Breaking The Playboy's Rules - Melanie Milburne Page 0,4

Beth think, you’re not my type.’

Hunter gave a slow smile that did serious damage to her determination to resist him. ‘Nor you mine, but they seemed to think we’d be a match made in heaven. I wonder why?’ His question was idly playful, rhetorical, even slightly mocking. Strike that—definitely mocking, drat the arrogant man.

‘They’re under the misguided impression that a fling with you will somehow help me move on from the loss of my fiancé,’ Millie said in a tone so starchy and prim, she could have been lecturing young Victorian ladies on etiquette. ‘But I’m afraid they have seriously over-estimated the extent of your charm.’

He gave a wry laugh, but then his expression gradually lost its teasing playfulness, his eyes becoming dark and more serious. ‘I guess you’ll move on when you’re ready to.’

Millie lifted her chin and held his gaze. ‘I’m not ready.’ Would she ever be ready? When she’d been young and first fancied herself in love with Julian, getting married and setting up a home together was all she had wanted. But, when the hammer blow of his diagnosis had come, everything had changed. Her dream relationship had become a nightmare in reality.

Hunter’s eyes moved between each of hers in a pulsing moment that ratcheted up her heart rate. Time stood still—so still she could hear the roaring echo of her heartbeat in her ears. He was a top-notch lawyer. He spent hours listening to clients, making sense of the things they told him, both true and false and all the shady spaces in between.

Could he see the truth behind her lie?

His eyes went to her mouth, lingering there for a heart-stopping moment, before coming back to her gaze. ‘So, about your mother’s divorce.’ The subject change nudged her out of her thoughts. ‘I should warn you, I don’t come cheap.’

Millie tried to ignore the little niggle of panic about her bank balance. She was a moderately successful jewellery designer in an increasingly competitive market, but exorbitant legal fees were going to put a considerable dent in her savings. ‘I can afford you.’ She injected her tone with pride, her chin elevated.

Their gazes were locked in a power struggle for a beat or two but then he suddenly frowned. ‘Why would you be the one paying your mother’s legal fees?’

Millie lowered her shoulders in a despondent sigh. ‘Because my mother’s soon-to-be-ex spent a lot of her money in a get-rich-quick scheme that fell flat. Plus, she just found out he has a mistress on the side. Mum will pay me back once she gets back on her feet.’ If she got back on her feet.

He studied her for another long moment that felt like an aeon. ‘I’ll do a deal with you. I’ll give you a discount if you have dinner with me tomorrow night.’

Millie’s mouth fell open. ‘Dinner?’

One side of his mouth tilted upwards. ‘You do eat occasionally, don’t you?’

‘Yes, but I thought, given what a disaster our last dinner was—’

‘Maybe I want another chance to stun you with my charm.’ A teasing glint appeared in his gaze.

‘You said it yourself—you’re not my type.’

‘That doesn’t mean we can’t have a pleasant dinner together and clear the air after the last time.’

Millie wondered what motive was behind his invitation. Had her previous immunity to him presented him with a challenge he couldn’t resist? She’d often wondered since that night, if they had met up on any other date other than the anniversary of Julian’s passing, if she would have been quite so immune to him. In spite of her unfriendly behaviour that night, she had noticed his traffic-stopping good looks and superbly toned body. She had desperately tried not to notice but a woman would have to be brain dead and without a pulse not to be impressed by how gorgeous he was in the flesh.

In the flesh...

Her mind swam with images of him naked and her pulse shot up again. She schooled her features into a mask of cool indifference, as if his invitation was nothing to get excited about. No point feeding his morbidly obese ego. ‘I’ll have to check my diary.’

‘So, check it.’ He nodded his head towards her bag where her phone was housed, his tawny eyes containing a challenge. Resist me if you can.

Millie sent him a sideways look, picked up her bag and took out her phone. She gave her phone diary a cursory glance, knowing full well there was nothing scheduled for the following night.

Her mind was going up