Breaking The Playboy's Rules - Melanie Milburne Page 0,24

trapped and feeling horribly claustrophobic.

Millie couldn’t meet her friend’s gaze. ‘I know...’

Zoey sighed and reached for a mug off a shelf above the counter. ‘At least most of your memories are good ones, I mean, before Jules got sick, that is. What do I have after Rupert did the dirty on me?’

She put the mug down on the counter-top like she was slamming it down on her ex’s head, her expression so sour it could have curdled milk. Long-life milk. ‘What he did tainted every memory of our time together. I can’t even look at photos of us now without wondering how many other women he slept with behind my back. And, worse, how did I not know until I finally stumbled upon his latest squeeze in our bed? Urgh.’

Millie grimaced in sympathy. ‘I can only imagine how devastated you must have felt. But not all men are like that. Maybe you’ll find someone who is loyal and fall madly in love with—’

‘Oh, no.’ Zoey waved her hands in front of her body in a criss-cross motion, in a no way is that ever going to happen gesture. ‘I am never going to fall in love again. It’s not worth the pain. From now on, I’m going to be head girl of the “single and loving it” club.’

‘And are you loving it? Being single, I mean?’

Zoey gave her a hooded look and reached for a tea bag from a canister on the counter. ‘I’m working on it.’

* * *

Hunter drove home from Millie’s flat with a smile on his face. What was it about her that made him so energised? So turned on? If it had been one of his usual dates, he would have been in bed with her now. But nothing about Millie was run-of-the-mill. She was captivating, intriguing and so damn gorgeous, he wanted to break his three-date rule.

But hey, he was breaking his three-date rule.

Normally, he didn’t stay with a lover more than a night or two. He didn’t want or need the complications of a longer term relationship. His responsibilities for his sister precluded him from investing in anything other than short-term hook-ups. He knew from experience that most women didn’t like taking second place. And any lover of his would have to take second or even third place, when it came to Emma and his career.

But Millie fascinated him, and he couldn’t wait to see her again. He wanted to feel her lips on his again—not in that light-as-air way but with full-on passion. He knew she was more than capable of it. He saw it in her eyes, felt it like an electric energy charging the air. She wanted him but was resisting him out of some sense of loyalty to her dead fiancé.

Was it love that held her back or something else?

But there was another reason he wanted to see Millie again. He was determined to get justice for her mother Eleanora, who reminded him so much of his own mother. It churned his gut to see how badly she had been treated, exploited by every husband, this latest one by far the worst. It could take months to uncover the fraudulent behaviour of her husband and that would come at a cost. A cost Millie was paying on behalf of her mother. Hunter wasn’t going to see Millie go under financially. He had plenty of money. He didn’t need her to go bankrupt to pay him. He regularly did pro bono work. Of course, he didn’t broadcast it too widely, in case everyone expected it. But now and again a case would come along, it would light a fire in his belly and he would give it his all.

And this case had created an inferno.

* * *

Millie was trying not to count the days until her next ‘date’ with Hunter. She was in her studio working on some new designs on Thursday afternoon when her assistant Harriet came in from the shop front. ‘Someone here to see you, Millie.’

‘Who is it?’

‘That hotshot lawyer guy—Hunter Addison,’ she said, and then added in a stage whisper whilst pretending to fan her face, ‘Oh, my goodness, he’s gorgeous!’

Millie put down her flat-nosed pliers and rose from her chair. ‘Send him in.’ She could only imagine what her assistant would make of Hunter coming to visit her. Harriet, just like everyone else in her life, was keen for her to go out more. But was going out with Hunter going to do more harm than