Читать книгу Pregnant by the Billionaire - Ким Лоренс, Кэрол Мортимер - Страница 10

‘CHAMPAGNE?’

Luccy didn’t need to turn and face the owner of that silkily soft voice to know who it belonged to. It might have been eight weeks since she had last heard it, but, as she had guessed at the time, she hadn’t succeeded in forgetting a single thing about Jacob ‘Sin’ Sinclair, least of all the silky seductiveness of his voice!

She had wondered about—and dreaded!—seeing him again at this glitzy party being given in the New York Sinclair hotel to celebrate the launch of PAN Cosmetics’ new brand of lipstick. But, as she was the photographer for all the publicity shots that had blitzed the media for the last month, it would have looked distinctly odd if Luccy had refused her own invitation to attend. Especially as she had decided that this particular photography assignment for PAN Cosmetics was to be her last…

Which didn’t make it any easier for her to break off her present conversation in order to turn and face Sin!

Despite the fact that the reception room in this New York hotel was full of the press, as well as the rich and famous, Sin had had absolutely no problem picking out Lucinda Harper-O’Neill in the sparkling crush of people. For one thing it was impossible not to spot that distinctive long, blue-black hair. For another, she was looking beautiful again in red…

Had she deliberately worn red again this evening as a challenge to him for that night two months ago?

Whatever her reason for wearing it, there was no doubting that Luccy looked stunningly beautiful, her low-necked, sleeveless red gown a shimmering sparkle of sequins that hinted at her curves rather than clung to them, and revealing a long expanse of shapely legs, the red high-heeled shoes she wore adding an extra three inches to her height. Her long blue-black hair was loose again tonight and curling silkily down the length of her spine, the deep blue of her eyes emphasised by long, curling black lashes, a delicate blush to her cheeks, and the fullness of her lips once again glossed a deep, tempting red.

Sin had stood across the room watching her for several minutes before approaching and speaking to her, his body tensing as he watched her conversing with one of the male executives of PAN Cosmetics, her beautiful face animated, her blue eyes glowing, her cheeks satiny smooth, and those red-glossed lips full and smiling to reveal her small, even white teeth.

That the man she was talking to was totally captivated by her glowing beauty was more than obvious—if Darren Richards leant any closer over the bare expanse of her creamy breasts he was going to lose himself down the front of that glittering red gown!

Sin turned his hard silver gaze on the older man. ‘Richards,’ he greeted tersely. ‘I believe my grandfather was looking for you a few minutes ago…’ he added pointedly.

Luccy, having turned to face Sin, barely noticed as Darren Richards excused himself and hurried away, her attention all on Sin. He looked tall, dark, and breathtakingly handsome in the black evening suit and snowy white shirt and bow tie, the expression in those silver-grey eyes totally unreadable as he coolly returned her gaze, holding out one of the two champagne glasses he carried.

‘I won’t, if you don’t mind.’ She shook her head as she held up her glass of sparkling water.

‘Fine.’ He shrugged before disposing of one of the glasses on the tray of a passing waiter. ‘Have you been working your brand of magic on one of the PAN executives this time?’

Luccy had decided before coming to New York that if she and Sin did meet again she would not allow him to get under her skin. ‘Do you think I succeeded?’ she came back dryly.

Once again Sin couldn’t help but admire her easy confidence. ‘Judging by the way Darren almost fell into your cleavage? I would say that’s a yes,’ he confirmed mockingly. ‘The only problem is, Darren doesn’t have the final word over any future contracts you may or may not have with PAN.’

Luccy met his gaze unblinkingly. ‘But you do?’

‘Of course.’ He gave a derisive inclination of his head.

‘Pity.’ She gave him a sweeping glance before turning her attention to the rest of the room. ‘Did you say that your grandfather’s here?’

Sin’s mouth curved into a humourless smile. ‘He may be eighty but he still makes a point of always appearing at these occasions. Would you like to meet him?’

‘No, I don’t think so, thank you,’ she refused lightly.

‘He doesn’t bite,’ Sin assured her dryly.

Unlike this man, that silver gaze warned Luccy!

‘You don’t want any champagne. You don’t want to meet my grandfather. What do you want, Luccy?’ he asked softly.

The huskiness of his voice caused a tingling at Luccy’s nape and sent a quiver of awareness down the length of her spine, the bodice of her gown suddenly feeling too tight as her breasts swelled in response.

This man was playing with her, Luccy easily guessed, and he was enjoying doing it too!

‘From you?’ she bit out. ‘I thought I had already made it clear at our last… meeting, that you don’t have anything that I want.’

‘I believe what you wanted was another contract with PAN?’

She looked at him coldly. ‘There are plenty of other companies who have just as big an advertising budget, you know.’

‘Wow and Paul Bridger came up trumps, after all, did they—?

‘Where are you going?’ Sin reached out to take a light hold of her arm as she would have walked away.

‘Anywhere that you aren’t,’ she snapped. ‘For your information, I haven’t seen or spoken to Paul Bridger—or anyone that knows him,’ she added pointedly, ‘since talking to you at your hotel that evening. How about you?’

Sin raised a disdainful eyebrow. ‘Why the hell would I want to see him?’

She shrugged those creamy shoulders as she looked at him challengingly. ‘Oh, the two of you seemed to have so much in common.’

Insulting as well as courageous, Sin acknowledged ruefully. Not that she had lacked courage the last time they had spoken, she just seemed different in some way. Or was it himself that was different? He’d had the same eight weeks to think of this woman and wonder if he really had been wrong about her, as Luccy had insisted so vehemently.

In the circumstances it was unfortunate that the first time he’d seen her this evening she had obviously been charming yet another executive, of PAN this time!

Luccy looked pointedly at the fingers that still encircled her arm. ‘Take your hand off me, Sin,’ she instructed softly. ‘I’ll give you three seconds and then I’m going to start screaming,’ she added when he continued to frown down at her.

His mouth twisted. ‘That would definitely make you the centre of attention!’

She raised dark brows. ‘I believe that would bother you more than it would me.’ After all, there were hundreds of members of the press present…

His eyes darkened with amusement as he slowly released her. ‘Aren’t you becoming a little—reckless, Luccy?’

‘Am I?’ She resisted the effort to rub the tingling spot on her arm where Sin’s fingers had just touched her. ‘Or maybe it’s just that I don’t care to be in the company of a man who has the opinion of me that you do,’ she said sarcastically.

‘And what opinion is that, Luccy?’

She gave a dismissive laugh. ‘I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone else who has believed me capable of blackmail—let alone actually accused me of it!’ Her voice had hardened over the last words, her eyes glittering angrily as she looked at him in furious challenge.

Sin’s gaze was narrowed. ‘You have to admit—’

‘I don’t have to admit anything, least of all to being guilty to any of the accusations you made against me,’ Luccy insisted. ‘And, fortunately, I don’t have to stand here and hear them repeated, either. I find it rather warm in here, so if you’ll excuse me—’

‘No, Luccy, I won’t excuse you,’ Sin growled harshly as he stepped in front of her to stop her departure.

Sin wondered what it was about this particular woman that just touching the silky softness of her skin a few minutes ago had made him want to sweep her up in his arms and carry her out of here to the nearest bed.

None of the other women he had known had ever made him feel like shaking her and kissing her at the same time! In light of what had happened between them two months ago the first emotion was easily explained, but surely that second instinct should have been nullified by the first?

She eyed him coldly. ‘What do you mean no?’

His mouth quirked humourlessly. ‘Exactly what I said,’ he grated tersely. ‘I haven’t finished talking to you yet—’

‘But I have finished talking to you,’ she announced calmly.

Sin looked about them impatiently; if anything the room was even more crowded and noisy than it had been a few minutes ago. ‘Let’s get out of here and go somewhere we can talk without interruption,’ he rasped.

Luccy gave a disbelieving shake of her head. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you, Sin.’

One thing she had decided on before she came to New York: if she did see Sin again then she certainly wasn’t going to allow herself to be alone with him.

She only had to look at him now, at the lean ruthlessness of his face, the hard contours of his muscled body, to know that she was still as physically aware of him as she had been the night they’d met.

She only had to look at the hot glitter of Sin’s eyes as he looked at her, the sensual twist to his lips, to know that he felt exactly the same way.

And it wasn’t going to happen.

Not again.

Not ever.

He raised his eyebrows in tacit challenge. Then, ‘Scared, Luccy?’

She flicked her hair back over her shoulder as her chin rose. ‘That ploy may have worked once, Sin, but it isn’t going to work a second time.’

Sin stood so he was barely inches away from her. ‘How many times have you thought of our time together, Luccy? How many times have you lain awake in your bed at night aching with arousal?’ he murmured.

Now that he was with Luccy again, practically touching her, Sin could recall each and every one of the nights he had lain awake in his own bed, hot and hard as he thought of the silky feel of this woman’s skin, as he remembered surging into the heat of her tight sheath as she climaxed wildly and took him with her.

Unfortunately those memories had always quickly been followed by the realisation that she had only been using him that night…

How often had she thought of Sin Sinclair? Luccy asked herself achingly. Too many times, considering their last conversation! On several occasions she had even dreamt of this man, actually felt him inside her, only to awaken and find her body hot and trembling, her breasts full and tingling, a dampness between her thighs.

Had she come here tonight with the expectation of seeing Sin again? Had all her excuses, all the reasons she had given herself for having to be here, really been because she had needed to see Sin one last time? To know if that night two months ago had merely been an aberration on her part, or if she still wanted him?

Well, if she had, Luccy now had her answer—she trembled with the sheer physical awareness of just being near Sin again!

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Mr Sinclair,’ she told him scornfully, ‘but I’ve been far too busy with my career to spare you a single thought.’

‘Liar!’

Her eyes widened at his soft accusation. ‘You—’

‘Are you going to keep this lovely young lady to yourself all evening, Sin?’

Luccy removed her gaze thankfully from Sin’s glitteringly compelling one to look past him to the elderly man who had just joined them. He was tall and slender in the black evening clothes, with a shock of snowy-white hair, it was nevertheless easy to see from the similarity in the ruthless hardness of their features that this was Sin’s grandfather, Jacob Sinclair Senior.

Her back stiffened as Sin moved to stand beside her and curve his arm lightly about her waist before making the introductions.

‘Luccy, this is my grandfather, Jacob Sinclair,’ he said smoothly. ‘Grandfather, meet Lucinda Harper-O’Neill.’

Grey eyes almost as piercing as his grandson’s looked her over speculatively. ‘The clever young lady with the camera,’ Jacob Sinclair finally murmured approvingly. ‘You have done a tremendous job for us during this last year.’

Luccy raised surprised brows at his knowledge of her work. ‘How nice of you to say so.’

‘I don’t believe that nice is necessarily a Sinclair trait, Miss Harper-O’Neill.’ The elderly man chuckled. ‘What do you say, Sin?’ he prompted his grandson dryly.

‘I say you could at least let Luccy get to know me a little better before telling her that,’ Sin came back.

The elderly man gave an unrepentant grin. ‘Our bark is much worse than our bite,’ he confided in Luccy lightly.

Not in Luccy’s experience, it wasn’t!

Neither was she in the least comfortable with that possessive arm curved about her waist…

‘What do you think, Luccy?’ Sin felt, and ignored, Luccy’s attempts to escape his hold on her waist, the tightening of his fingers warning her to cease her squirming. ‘Is my bark worse than my bite?’ he queried huskily, his mouth quirking mockingly as he saw the blush that now coloured her cheeks.

‘Now, Sin, you really shouldn’t embarrass Miss Harper-O’Neill in this way,’ his grandfather admonished him laughingly.

‘Please call me Luccy,’ she invited the old man. ‘And where your grandson is concerned, I do assure you I’m beyond feeling anything as mild as embarrassment.’

Sin felt his grandfather’s briefly speculative gaze upon him, a gaze Sin met with cool deliberation. His grandfather might be eighty, but he was still one of the most astute men Sin had ever known. And Sin wasn’t even attempting to conceal his interest in Luccy.

He had spent a lot of the last two months thinking about this woman. Two months when he’d had no interest in looking at another woman, let alone going to bed with one…

His grandfather was smiling as he turned back to Luccy. ‘Perhaps you would care to accompany Sin to lunch at my home tomorrow?’

Luccy was no longer squirming in the curve of Sin’s arm, but had become absolutely rigid as she looked at his grandfather. ‘I don’t think so, thank you, Mr Sinclair,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I’m hoping to be able to get an earlier flight back to England tomorrow.’

Sin’s mouth compressed into a thin line. ‘A sudden change of plans?’

‘Very sudden,’ she confirmed defiantly, those blue eyes flashing warningly as she turned to look up at him.

‘See if you can’t get her to change her mind, hmm, Sin?’ his grandfather suggested speculatively. ‘It was very nice to meet you, either way, Luccy,’ he added warmly before taking his leave.

Luccy attempted once again to remove herself from the curve of Sin’s arm as soon as the two of them were alone. This time she dug her nails into the back of his hand when he refused to release her, her gaze turning triumphant as he gave a pained wince before stepping away to look down at the crescent-shaped marks her nails had left in his skin.

He scowled. ‘Now that definitely wasn’t nice, Luccy.’

Luccy eyed him with satisfaction. ‘I don’t believe that nice is necessarily a Harper-O’Neill trait, either!’

He narrowed silver-grey eyes. ‘My grandfather obviously wasn’t a good influence on you.’

‘Don’t you think so?’ she challenged brightly. ‘I thought he was charming!’

‘Unlike his grandson?’

‘Oh, definitely,’ she retorted sweetly.

Sin shook his head ruefully. ‘Obviously the sentiment was reciprocated. My grandfather isn’t in the habit of issuing luncheon invitations to every beautiful woman he meets,’ he explained dryly at Luccy’s questioning look.

Luccy was actually quite sorry that she hadn’t been able to accept the older man’s invitation. Surprisingly she had liked his forthright manner. But it really would be better if she went back to England as soon as possible.

Tonight had shown her irrefutably that the less she had to do with Sin, or his family, the better…

She turned away. ‘I really do have to go and circulate now, Sin—’

‘Where are you staying tonight?’ he asked suddenly.

Luccy eyed him warily. ‘Why do you want to know?’

Sin gave a humourless smile. ‘I thought I might offer to see you back to your hotel later this evening.’

As Luccy was actually staying at this particular hotel he wouldn’t have far to go!

But she had absolutely no intention of revealing that she had a suite booked on the fourth floor above them. As she had no intention of being alone anywhere with Sin, this evening or at any other time.

Coward, a little voice taunted inside her head.

Maybe. But she was too physically aware of Sin, remembered all too clearly where that physical attraction had taken her the last time they were alone in a hotel suite together, to want to tempt providence a second time.

Or herself!

‘I wasn’t intending to leave just yet,’ she informed him. ‘And even if I were, you would be the last person I would want to have take me back to my hotel!’ she added insultingly.

Sin narrowed his gaze on her, knowing that the flush in her cheeks was no longer caused by anger, the blue of her eyes now mistily shimmering, her breasts swelling creamily over the scooped neckline of her gown.

Luccy was aroused by him.

As Sin was once again aroused by her.

And considering they were both consenting adults, with absolutely no illusions between them this time concerning their motives, he didn’t see why the hell they shouldn’t have each other if it was what they both wanted!

‘Let’s get out of here.’ He firmly repeated his earlier suggestion.

‘No.’

‘Luccy.’ Sin became very still as he looked down at her with glittering silver eyes. ‘We can do this the hard way or the easy way. It’s your choice.’

Luccy looked up at him searchingly, knowing by the tightness of his mouth and that angry glitter in his eyes that he meant what he said.

But she meant what she had said, too! ‘Then it will have to be the hard way.’ She faced him challengingly.

Sin’s gaze narrowed on her speculatively for several long seconds, and whatever he saw there in her expression was enough to relax some of his tension. ‘At this moment you want me as much as I want you,’ he murmured confidently.

She could deny it, of course. But what would be the point…?

Instead she gave him a mocking smile. ‘And does the spoilt little rich boy always get what he wants?’

‘No.’ His teeth showed in a humourless smile of his own. ‘But Jacob Sinclair the Third does!’

‘Really?’ Luccy gave a softly derisive laugh. ‘Then he’s going to be awfully disappointed when he finally realises I’ve turned him down, isn’t he?’

Sin really couldn’t help but admire this woman. Almost as much as he desired her…

He quirked dark brows. ‘You’re leaving some time tomorrow, you said?’

‘Yes, that’s right,’ she confirmed warily.

‘I could always offer to fly you home on the Sinclair jet when you’re ready to leave.’

‘Is that supposed to impress me?’ she scorned.

‘It sure as hell impresses me every time I climb aboard it!’

‘It’s an indulgence I think I’ll manage to forgo, thanks,’ Luccy told him with saccharine sweetness.

This man—the Sinclair family, at least—owned their own jet!

She was way, way, way out of her depth…

She gave a bright meaningless smile as she prepared to leave. ‘I’m sure I don’t have to lie and say what a pleasure it’s been to see you again?’

He grinned unconcernedly. ‘The pleasure has been all mine, I assure you.’

‘If you enjoy being with a woman who holds you in nothing but contempt, then, yes, it would appear so,’ Luccy snapped.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, telling Luccy that she had probably gone too far with that last remark.

‘If you won’t have lunch with my grandfather tomorrow perhaps you would have it with me, instead,’ he bit out coldly.

Luccy’s eyes widened. ‘Why on earth would I want to do that?’

Sin shrugged. ‘Perhaps because you would like to be the one given the photographic contract with PAN when it’s reviewed next month?’

Luccy frowned. ‘We both know that isn’t going to happen.’

‘Do we?’

Luccy looked at him searchingly, noting the challenge in his expression, the hard twist to his mouth. ‘Yes,’ she finally sighed. ‘It’s common gossip that Roy Bailey wants that contract.’

‘What Bailey wants and what he gets could be two different things. I really do have the final say on who gets the contract, Luccy,’ he said.

Luccy raised incredulous brows. ‘Are you by any chance using blackmail into forcing me to have lunch with you tomorrow, Mr Sinclair?’

‘I believe the word you prefer is leverage. And the answer to that is yes,’ he confirmed unapologetically.

This man—He—Ooh! Luccy gritted her teeth to keep the words back. She could never remember feeling so frustratedly angry before! What she wanted to do was tell this man what he could do with his contract, but caution warned her that it would be better if she was on the other side of the Atlantic—well out of Sin’s reach—when he learnt that she had already told Darren Richards she had no interest in signing another contract with PAN even if it was offered to her.

She flicked a look at him from beneath lowered eyelashes. ‘What time do you want me and where?’

Sin didn’t show by so much as a flicker of an eyelid that he was disappointed by her answer. Part of him had wanted—hoped—that Luccy would tell him what he could do with both his lunch and his contract.

Face it, Sin, he told himself derisively, Luccy really is only interested in what she can get from you. So much so that she would even agree to have lunch with you tomorrow.

‘Here at one o’clock,’ he rasped. ‘The penthouse apartment at this hotel, like the one at The Harmony, is always available for family use,’ he added mockingly as she raised questioning brows.

Providence was already working against her, Luccy acknowledged heavily. ‘How convenient for you,’ she drawled.

Sin bared his teeth in a humourless smile. ‘It can be.’

Luccy would just bet that it could!

She had assumed, naïvely, that they would be having lunch in a restaurant, not in the privacy of another hotel suite.

Could she handle being alone with Sin again? Did she want to be alone with Sin again?

What choice did she have? Once she was back in England she would be safely out of his reach, but until that happened she had to go along with Sin’s belief that she was still interested in renewing her contract with PAN. At any price, apparently!

‘Very well,’ she accepted briskly. ‘But it will have to be a very brief lunch,’ she added warningly. ‘I really do intend getting on an earlier flight back to England tomorrow.’

‘I’ll make our—conversation, as brief as I can, Luccy,’ Sin said dryly.

Luccy felt the colour warm her cheeks as she heard the innuendo beneath that statement.

If Sin thought she was going to bed with him tomorrow lunchtime then he was going to be very disappointed!