Playing the Billionaire's Game - Pippa Roscoe Page 0,7

regal blue sheathed a body from neck to ankle that made his mouth water. For all of the scantily clad women Sebastian had encountered in the last ten years, this one was the definition of modest, but she alone held the power to undo him. And when his eyes returned to hers, to take in the arch of high cut cheekbones and a mouth made for sin, he couldn’t help but pause. There was something about her... And then it dawned on him.

Oh, he was in trouble.

And he couldn’t for one minute bring himself to regret it.

Because this? This was going to be fun.

Sia barely noticed the waiter place her drink before her as she watched the Duke return to his conversation as if her entire world hadn’t shifted on its axis. Forcing her eyes away from him, she turned to the drink and blinked at it for a moment, having quite forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.

A blush rose to her cheeks and she hated it, hated herself, for in that moment—the brief pause before he’d smiled—Sia had forgotten everything. The potential loss of her job, the stolen painting, the fact she was sure that Sebastian Rohan de Luen, was at the heart of the entire mess. No. For that brief moment she’d been struck by an attraction so powerful that she’d almost forgotten her own name. A mistake, she promised herself, she’d not make again.

Reaching for her drink and letting the sweet spicy taste wash her lapse of judgement away and the sharp sting of alcohol bring her back to the task at hand, she realised that she hadn’t counted on him having company. Stunning company at that. Casting a quick glance back towards the darkened corner where the handsome couple were still discussing something discreetly, she couldn’t help but appreciate the woman’s beauty. The way his body was angled beside her was almost protective and for a moment Sia tasted the bitterness of jealousy on her tongue. Not for her, or him, but what they seemed to share. There was something vaguely familiar about her, but Sia couldn’t quite place her. It was hardly surprising that a man with Sebastian’s roguish reputation was with a celebrity of some sort.

Frowning, she thought over her plan which, she now saw, had more holes than a sieve. What had she been thinking? That she could play him? Seduce him even? The blush returned to her cheeks with a vengeance and embarrassed tears threatened at the corners of her eyes.

And that slight blur to her eyes was the reason she didn’t immediately notice that the Duque de Gaeten had crossed the room and come to stand beside her.

‘It’s a crime.’

The sensual tone of his voice rippled across her skin but it was the words that sparked outrage in her heart. Which was why it took her a moment to gather herself, to stifle the fury welling within her, before she could respond. That this man chose to refer to a crime... Did he know who she was? Was he playing the same game as she? A thin blade of anger cut through any concern. It made her mad. It made her bold.

‘What is?’ she asked, no trace of the heat in her veins or the pounding of her heart.

‘For a woman as beautiful as you to be sitting alone.’

‘The greater crime, surely, is the badly delivered line which has left me feeling somewhat cheated. I had expected more from, reportedly, the most renowned playboy in all of Europe.’

‘Renowned? You have me at a disadvantage. You clearly know me, at least by reputation.’

‘Henri.’ The name slipped from her tongue as if it hadn’t been more than twenty years since she’d been called by it. And when he repeated the name back to her, as if feeling the word on his tongue, it sent shivers down her spine.

‘You don’t look much like a Henri.’

Perhaps she didn’t. But Sia knew one thing very definitely. Sia Keating would never be able to do such a thing. Sia Keating was the good girl. She didn’t put a foot wrong, never complained, never spoke out, was never angry... Anger was passionate and passionate was too much like her mother. But Henri? Her father’s nickname for her, the shortened form of her middle name... Henri might just be able to pull this off.

‘Oh, really? What do I look like?’

My downfall.

Thrusting aside the errant thought, Sebastian cast a long, slow pursual from the golden halo of her