An internet search of Finn Calvert had turned up nothing in the way of personal details, so he’d hired an investigation agency, which, last week, had. The seismic revelation that Finn’s date of birth matched his own, leading to the conclusion that they might be more than just blood relatives, they might be brothers and quite possibly twins at that, had shaken him to the core. He still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock and he certainly hadn’t had the head space or time to contemplate the implications.
Not that he was telling this woman any of that. He’d sound ridiculous. He didn’t have a quick answer that made any sense, so instead, with a slight smile and half a step towards her, he went for one that did.
‘Right now,’ he murmured, out of habit letting his gaze drift over her and noticing with interest the sudden tell-tale leap of the pulse at the base of her neck and the rush of colour that hit her pale cheeks, ‘I’m admiring the scenery.’
For the briefest of moments her eyes dropped to his mouth, a flash of heat sparking in their depths. He thought he caught the tiniest hitch of her breath and sensed her moving minutely in his direction, briefly dizzying him with her scent, and it hit him like a punch to the gut that instead of suppressing the nuclear reaction going on inside him he ought to be encouraging it. Because, while he didn’t fully understand the strange, primitive instinct that had compelled him to come here, to this house and its owner, he well understood desire.
He’d gone without sex for the last twelve painful weeks, and he’d missed the fierce buzz of attraction, the sizzling heat of electrifying chemistry and the blessed oblivion that inevitably followed. Here was a potential opportunity to rectify that. He hadn’t planned to stay overnight in the country, intending instead to return home to Venice once he was done, but he was adaptable. He’d change his plans and invite the goddess before him to dinner in London. And afterwards, if she was amenable, he’d take her back to the penthouse apartment he owned there, tumble her into bed and prove to anyone who cared to know just how well he’d recovered from the BASE jumping accident that had nearly killed him. It would be a satisfying and enjoyable way of getting through the hours, if nothing else.
The swiftness with which she appeared to be rallying, jerking back with a quick, tiny frown, was disappointing but no great obstacle. Her captivating gaze might have turned cool, her breathing steadying and the pretty blush on her cheeks receding, but he knew what he’d seen. He knew what he’d heard. And he was going to capitalise on it.
‘I meant, why the tree?’ she said with impressive composure, as if she hadn’t even noticed the chemistry let alone responded to it, which perversely made him only more determined to get her to agree to a date.
‘What?’
‘Why are you out here by a tree? What was wrong with the front door?’
Ah.
He’d had his driver park the car in front of the house at the end of a line of half a dozen others. Realising there had to be a party going on, since the investigation he’d commissioned had thrown up no suggestion that Finn was particularly into fast cars, he’d decided to assess the situation first instead of barging in. He’d walked round the side of the house, skirting the tall, wide hedge, unnoticed and surprisingly unchallenged, before identifying this tree as the best spot from which to observe the man he’d come to see, and taken up a position in the shadows, a place he was very familiar with and very comfortable in. ‘Gate-crashing a party’s not my style.’
Her eyebrows lifted. ‘But skulking is?’
‘Skulking?’ It wasn’t a word he’d heard before.
‘Lurking. Loitering. Hiding.’
‘I prefer to think of it as...observing from a distance,’ he said, dismissing the flicker of apprehension that came when he realised with hindsight that perhaps he should have hidden, because now he’d been caught there was no backing out. No leaving without anyone being the wiser. No coming back another, quieter time. Or not at all. It was too late for regrets. He’d set these events in motion. He’d see them through. And in the meantime he’d distract himself by pursuing the beautiful woman before him.
‘You’re here to meet Finn.’
‘I am,’ he said, giving her a practised smile and feeling a surge of satisfaction when her gaze once again dipped to his mouth for a second as if she just couldn’t help herself.
‘Your brother.’
‘Quite possibly.’
‘Then you’d better come with me.’
Copyright © 2021 by Lucy King
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ISBN-13: 9780369706874
My Forbidden Royal Fling
Copyright © 2021 by Clare Connelly
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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My Forbidden Royal Fling Page 18
