Page 31 of Covert

“Then why let you attend university? Why the business degree?”

Sam shrugged, remembering the fateful day she’d enrolled in the course and plucked up the courage to tell her parents.

“Simple, really. I blackmailed them.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I need to hear this story.”

“I told them if they didn’t let me attend university, I’d elope with Frank Larson.”

Dylan shook his head. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Who is Frank Larson?”

“My high school sweetheart. Not that he knew anything about it.”

She chuckled at the memory of freckly, brace-face Frank, wondering what she’d ever seen in her dorky lab partner. “I used the idea of him to frighten my parents into giving in to my desperation to attend university. Told them that Frank and I were madly in love, and if they didn’t listen to me I’d run away to Vegas with Frank and get married.”

She rolled her eyes. “As if I’d be stupid enough to do that, even if Frank returned my unrequited love.”

Dylan chuckled. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

He twisted a stray curl around his fingertip, the tenderness in his gaze causing her heart to flip-flop. “Let’s make a deal. For tonight, there will be no more talk of Frank, Max, or any other men you have hidden in your past. Tonight, there’s just you and me.”

Her breath hitched as he leaned toward her and for one crazy moment she thought he would kiss her like he had in the elevator.

Instead, he whispered in her ear, “Does that sound like a plan to you?”

Sam nodded, as he planted a soft kiss near her temple before he pulled away to acknowledge the first of the other table occupants to arrive.

However, as the evening proceeded and she endured the endless small talk, the boring speeches, and picked at the food on her plate, she was constantly aware of the man at her side and his overwhelming presence.

And unable to stop thinking about what would happen later when he walked her back to her room.

Sneaking a quick peek at Dylan, she knew she’d be a goner if he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. Logically, she’d beflirting with disaster if they took it all the way, changing their relationship status before her three months were up.

But what about your heart?

Unfortunately, she’d already lost that particular organ to Dylan Harmon, and he held it right where she didn’t want it—in the palm of his hand.

20

Dylan repeatedly punched and pummelled his pillow, hoping it might help him fall asleep.

It didn’t. He’d tossed and turned for the last hour, his head filled with images of the woman in the room next door, taunting him to follow through with what he’d started earlier.

Damn, he’d been a fool, allowing her to slip through his fingers, when right now he could be having the best sex of his life with a woman who fired his passion with a simple flick of her hair.

As expected, the evening had bored him to tears, yet he’d been aware of Sam for every second of it. Having her by his side filled him with pride. He’d treated her like a cherished partner, a fact that hadn’t gone unnoticed by his associates.

He’d be the talk of Sydney in the morning. The sooner he escaped back to Melbourne with Sam, the better. Or better yet, he could whisk her away to Budgeree and finish what they’d started.

Why hadn’t he asked what she wanted? He’d walked her back to her room, his hand in the small of her back doing little for his restraint. The feel of her hot skin through the thin, gauzy material of her dress had teased him, tempted him. Instead, he’dstood outside her door, staring at her with what he hoped was a clear message in his eyes, not saying much at all.

He knew she wanted him too yet they’d stared at each other like two dorks, neither willing to make the first move. So he planted an all-too-brief kiss on her cheek, she thanked him for an ‘interesting’ evening, and closed her door, leaving him gawking like a jilted teenager.

So much for sweeping her off her feet and into his bed. All he’d succeeded in doing was gaining another sleepless night, though not for the reason he’d anticipated.

He rolled out of bed and padded across the dark room. He pulled back the blackout drapes, taking in the glittering view of Sydney laid out like a sparkling fairyland many storeys below.

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