LITMIR.BIZ

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dragging his eyes away from her full mouth. ‘Not unless you ask me for it, of course.’

      Nina’s eyes widened in defiance. ‘How absolutely typical! You can’t control your impulses so you blame me for inciting them!’

      ‘You were being extremely provocative.’

      ‘Oh, yeah? Well, you were being a complete and utter barbarian!’ she threw back. ‘It’s no wonder your brother had all the ladies after him. Unlike you, he at least had a certain level of finesse.’

      She stalked past him towards the door, but before she could open it his hand came from over her shoulder and slammed against the door to keep it shut.

      She could feel him behind her, the heat of his body seeping into hers as surely as if he were touching her again. She kept her gaze fixed on the woodwork in front of her, unwilling for him to see the bright glitter of unshed angry tears in her eyes.

      ‘Let me go, Marc. I want to check on Georgia.’ To her dismay her voice sounded defeated, nothing like her usual defiant tone.

      His hand left the door to touch her on the shoulder, the gentle but firm pressure turning her to face him.

      He was so close she wasn’t game enough to draw in a deep breath in case the expansion of her lungs brought her breasts into contact with his chest once more. She raised her eyes to his, doing her level best to control the tremble of her chin as she fought to bring her wayward emotions under control.

      ‘Don’t make me hate you any more than I already do,’ she said, her voice not much more than a thin whisper of sound.

      He held her gaze for so long that Nina felt as if he were seeing right through her flesh to who she was underneath.

      To whom she really was.

      To what she really felt.

      Just as her composure was threatening to crack he dropped his hand from her shoulder and stepped away from her. She watched in silence as he turned to his discarded drink and, tipping back his head, downed the contents in one deep swallow.

      Nina took an unsteady breath and eased herself off the flat plane of the door.

      ‘Marc?’

      He turned to look at her, his eyes unreadable as he removed a piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans and silently handed it to her.

      She took it with nerveless fingers, unfolding the paper to find it was a bank receipt documenting that several thousand dollars had been deposited in her account that day.

      Her allowance.

      She stared at it for a long time without speaking, not even noticing when Marc left the room, shutting the door with a soft click behind him.

      CHAPTER TEN

      NINA had not long returned to her bedroom when she heard her mobile buzzing from inside her bag on the floor. She lifted it out and stiffened when she saw her sister’s name flashing on the screen. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she cupped her mouth around the phone and answered it warily. ‘Is that you?’

      ‘Of course it’s me,’ Nadia trilled. ‘How soon can you send me the money? I’m in a bit of bother with some bills.’

      Nina clenched her teeth. ‘What about your boyfriend? Isn’t he turning out to be the dream ticket you thought he’d be?’

      ‘Cut it with the sarcasm, Nina. We had an agreement, remember? If you don’t follow through I will come and collect Georgia and begin the adoption process and you will never see her again. It’s your choice. You can phone bank the money to me right now or you know what will happen. Don’t forget, I only have to make one little phone call to that new husband of yours and your secret will be out.’

      Nina knew she was caught in an impossible situation. It was too late for explanations to Marc about who she really was. How would he deal with the news of her deception so soon after tying himself to her in order to give Georgia her father’s name?

      ‘How did the wedding go, by the way?’ Nadia asked with a hint of mockery. ‘Was it everything you dreamed of?’

      ‘You know it wasn’t,’ Nina bit out. ‘I felt like a complete fraud the whole time.’

      Nadia laughed. ‘But not for wearing white, darling. You’re one of the few brides entitled to wear virginal white. What a pity your husband doesn’t fancy you. I bet I could get him into my bed if the tables were turned.’

      Something in her sister’s tone irked Nina enough to respond. ‘Actually, he does fancy me.’

      Nadia’s mocking chuckle grated on Nina’s nerves. ‘Only because he thinks you’re me. If you were acting in your own personality he wouldn’t take a second look. You’re too boring.’

      Nina held on to her temper with an effort. ‘I don’t think it’s such a good idea for you to call me. If someone other than me picks up my phone—’

      ‘I’m going to keep calling you until the money is in my account,’ Nadia threatened. ‘And if I don’t get you on this phone I’ll try the land line.’

      Nina let out a sigh of resignation. ‘All right, I’ll do it. I will transfer the money.’

      ‘Atta girl,’ Nadia cooed. ‘I knew you’d see sense in the end. Ciao!’

      Nina waited until her fingers had stopped shaking before pressing in the necessary digits to process the transaction. Once it was done she did her best to settle for the night but she found it impossible to relax enough to get to sleep. But, strangely enough, it wasn’t the money and what she had just done with it that was keeping her awake. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the feel of Marc’s mouth out of her mind, the way his tongue had darted with male urgency into the soft recesses of her mouth, making a mockery of every single kiss she’d ever had bestowed upon her in the past.

      Marc didn’t kiss tentatively or even in an exploratory manner. He kissed with ferocious intent, setting her blood instantly alight. She could still feel the pounding of it as it ran through her veins, making her heart skip as if it just couldn’t keep up with the pace of her pulse.

      It was impossible to ignore her growing awareness of him, the way he made her feel when he so much as looked at her with the dark censure of his eyes. She felt her skin rise in reaction every time, the soft hairs at the back of her neck standing to attention as if waiting for his hand to reach out and touch her there.

      She couldn’t believe her own foolishness. She had fallen in love with a man who had nothing but hatred for her. Even if he found out the truth about who she really was, she knew he would never forgive her for deceiving him. How could he? She wasn’t Georgia’s mother. She could not give him what he wanted because what he wanted wasn’t hers to give.

      She gave the pillow another frustrated thump before flopping back down. This was hopeless. What she needed was exercise and plenty of it. She glanced at the bedside clock and grimaced when she saw it was well past midnight. Too late for a walk around the block. Then she thought about the gym and pool downstairs, and her legs were already over the side of the bed when she hesitated.

      Could she risk it?

      What if Marc heard her?

      She rummaged for her faded bathing suit before she could change her mind. A long swim in the heated lap pool was just what she needed. It was a huge house, and besides, Marc was probably already deeply asleep.

      She didn’t bother with turning on the lights; instead she put the baby monitor remote on top of her towel on one of the comfortable-looking loungers and slipped into the warm silvery moonlit water.

      Her tense muscles began to unfurl as the water held her in its liquid embrace, the slip and slap of the water against the sides of the pool the only sound as she carved her way through length after length.

      She stopped to re-tie her loosened hair and, blinking the

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