LITMIR.BIZ

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      His eyes widened. ‘Why on earth would you think that?’

      She pulled the light sheet a little closer to her body and sighed. ‘I know I’m not beautiful, Iain. I’ve spent my life living in the shadow of the “world’s most beautiful woman”,’ She lifted her fingers in the air to make imaginary quote marks. ‘You just learn to accept that will never be you.’

      Ian lifted his head and propped it up on his hand. ‘What do you see when you look in the mirror, Lexi?’

      She frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

      He shook his head. ‘I’m betting you don’t see what I do. Not even close.’

      She pulled the sheet up above her breasts, as if shielding herself from him. She was almost too scared to ask the next question. ‘What do you see?’ she whispered.

      He lifted a finger and traced it lightly down the side of her cheek. ‘I see a gorgeous young woman, with beautiful skin, perfectly intact—not damaged by the sun in any way.’ He ran his finger over her eyelids. ‘I see the most beautiful blue eyes. There’s a little hint of turquoise and they remind me of the sea next to a Caribbean island.’ His finger dusted her eyelids. ‘I see thick, dark lashes that most women would give their eye teeth for and a pair of lips that were exclusively designed for kissing me.’

      She smiled and he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. She closed her eyes a little. ‘Okay, so I’m starting to like that.’

      His hand drifted under the sheet and she felt herself tense a little. He hadn’t mentioned her surgery. Hadn’t mentioned it at all. And it struck her as strange. He was a surgeon. He’d known from the very first time their bodies had made contact that she’d had surgery. And he had certainly appreciated her breasts last night.

      The pads of his fingers caressed her shoulders then followed the curves of her body. He pulled the sheet back a little. ‘I’d ask you who did them, but I might get a little jealous. Because they’re perfect.’ His finger danced along the almost invisible scar under one of her breasts.

      ‘You really think so?’ Her voice was hesitant. She’d expected him to criticise. For all he was a surgeon himself, he didn’t seem to rate cosmetic surgery very highly.

      He nodded slowly, his eyelids still heavy with fatigue. ‘I just wonder why you felt as if you needed them.’

      It was a natural question, particularly for a surgeon, but it instantly caused her to bristle.

      For a second it crossed her mind to lie. To act with a whole lot of bravado. But she was done with pretending to be something she was not. She was Lexi Robbins and she was proud of who she was.

      ‘I didn’t want them. Not to begin with. My ex—Jack told me to get them. He wore me down, kept telling me my flat chest did nothing for him and it made me feel as if I wasn’t worthy of our relationship.’

      Anger flared instantly in Iain’s eyes. ‘What?’ He sat up, his voice incredulous. ‘Why on earth would he do that? You’re gorgeous, Lexi—and I’m sure you were absolutely perfect. What a complete—’

      Her hand reached up and cut him off. ‘Iain. Don’t. I’ve spent a long time coming to terms with this. Jack never really loved me and it took a long time for me to understand that. Jack loved the idea of me. Who my parents were. The fact my name attracted attention. The fact my name meant we got invited to every fancy party in town.’

      Iain’s expletives filled the room. ‘Of all the low-down, monkey-brained—’

      ‘Stop that. Don’t insult monkeys. They’re highly intelligent creatures.’

      But she could see the fire was still burning in his belly. ‘I don’t get it, Lexi. Why would you let anyone persuade you to have surgery? Didn’t your surgeon ask you questions about why you were there? I thought he’d done a good job but now I’m not so sure.’

      She shook her head. ‘I gave him all the right answers, Iain. He didn’t do anything wrong.’ She sighed and lay back against the pillow again, her hands coming up and resting on her breasts. ‘I’ve come to like my boobs. They’ve given me more confidence. They’ve made me feel better about myself. Deep down, I was never really happy with my shape—Jack just amplified my own feelings in a cruel way.’

      There must have been something on her face, something about the way she said the words.

      Iain’s face darkened even further. ‘Was that all he did?’

      She hesitated as she felt a little flush of colour come to her cheeks. It seemed ridiculous. She’d just spent the night with Iain, was lying naked in bed with him, and she was embarrassed to say the words.

      ‘What is it?’ he coaxed, intertwining his fingers with hers.

      ‘He said other things too. He didn’t just comment on my breasts—or lack of them. He told me I should be taking lessons … for other things.’

      It took a few seconds for the penny to drop and Lexi was cringing. It was bad enough that Jack had said those things in the first place. She’d never told another living soul about them.

      Iain looked incredulous. ‘He said what? How dared he?’

      She looked down and shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m not the most experienced. I’ve only ever had a few long-term relationships.’

      ‘And he thought he would criticise you?’ Iain’s voice was aghast. ‘Lexi, he should have been grateful, honoured even that you let him get that close to you. That you trusted him enough to share yourself with him. He shouldn’t have been criticising your technique!’

      The fury of his words made her want to bury her head under the pillow. She kept her eyes averted. ‘This isn’t normal for me, Iain. This isn’t what I do. I don’t do—this.’

      He put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look at his. ‘I get that. And I didn’t get that because I thought you were inexperienced.’ He gave her little smile. ‘I have no complaints at all—quite the contrary, in fact. I enjoyed every second. You were perfect.’

      Was it wrong that those words gave her a little buzz all the way down to her toes? Was it wrong that she couldn’t help but smile? Smile at the gorgeous, handsome, strapping man who was lying next to her in bed, telling her that he thought she was perfect?

      Even though she hadn’t realised she’d been holding it, her breath came out in a long, steady stream.

      She looked back into his eyes. ‘Everything has changed. I’m a different person than I used to be—and not just physically. I like how I look now. I’m comfortable in my own skin. I love the fact that I’m doing a job that makes me happy. I don’t care that my parents don’t appreciate it. I know the value of the job I do. I’ve raised more money in the last few weeks than even I thought possible. I’ve got another few trips overseas to speak to some more potential clients.’ She ran her fingers along the stubble on his jaw. ‘And I’ve got a whole host of plans for raising the profile of the Harley Street clinic, some of which include a hunky Scotsman …’ she gave him a wink ‘… who might even wear a kilt for me.’

      He rolled his eyes and she laughed, before rolling back onto her back and putting her hands on her breasts again. ‘This is me, Lexi Robbins. Take me or leave me.’

      Iain’s hand came over and rested over one of hers. ‘So you’re happy?’

      She nodded. ‘Yes, Iain, I’m happy.’

      His hand ran down the outside of the sheet, resting on her hip. She wondered if he was about to ask other questions about her abdominal scar. Would she answer truthfully? Did she feel as if she could?

      He wrinkled his nose at her. ‘Well, I’m not.’

      Her stomach gave a little clench. What did he mean?

      ‘I want to find Jack Parker

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