Master of Fortune / Marrying the Lone Star Maverick. Katherine Garbera
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he felt as if he was seeing the return of Astrid. Not that tight-lipped stranger whom Daniel Martin had evoked.
“I think you are a man who knows very much what he wants and probably doesn’t look to anyone for approval.”
He nodded. “Damn straight. Now which place is yours?”
She pointed to a modern block of flats and he pulled into the parking lot. She reached for her door as he turned off the car. He got out and met her as she exited the car. It had started to drizzle on the drive, and the rain made her hair curl.
She stared up at him for a minute, chewing on her lower lip. “Thank you for the ride home. And for … well for being so nice about everything. You made seeing Daniel again bearable for me.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. He cupped her elbow and led her to the entrance of the building.
“Well, good night, then,” she said.
“Good night, Astrid,” he said. But instead of doing the smart thing and letting her enter her building, he touched the side of her face and lowered his head to kiss her.
Astrid leaned up into Henry’s kiss. He didn’t put his arm around her, but kept one hand on her face. His lips rubbed lightly over hers, and she stood on tiptoe to get closer to him. His lips were soft and provoked a slow burn.
The reaction of his mouth on hers sent tingles down her body and she opened her mouth on a sigh. She tasted the minty crispness of his breath before his tongue brushed over hers. Forgetting everything, she felt only his mouth on hers.
The hand on her face slid to the nape of her neck, and he held her firmly as he took complete control of their kiss.
She couldn’t think.
She didn’t want to. She’d watched Henry all day and night wondering what it would be like to be in his embrace, and now she knew. It was intense.
He smelled earthy and masculine. His cologne was expensive and crisp—she suspected it was custom-blended just for him. She closed her eyes to focus her senses in the experience.
He pulled back, and she opened her eyes to see him staring down at her. He said nothing but rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip and then stepped away from her.
“Good night, then,” he said.
She watched him walk back to his car and realized she was still standing there like a ninny. She unlocked the lobby door to her flat building and walked in without looking back at him.
Danger loomed—real danger of falling for Henry Devonshire. A man who would never see her any differently than Daniel had. How could he? His mother was a pop star, his father was a billionaire entrepreneur and she was the daughter of a schoolteacher and a taxi driver.
When was she going to learn?
Why did she have a weakness for men who were …
“Not good for me,” she said out loud.
She kicked off her shoes as she entered and dropped her keys on the kitchen counter. It took her fifteen minutes to get ready for bed, but once she was there she couldn’t sleep. She just kept reliving, not the encounter with Daniel, which she’d expected, but the kiss with Henry.
She’d never been kissed like that before. It had been too intense. Her vows to herself about not getting involved with men she worked with melted away.
She drifted off to sleep and woke early for work. She dressed in an ultraprofessional suit that she’d worn to her interview with Malcolm Devonshire’s assistant Edmond. That suit was her armor when she needed to be professional. Bethann called, but Astrid let it go to voice mail because Bethann could always tell when something was going on in Astrid’s life. Her older sister had known her affair with Daniel had gone wrong just from the way Astrid had said hello.
The train was busy, but that was normal for the morning. She knew she was going to have to figure out an alternate way to handle her commute once she started going out at night with Henry. She tried to fill her mind with to-do lists and other meaningless tasks, but the one thought that kept circling around was what would happen when she saw Henry.
How was he going to treat her today?
Her mobile rang again and she hit the quiet button. The part of the train she was on was a quiet zone, so she couldn’t talk to Bethann even if she wanted to. A minute later she received an instant message on her Smartphone. They each had a BlackBerry so could use the Messenger on that.
Bethann: Stop ignoring my calls.
Astrid: I’m on the train, Bethann. I can’t talk just now.
Bethann: Where were you last night?
Astrid: Working.
Bethann: I left you a voice mail at home … I’m worried about you. I think you should have taken a job in my office.
Astrid hadn’t even seriously considered working with her sister at the law office where Bethann was a solicitor. She loved Bethann, but the other woman was demanding and very bossy. If they worked together, Astrid was afraid she’d lose it and say something that would hurt her sister’s feelings.
Astrid: I like working in the music industry. My stop’s next. Daniel contacted me and threatened to tell Henry awful things about me.
Bethann: I’m going to contact his office today. We filed a wrongful termination.
Astrid: I know but the fact that I settled makes it seem like there was something untoward between us.
Bethann: There was.
Astrid: Stop being a cow about that. I need you to just tell me everything’s going to be okay and the one mistake I made falling for that man isn’t going to ruin the rest of my life.
Bethann: Love, don’t say things like that. You are on a better track now. Sorry for being bossy.
Astrid: No problem. Sorry for getting all emotional.
Bethann: Have a good day, sis.
Astrid: You too. TTYL.
She entered her office to find three e-mails from Henry, the last one saying he’d be in the office later this morning.
She stashed her handbag and started to work. Tried to get into the flow of the office. There were a couple of coworkers that she’d started being friendly with in the kitchen area where the coffeepot was kept, but this morning she kept to herself. Stayed at her desk and just worked.
She had made mistakes with Daniel. At first their relationship had been like this one with Henry, and now she was afraid of repeating those same mistakes. She refused to let that happen.
Just because they spent every eight hours together in the office and then most evenings together didn’t mean they were growing closer. She had to remember he’d been happy last night because she’d helped convince Steph to sign with Everest Records.
Daniel had been happy with her too, and then she’d started to fall for him. Or rather let him seduce her. She couldn’t make that mistake again. Henry was her boss and unless she wanted to go back to Farnham with her tail tucked between her legs she needed to make this job work.
She wasn’t going to have that fairy tale happily-ever-after with Henry even if he was different from Daniel. She had to remember that she wasn’t like other women—not anymore—and she didn’t have the option of being a wife and mother to fall back on. For her it was a career or nothing.
She needed to keep to her vow. She needed to remember that if she had to leave this job, her only option might be working for her sister.
She didn’t want to have to start over yet again. The only way she was going to keep this job was to be firm with herself and focus on doing the best she could.
She almost believed herself that she could do it, she could keep her vow—until Henry walked through the door.
“Morning,