Page 18 of Flirting With Disaster

It was selfish. He knew damn well if she realized who he was, she’d run for the hills.

But he wanted her like no other woman before.

Beck grunted. The world was a funny place. Putting Jude and Beck together here, now. But, why?

Fate was an evil bitch.

He could tell himself he wasn’t interested. He was a pro at being uninterested. But with her, in this place, he couldn’t resist.

She was stern and bossy and crazy. Her offbeat buoyancy and zest for learning was refreshing. It drew him like a bee to honey.

And that body and face. Like an angel from Heaven, made just for him.

Beck shook his head and pulled on his boots. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the ghost stories about the castle were true. Destined lovers brought together by the ghosts of tragic lovers from the past.

Why the hell she chose this week to lose her virginity, under his watch, was a mystery. He straightened his tie. For Christ’s sake, it was none of his business. Except for slimy Richard Fantome. He had to be here, sniffing up her skirt. How could Beck step aside and let her be ruined by that asshole?

She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

He owed her, in some strange penitential way. Didn’t he?

If anyone was going to ruin her, by damn, it was going to be him…again.

Nine

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

Albert Einstein

Standing in the entryway of the large dining room, Jude rubbed her palms against her thighs, compressed in the ecru skirt she’d chosen for dinner. Castle Alainn truly was magical. The soaring beamed ceiling sup

ported ornate, crystal chandeliers. Sparkling light spread throughout the room like glitter. Second story balconies gave the atmosphere that true old world feel.

“We have a date.”

She flinched and inhaled Beck’s familiar woodsy cologne. Amazing how, when attracted to a potential mate, the human species could tell who they were without seeing them, and be stimulated sexually by their scent. “We no longer have an arrangement, Mr. Beckette. You deceived me and I cannot enter into any contract with a person I do not trust.” And am hopelessly attracted to.

“I didn’t deceive you. You jumped to conclusions all on your own, Sweetheart. Isn’t that in your studies somewhere? How, when a person wants something so bad, they see what they want to see?”

Jude sneered at him over her shoulder. She should have never looked. He was impeccable in a charcoal suit, black shirt and black tie. So typically Phantom of the Opera. “What I want is no longer any of your concern.”

She needed to keep her wits about her. Any further emotional enticement toward this beautiful, dark creature would incite the dissolution of her plans.

She gasped as his cheek brushed hers from behind. His scar branded her, marked her, made every nerve tingle with need to be a soothing balm that tore the shadows from his eyes.

“Jude.” His breath was warm, his voice the decadence of thick, rich chocolate. “Everything you do is my concern. There is no reasoning this away. It’s too late to avoid our inevitable connection.”

She needed to break his spell. She turned and confronted his magnificent face. “Our inevitable connection has no bearing on my choices. Emotional connection is cumbersome, capricious, emotive. I want disconnected sex, which means I don’t want you anymore.”

His succulent lips tipped up at the corners, one side slightly askew due to the mysterious scar. “There is no such thing.”

He leaned in, a mere centimeter away from touching her lips with his, and waited, staring intently into her eyes, reading her mind, delving into all her secret desires. He knew…knew she wanted him with her every breath. Knew she found herself lacking. That she’d want forever and a man like Beckette…whatever…would only want one night. He was a loner, an injured soul harboring his grief. Her plans called for a shallow, unfeeling cyborg.

He placed a scarred hand along her face and touched his cheek to hers. “And Miss Jude Duffy, I want you.”

He kissed her softly on the neck then turned and left with a flip of his invisible vampire cape.

Jude stood frozen, speechless and tingling.

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