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you.’ He shrugged. ‘You might think I’m cynical but I’m also honest. I have never in my life set out to deceive anyone. I’ve never promised a bed of roses or a walk up the aisle.’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘You had a crap time with some guy who strung you along...’

      ‘Which is why you should have believed me when I told you that I’d rather have walked on a bed of hot coals than have anything to do with him in my life again.’

      ‘That’s beside the point. At the time, I looked at the facts and evaluated them accordingly. What I’m trying to tell you is this: the world is full of men who will do whatever it takes to get a woman into bed, and that includes making promises they have no intention of keeping. With me, what you see is what you get. We’re here, we’re attracted to one another and that’s all there is to it.’

      ‘Sex for the sake of sex.’ That was something she had never considered and surely would never consider. It contravened pretty much everything she had been taught to believe in. Didn’t it? It was what Duncan had been after and that had repulsed her. Sex and love were entwined and to disentangle them was to reduce the value of both.

      Lucas laughed at the disapproving, tight-lipped expression on her face. ‘It could be worse,’ he drawled. ‘It could be sex for the sake of a happy-ever-after that is never going to be delivered.’

      The air sizzled between them. Katy was mesmerised by the dark glitter in his eyes and could feel herself being seduced by opinions that were so far removed from her own. Yet he made them sound so plausible. Instead of giving her the freedom to enjoy a healthy and varied sex life, to take her time finding the right man for her, her experience with Duncan had propelled her ever further into a mind-set that rigidly refused to countenance anything but the guy who ticked all the boxes.

      Wasn’t Lucas right in many ways? How could you ever be sure of finding Mr Right unless you were prepared to bravely face down the probability that you might have to risk some Mr Wrongs first?

      And who was to say that all Mr Wrongs were going to be creeps like Duncan? Some Mr Wrongs might actually be fun. Not marriage material, but fun.

      Like Lucas Cipriani. He had Mr Wrong stamped all over him and yet...wouldn’t he be fun?

      For the first time in her life, Katy wondered when and how she had become so protective of her emotions and so incapable of enjoying herself in the way all other girls of her age would. Her parents had never laid down any hard and fast rules but she suspected now, looking back down the years, that she had picked things up in overheard conversations about some of the young women in distress they had helped. She had seen how unwanted pregnancies and careless emotional choices could destroy lives and she had consigned those lessons to the back of her mind, little knowing how much they would influence her later decisions.

      Lucas could see the range of conflicting emotions shadowing her expression.

      The man had really done a number on her, he thought, and along with that thought came another, which was that the first thing he would do, provided the deal went through, was to sling Powell out on his backside.

      Whatever experiences she had had before the guy, he had clearly been the one she had set her sights on for a permanent relationship, and throwing herself into something only to find it was built on lies and deceit would have hit her hard.

      For all her feisty, strong-willed, argumentative personality, she was a romantic at heart and that probably stemmed from her background. Sure she would have enjoyed herself as a girl, would have had the usual sexual experiences, but she would have kept her heart intact for the man she hoped to spend the rest of her life with, and it was unfortunate that that man happened to have been a married guy with a penchant for playing away.

      ‘You may think that I don’t have the sort of high moral code that you look for,’ Lucas told her seriously. ‘But I have my own code. It’s based on honesty. I’m not in search of involvement and I don’t pretend to be. You were hurt by Powell but you could never be hurt by me because emotions wouldn’t enter the equation.’

      Katy looked at him dubiously. She was surprised that she was even bothering to listen but a Pandora’s box had been opened and all sorts of doubts and misgivings about that high moral code he had mentioned were flying around like angry, buzzing wasps.

      ‘I’m not the type you would ever go for.’ Lucas had never thought he’d see the day he actually uttered those words to a woman. ‘And quite honestly, I second that, because I would be no good for you. This isn’t a relationship where two people are exploring one another in the hope of taking things to the next level. This is about sex.’

      ‘You’re confusing me.’

      ‘I’m taking you out of your comfort zone,’ Lucas murmured, yearning to touch her, only just managing to keep his hands under lock and key. ‘I’m giving you food for thought. That can’t be a bad thing.’

      Katy looked at him and collided with eyes the colour of the deepest, darkest night. Her heart did a series of somersaults inside her chest. He was temptation in a form she was finding irresistible. Every word he had said and every argument he had proffered combined to produce a battering ram that rendered her defenceless.

      ‘You’re just bored,’ she ventured feebly, a last-ditch attempt to stave off the crashing ache to grab hold of what he was offering and hold on tight. ‘Stuck here without a playmate.’

      ‘How shallow do you think I am?’ Lucas grinned, his expression lightening, his eyes rich with open amusement. ‘Do you think I need to satisfy my raging libido every other hour or risk exploding? I’m tired of talking. I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time trying to persuade a woman into bed with me.’

      ‘Should I be flattered?’

      ‘Most definitely,’ Lucas returned, without the slightest hesitation.

      Then he reached out, trailed a long finger against her cheek and tucked some strands of coppery hair behind one ear. When he should have stopped and given her time to gather herself, because she was all over the place, he devastated her instead by feathering his touch along her collarbone then dipping it down to her cleavage.

      Gaze welded to his darkly handsome face, Katy remained rooted to the spot. Her nipples were pinched buds straining against the bikini top. If she looked down she knew that she would see their roused imprint against the fabric. Her eyelids fluttered and then she breathed in sharply as he stepped closer to her and placed both of his big hands on her rib cage.

      He had been backing her towards the bed without her even noticing and suddenly she tumbled back against the mattress and lay there, staring up at him.

      She was about to break all her rules for a one-night stand and she wasn’t going to waste any more time trying to tell herself not to.

       CHAPTER SIX

      EXCEPT KATY WASN’T entirely sure how she was going to initiate breaking all those rules. She’d never done so before and she was dealing with a man who had probably cut his teeth breaking rules. He’d made no bones about being experienced. Was he expecting a similar level of experience? Of course he was!

      She quailed. Mouth dry, she stared at him in silence as he whipped off his shirt in one fluid movement and then stood there, a bronzed god, staring down at her. She greedily ate him up with her eyes, from his broad shoulders to his six-pack and the dark line of hair that disappeared under the low-slung swimming trunks.

      Lucas hooked his fingers under the waistband of the trunks and Katy shot up onto her elbows, fired with a heady mixture of thrilling excitement and crippling apprehension.

      What would he do if she were to tell him that she was a virgin? Run a mile, was the first thought that sprang to mind. Katy didn’t want him to run a mile. She wanted him near her and against her and inside her. It made her feel giddy just thinking about it.

      In the spirit of trying to be someone who might actually

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