Girl Behind the Scandalous Reputation

‘And you pointed out what a terrible idea that was, and now I’m agreeing with you.’

‘Careful, Lily. That’s twice you’ve agreed with me…Don’t want to make a habit of it.’

Lily leaned forward and balled her hands on her hips. ‘Well, here’s something else I agree with you about—we need to set some ground rules before we go any further, and your macho “I’m in charge” routine just isn’t going to cut it. Especially in public.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, really.’ Lily angled her chin up, ignoring the mocking glint in his eyes. ‘And the first rule is that what happened back in your office is never to be repeated.’

‘Now, how did I know you were going to say that?’ he murmured silkily.

‘I don’t know. Putting that off-the-scale IQ of yours to good use for once?’ she quipped, a sense of her own control making her reckless.

‘Don’t pretend you didn’t want it,’ he grated. ‘You’ve been eating me up with your eyes ever since I picked you up today.’

‘Oh!’ Lily forgot about the fact that they were in a public space. ‘You are something else!’

‘So I’ve been told.’

‘I just bet you have. You have quite the reputation as a ladies’ man, but if you think I want to join their lowly ranks you can think again.’

‘That’s not how you played it six years ago,’ he sneered.

‘Six years ago I was too young to know any better—and don’t forget I was high as a kite,’ she lied. Why not really play up to his nasty opinion of her? Answering honestly before hadn’t done much to change his opinion of her.

‘Well, that might be.’ His eyes flashed in response to her taunt. ‘But you weren’t high back in my office, and the way you tried to crawl up my body you wouldn’t have stopped until I was deep inside you and you were completely sated.’

Lily gasped. His words conjured up a sensual image that caused her pelvis to clench alarmingly. ‘You’re delusional if you think that,’ Lily spat breathlessly.

The cupboard’s doorknob poked into her back as she instinctively moved back when Tristan closed the small space between them.

His eyes glittered dangerously into hers. ‘A challenge, Honey?’

‘No!’

‘Oh, yes.’

He placed a hand either side of her head and leaned in, his mouth so close she could feel his warm breath on her lips, smell the coffee and wine he’d consumed.

Lily’s heart sounded as loud as a road train in her ears, and her pelvis continued to clench in wicked anticipation of his kiss. Try as she might, she couldn’t seem to find the will to resist his animal magnetism that was pulling her under.

Tristan’s gaze held hers for a lifetime. ‘Oh, yes,’ he whispered again. ‘Definitely a challenge.’ He straightened away from her and dropped his arms, his expression closed. ‘But, as gorgeous as you undoubtedly are, I’m not interested—so go play your games somewhere else.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE ride to Tristan’s home was tense, to say the least. Lily was still fuming over the humiliation of nearly embarrassing herself before, when she had almost reached up and pulled Tristan’s taunting mouth to hers. Something she hadn’t even been aware she was about to do until he’d pulled back.

Until he’d pulled back.

She swallowed a moan of distress and watched one neon sign become another as Tristan steered his silver Mercedes through the streets from Park Lane to Hampstead Heath—one of London’s most prestigious addresses.

How dared he tell her that he wasn’t interested in her? As if she would care! How about the fact that she wasn’t interested in him?

And he’d certainly been a little more than interested back in his office. Interested in sex, anyway. Not that she would have let it get that far. But deep down she knew what he was trying to say. She wasn’t his type. He thought her attractive, but nothing more.

Frank Murphy, her stepfather, had warned her about men like Tristan. ‘They’ll take one look at that face and figure and, believe me, they won’t care about your personality. You give them what they want and you’ll get a reputation for being easy.’ Like your mother. The unspoken words had hung between them and Lily shifted uncomfortably at the memory.

Her mother had been ruled by her desires. Or, more specifically, her desire for Johnny Wild, but Lily wasn’t like that. Which was one of the reasons she resented this attraction she still felt for Tristan. She’d sworn never to fall for an unattainable man, and here she was all but salivating over one.