As she poured some juice into a glass, she heard a faint noise. “I’m coming, Mr. Impatience!” she called to the dog. Honestly, the tiny thing had a huge attachment disorder, hating to be alone for even a second.
But then she heard another noise, far too big a thud for it to be Mango jumping off the bed. Fear crushed her lungs to quarter-size, making any kind of normal breathing impossible. She carefully put the glass on the bench. It was after 10:00 p.m. Not exactly time for visitors. She hadn’t left the front door open, had she? Surely she couldn’t have been that dumb? But she heard the thump again, and another. They were getting louder. Was someone in the flat?
Her heart thundering louder than a riled crowd at an All Blacks rugby game, Lexie went out into the hall.
Oh f—
Shock strangled her larynx, blocking the curse from escaping. Her eyes couldn’t be seeing right, but she couldn’t even blink to check. No way. He was supposed to be in Hertfordshire, not here. Definitely not here. Hell no.
Hell yes. Luke Marchetti stood in the hallway, frozen a few paces away, his head cocked to one side and his face pale—which was weird given he had a natural bronze complexion that she’d always envied. Was he unwell? Or was he just really shocked to see her?
“Lexie?!” He stared. His mouth was still ajar as his gaze slowly traveled down from her face to her—
Oh my effing G!
It was amazing the way her innards could shrivel yet her body remain standing. Because she was wearing…wearing…
Crap. Not that much, actually. A negligee. A smooth, silky thing she’d put on in a fit of madness, deciding that an apartment this posh needed exquisite lace to go with it. There were no Fantasy Luke elements attached to how sensual it had made her feel. None at all. Anyway, Real Luke was frowning far too much, turning any remnant Fantasy Luke images to dust.
Silently he shifted his focus, looking over her shoulder along the hall toward the open bedroom door. That would be right. He always looked beyond her. Even when she was wearing an almost sheer scrap of silk and lace that barely covered her butt.
Could Mother Earth gobble her in a single bite now? Please?
Lexie watched his eyes widen, witnessing the moment aggression kicked in. She glanced at his curled fingers, looked back up to the flat line of his mouth and the even harder look in his eyes. Lexie had never seen him so rigid before, or his face so inexpressive. Hot pride burned brighter, masking her mortification. What was he doing back here anyway? He wasn’t supposed to be back for almost a month.
“Who are you here with, Lexie?”
She was so surprised she couldn’t speak. But damn it, she was not going to regress to shy and incomprehensible Lexie just because she was in his presence again. She was older, bolder, and totally could control her crippling nerves. Totally.
“Who were you talking to?” he asked.
But she was still dumbstruck and staring. Luke was also older and—impossibly—bolder. In black jeans and a V-necked black tee, he looked like a pirate. He’d filled out so fabulously. His wide shoulders pulled the worn shirt. It skimmed his frame, emphasizing solid muscles and a serious lack of fat. His head had been all but shaved—hell, the stubble on his chin was almost longer than that on his head. But it didn’t hide his razor-edged square jaw. She knew he’d gotten Olympics fit with all that training—literally—but it wasn’t like he’d ever had any softness to him. The only difference was that now his muscles bunched even tighter. Frankly, he was rocking a lean, mean Navy SEAL look, but more than that, Lexie knew he had endurance and mental toughness to top it off.
Right now he looked more than tough—he looked lethal. A six-foot-two block of muscle standing halfway down the hall. In one-to-one mortal combat Luke would always be the winner. And in slaying any woman who crossed his path? Well, Lexie was already lost.
“Who were you talking to?” he asked again in the face of her silence.
Lexie drew a breath and told herself to shape the hell up. She wasn’t seventeen anymore. “Your dog.”
He looked even more shocked than he had a second ago. “Mannie?”
She could understand the desire to abbreviate the mutt’s name. “Yeah.”
“There’s no one else here?”
“No.”
A smile suddenly creased his face, full of tease. “So you wear that to bed even when you’re sleeping alone?”
“Not alone,” she said defiantly. She was so not going to blush in front of him as she had so many times in the past, just because he’d been present. Certainly not now that he’d decided to turn some of the legendary charm on her. “With Mango.”
At that point her brief bit of moxie dissolved and she turned and zipped back into the kitchen, desperate to find something to cover herself with.
She heard a vague mutter behind her. It sounded suspiciously like “Lucky Mango.”
In the kitchen she frantically hunted around. Idiot. She should have gone to the bedroom for clothes but the kitchen had been the nearest doorway. A dishcloth wasn’t going to cover much. Then she spotted it—the apron hanging inside the pantry. Black, huge, and perfect. She wound the long ties around her, hoping the swathe of cloth covered her from all angles.
She turned around and caught him eyeing her butt. Perhaps not, then. This was going from worse to atrocious. Before, she would have bet he didn’t even know she had a butt. He was definitely aware now. Here she was in nothing but a nightie and there was skin to be seen. She didn’t trust him. Actually she didn’t really trust any guy. More than once she’d been the “challenge.” And once the challenge had been overcome, she’d been thrown over. Luke Marchetti had been the first to do that to her.
He’d broken her silly teen heart.
Now he was in position on the opposite side of the counter, as still as he’d been in the hall. But the frown was gone and a small smile played on his lips. She wasn’t sure she liked the flavor of that smile.
“Why is Mango here?” he asked. “Why are you here?”
Lexie picked up the glass she’d left on the bench and sipped, hoping the cool juice would calm her inner furnace. “Dani sent me. I arrived in London a couple of days ago. Apparently just in time to rescue Mango from his hunger strike at the kennels.”
Now the frown reappeared. “Why didn’t she call me?”
“Because you were too busy to be bothered with Mango’s antics. Dani told me you wouldn’t mind my staying here and helping out with him.”
He didn’t answer that. “So you’ve been here a couple of days already?”
“Yes.” Two nights in his bed already. And okay, Fantasy Luke might have returned from the past with a vengeance in her dreams these last couple of nights. But Fantasy Luke and Reality Luke were two very different men.
Reality Luke looked more than a little like he had feet of clay given the way he was struggling to keep his attention on her eyes and not stray farther south. Unbelievable, when he’d ignored her so easily in the past.
Irritated, she aimed to needle him. “What kind of person calls a dog Mango?”
“A C-list model overly influenced by A-list celebrities who name children after fruit,” he answered blithely.
Oh lord, that would be right. An ex-girlfriend. No doubt the poor dog had been a handbag filler. And the ex had left him with Luke? Lexie tried so hard not to laugh.
“I call him Mannie.” Luke said wryly. “Hardly butch though is he.”
“He’s a kitten. And you left him alone for all this time.”
“Not alone. At a very nice kennel. And he only lasted a little over a week.”
“He couldn’t handle it there.”
“It’s the most expensive kennel there is. There was even a webcam so I could watch him.”
“Which you didn’t,” she pointed out.
“I didn’t have time. And they called Dani instead of me anyways.” He pressed both hands down on the bench. The action made his forearms and biceps flex. “Had I known how great his distress was, o
f course I’d have come up with some solution.”
“So how come you’re home?” Lexie briefly looked away as she finally broached the question. “Dani said you were going to be away for a month.” Her focus darted back to him. “Did you forget something?” She nervously babbled as he started to watch her far too intently. “Are you going back to Hertfordshire tonight?”
He shook his head. “Not tonight.”
Not tonight? So where did that leave her then? Because as lovely as Luke’s apartment was, there was only one bedroom. Only one bed. A huge one, yes, but only the one and there was just no going there. Not with him. Not ever.
Trouble was, this was London during the summer of the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza. While there was some accommodation in town, you had to pay kabillions for it. Lexie didn’t have kabillions.
She’d figure out something. Anything. “Oh. Okay. Well, now that you’re back to see to Mango, I’ll just get my stuff and—”
“You’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“I can’t stay here now,” she puffed, instantly breathless.
“Sure you can.” Luke suddenly smiled, his entire face lighting up. “We have to share, that’s all.”
Lexie blinked at him goldfish-style. Her mind was goldfish-blank too. Because his eyes had some wicked glint dancing in their depths. Share? Share what exactly?
“You can stay here.” He spelled it out slowly. “With me.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks so much to my daily email buddies Nicola Marsh and Soraya Lane—you two keep me sane! Huge thanks to Liz for being such a fabulous editor. To the cover, publicity and copyediting teams at Entangled—thank you for helping get the trilogy looking good And most of all, thanks to my wonderful husband who built me the best writing room in the world, and to my children for being such fun—I love you.
About the Author
USA TODAY bestseller Natalie Anderson writes fun, frisky, feels-good contemporary romance for Entangled Publishing and Harlequin Mills & Boon. With over twenty books published, she’s also been a Romantic Times Award nominee & a finalist for the R*BY (Romantic Book of the Year).
She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband, four children and what feels like a million ducks.
Find out more at her website http://www.natalie-anderson.com and be sure to sign up for her newsletter there as she often has subscriber only eTreats!
She’s also on Twitter @authornataliea and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authornataliea
Recent titles by Natalie Anderson:
BARGAIN IN BRONZE
SEDUCTION IN SILVER
GAMBLE IN GOLD
DATING AND OTHER DANGERS
WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED
FIRST TIME LUCKY?
NICE GIRLS FINISH LAST
MELT
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter One
Chapter One
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Bargain in Bronze (Flirting to Win) Page 11
