him to kiss her…just once more.
    How easily he’d demolished the barriers she’d tried to erect against him. How easily she’d forgotten about Anita…
    She heard him move, and caught the scent she would always recognize as Brand’s as he advanced again. “Take this as a warning,” he growled in her ear.
    Refusing to cower, she glared at the broad bulk of his chest, the muscle clearly defined beneath the snug fit of the black T-shirt.
    Brand placed his fingertip under her chin, and tipped it up, forcing her to meet his eyes.
    â€œI’m far from dead.” He gave her a dangerous stare that caused her stomach to flip. “And while you might be planning to marry another man, you still want me . Think about that—because I intend to think of nothing else…all night long.”
    Without giving her a chance to respond, he released her chin, turned and sauntered away.
    Biting her lip ferociously to quell the frustrated sob that threatened, Clea watched him leave. And, even though everything in her screamed not to let him walk through the door, her limbs had turned to Jell-O. She heard the door whisper shut and through the glass she watched until he turned the corner and disappeared from her line of sight. His footsteps faded.
    There was only silence.
    Her shoulders slumped. Too drained to move, she tipped her head back against the coolness of glass, and fervently wished she never had to see Brand Noble again.
    Arrogant bastard . He didn’t deserve her loyalty!
    Well, she had no way of even contacting him—she’d have to wait for him to reach out to her. If he ever did.
    At least she’d taken the first step toward weaning herself off the intensity of her feelings for Brand. She’d taken off his ring…and he knew it.
    The nagging unease from earlier returned in full force.
    His ring.
    Clea started. Her ring.
    Oh, no! Adrenaline shocked through her as she stumbled out her of office. She could still visualize where she’d set it down on the granite counter top. She’d dried her hands, but afterward she’d failed to pick the ring up.
    By the time she yanked open the door to the ladies’room, her pulse was pounding. Dread mushroomed as her gaze fell on the granite slab beside the hand basin.
    Her ring was gone.

Six
    B rand shouldered his way through the summer crowds on Fifth Avenue.
    Overhead, skyscrapers cut the blue sky into jigsaw shapes. Brand had thought he’d long ago hit rock-bottom. Clea had proved him wrong. The past hour had shaken his life to its very foundations.
    On the corner he hailed a cab and gave an address, his stony face preventing the cabdriver from launching into conversation. When the cabbie ferociously gunned the accelerator, Brand’s face didn’t relax into a smile.
    Not even the puzzle presented by the museum’s newest exhibit could keep his mind off Clea’s latest revelations. She’d taken off her ring. She’d agreed to marry Hall-Lewis.
    And she’d