Desire by Design - By Paula Altenburg Page 0,15

Eve hearing any of this? If so, she could at least have the decency to help him out.

Lena moved closer still. “Yes.” She placed a hand on his chest, and he swallowed, hard. “I would imagine you and I have a lot in common.”

He did his best to sound discouraging. “Really?”

Light fingers began to draw circles on his shirtfront. “You are alone in a strange city, and no doubt lonely. I am alone in a strange country where nobody understands me.” Lena’s voice trembled. “And I am definitely lonely.”

Matt’s mind raced. The woman was hitting on him, and he had to do something to make her stop. This was a prime reason why he most definitely wasn’t looking for a trophy wife. That was the trouble with trophies—sooner or later, they landed with the competition.

“Eve should be back any moment,” he repeated, inching backward. “She’s a jealous woman, Lena. I’d hate to have her misinterpret the fact that you and I are out here alone together.”

Lena’s hands dropped to her sides, much to his relief. Her accent grew more pronounced, although he suspected that was an affectation. Most men likely found it charming.

“I had no idea you were a couple. Eve, she does not normally bother with the men.”

“No?” That was nice to know…although Eve probably didn’t bother with men because she scared them off.

“I thought this was a business event,” Lena added. “Connor sometimes asks her to introduce the V-I-Ps around on behalf of the company.”

“It’s definitely not strictly business between me and Eve,” he said.

Lena heaved her impressive breasts. “I would hate to get you into trouble with her.” She gave his tie a little tug. “Maybe I will see you later?”

She sauntered off with an elegant sway to her hips and a smoldering glance over her shoulder. Matt waited until he was certain she was gone before crossing to the bench Eve had hurdled.

“Get back up here,” he grumbled, scanning the long shadows. “I want to talk to you.”

Eve’s voice came from out of the darkness. “I’d be angry with you,” she said with an air of satisfaction, “except you got exactly what you deserved. ‘You’re welcome to wait with me if you’d like,’” she parroted, then mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Lena can’t resist the good-looking ones.”

At least she thought he was good-looking. That meant one thing had gone right so far this evening.

“You could have warned me about her before you did your disappearing act,” Matt said. He placed one knee on the bench and peered into the bushes. “Would you get up here where I can see you?”

The bushes rustled again. “I can’t.”

Matt wondered how long they had before someone else wandered outside and found them like this. He was torn between fascination and maintaining his dignity. She didn’t seem all that concerned about hers.

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

“I mean,” Eve explained in a matter-of-fact tone, “that my dress is snagged on a twig, and I’m trying to get it free without tearing anything.”

“Let me give you a hand.” Leaning over the bench in the direction of her voice, he parted the bushes and could just make out Eve’s form in the darkness. The bushes lurched as she tugged at her dress.

“Don’t do that,” he warned, stretching out a hand, his fingertips brushing against the fabric. He leaned a little farther, trying to get a grip. “You’re going to make things worse. I think I can get it if I just—”

He moved forward one inch too far and tumbled headfirst into his uncle’s fragrant shrubbery. Matt rolled, spit out a mouthful of dirt, and spared a fleeting thought for the kind of mulch his uncle’s gardener might use. Whatever it was, he hoped a dry cleaner could get the smell off his suit.

Then, Eve burst into soft peals of laughter that made him forget all about Lena, the crowd, the threat of discovery, and even the prickly underbrush jabbing through his clothing.

She had the most incredible laugh. It wasn’t a polite little party laugh, either, the kind he was used to hearing from women. It came from deep inside her, too big for her tiny frame, like she’d explode if she didn’t let it out. It invited anyone who heard it to laugh along with her, and Matt felt every inch of his body respond to it.

She didn’t seem to care that her dress was most likely ruined or that her hair was a mess. And it was obvious she hadn’t given