Page 48 of Unmasked

She stepped out of his grip, following the agent into the closet. Bending forward, she pretended to inspect the finish of the built-in shelving. Her hem rose higher, inching toward the pleasures that lay beneath. Knowing there was nothing to cover her under the dress was bad enough. Waiting to see if he’d catch a glimpse was pure torture. He turned, facing the endless stretch of glass that revealed Melbourne’s skyline and adjusted himself. His cock strained against his jeans, and he had nothing with which to hide himself. Nothing to conceal that Lainey had far more of a hold over him than he wanted.

Her laughter rang in his ears as she materialised beside him. Up close, the smell of his soap on her skin stoked his desire. The heat of her body pressing gently against his tested his barriers.

“Enjoying the view?” she asked.

“It is a fantastic one,” the agent chimed in. “People pay a lot for a view like this.”

Lainey cupped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Damian watched her from the corner of his eye. Pink had spread across her cheeks, her red-lacquered nails shimmering against porcelain skin.

“I do appreciate the view,” he said, not daring to look at her directly.

“Can’t you imagine waking up to it every morning? Going to sleep with it every night.” Lainey pressed on, linking her arm through his. “Watching the moon.”

He snorted and tried it cover it with another cough. He needed to get out. The longer he imagined what it would be like to see Lainey standing stark naked against the window, the creamy flesh of her backside presented for him, the harder it was going to be to compose himself.

“So what do you say, Damian? Do you want to pay for the view?” Her hand squeezed his bicep.

“I need to think about it.” He nodded at the agent. “Thanks for showing us around. We have to talk before we can make a decision.”

“There are several other properties I could show you.” The agent hurried over to him, plucking a business card from a fancy silver holder in her leather notebook. “We could make a time—”

“I’ll get in contact if I’m interested in seeing more.” He cut off her sales pitch and made his way to the front door, Lainey in tow.

“Oh, you’re interested,” Lainey whispered as they left the apartment and headed toward the elevator. “I can tell.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Apart from the fact that your jeans look a little...snug?”

“A little?”

She laughed. “A lot.”

By the time they made it out to the street, Damian had managed to calm himself down. Okay, so he was attracted to Lainey. He knew that already. She was fun, hot and confident. What wasn’t to like? Any guy would have the same reaction.

It wasn’t a big deal. He’d simply sit her down when they got back to his hotel and tell her that he cared about her too much to have her as anything but a friend. He’d made a mistake, but he wouldn’t let it get between them. In the meantime, he had to deal with this crazy, pent-up sexual frustration. But screwing his way out of it wasn’t going to work...that much was damn clear.

“It’s boiling,” Lainey moaned as they wandered back to the river. She fanned herself with one hand. “Let’s get ice cream.”

“You haven’t had lunch yet.”

“Thanks for the nutritional lecture, Dad.” She swatted him. “I can have ice cream for lunch if I want.”

He shrugged. Ice cream actually sounded like the perfect antidote to his overheated state. They strolled along the tree-lined boulevard as he tried to settle his mind. Everything about this situation screamed potential disaster, but he couldn’t force himself to put an end to it.

Does it matter? She’s leaving the country soon. You have an end date.

But that was the thing with Lainey—she never played by the rules. Never stuck to the plan. He needed her to know why he couldn’t engage in anything serious.

Perhaps he should tell her the truth about his divorce. Then she might understand his actions better.

Even thinking about it brought heat to his face that made his skin prickle and his chest feel tight. It’d been four years, and still the shame burned as brightly as it had the day he’d caught Jenny and Ben. All he’d ever wanted was for his marriage to fulfil him and his wife, and he had believed that Jenny wanted that, too. Unfortunately, when tested, it was clear that what Jenny had really wanted was for him to sacrifice his career ambitions to spend more time with her...or else she’d get revenge.

The sun beat down on them as they walked. Lainey had ditched the white shirt again, and perspiration beaded along her bare arms and her chest. The dress clung to her like a second skin.

“Why so serious?” Lainey asked, tilting her head up to him and shielding her eyes.

“I was thinking about the apartment,” he lied, fishing his sunglasses out of his pocket and handing them to Lainey.

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