The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress Page 0,39

drink. She’d even switched to club soda just so she could keep her head about her, but Gaston’s subtle touches and the way he would pull her body against his while they were talking still threw her off balance.

By the end of the night all she wanted to do was crawl up his chest and beg him to kiss her. It was only by sheer grit and determination that she found the willpower to slip away from him. He wasn’t expecting it. In fact, she suspected that he was waiting for the rest of his guests to clear out of his home before he started a full out assault on her senses. And since his bedroom was right down one of the many hallways, she wasn’t sure that they would have any way of avoiding the intimacy she craved.

Instead, she excused herself from the group, smiled up at Gaston politely and headed towards the hallway that she knew housed the bathroom. But instead of turning right that would take her to the restroom, she turned left and pressed the call button for the elevator, her hand shaking with the need to both run back to him and beg him to finish what he’d been doing all night, and also to get away before he discovered her departure.

As much as her body wanted her to give in to the sexual pull of Gaston, she would regret it deeply. She didn’t want to become intimate with him. She didn’t understand his game yet and she would be terribly hurt if he disappeared again on her after making love to her. Or more specifically, having sex with her. There wouldn’t be any love involved with their connection. Gaston didn’t love her any more than he had the last time they were together.

Down on the busy sidewalk, she gritted her teeth as she called for a cab to come pick her up. She was nervous and didn’t have her wrap so she was cold on top of nerves that were shouting out conflicting needs. Thankfully, a cab arrived quickly and she dove into the back, giving her address to the driver before settling back against the broken upholstery. She breathed a sigh of relief when she had some space between herself and Gaston.

She bit her thumb nail, debating when to call him and let him know that she’d left the party. She had spoken to several of the board members, but all of them seemed to be completely on board with her project so there hadn’t really been any reason for her to even attend tonight. Had Gaston purposely tricked her into attending? What was his plan? Why was he doing this to her?

She was starting to suspect that his arrival in her life once again was not an accident. She thought about talking with her father, but from past experience, her father hated Gaston. On several occasions, even before their breakup several years ago, her father had gone off in an angry tirade about how horrible Gaston was and how his family were all a bunch of criminals, liars and cheaters. It had become somewhat better right after his departure, but was that only because her father gotten what he wanted? He’d never approved of her relationship with Gaston, had always tried to point out Gaston’s weaknesses, which at the time, she’d suspected he’d made up a great deal of them. Back then, she hadn’t listened, hadn’t cared about her father’s opinion. Even after his departure, she couldn’t bear to hear the man’s name spoken so she’d simply walked out of any room in which her father was going on about Gaston and his merciless business practices.

So why had he shown up now? What had happened in Gaston’s life that had changed to the point where he would actually look her up?

No matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to make sense. With a sigh, she paid the driver when he reached her apartment, then walked slowly up the stairs. She didn’t have the energy to go any faster, her mind too filled with doubts and confusing possibilities about Gaston and his intentions. Despite the cold, she didn’t notice it as much because she kept trying to explain what appeared to be an unexplainable appearance.

When she was safely inside her apartment, she tossed off her shoes and pulled her cell phone out of her purse. Dialing the strange number from her cell phone’s memory, she waited only two rings before he answered her